VOICE NOTES: A FOLK DIVA’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY Number 15
Onstage Train Wrecks and Other Snafus ~ What Do We Do?
Onstage Train Wrecks and Other Snafus ~ What Do We Do?
The subject has been raised recently about what I call onstage “train wrecks” and all that stands for: mistakes made in a performance that cause the song to simply crash. What do we do, as performers, when things go, shall we say, awry on stage?
First, I will assure everyone reading this that these snafus happen to ALL performing artists, no matter how professional, experienced, skilled, confident and poised. Now, the “going awry” can mean many things and possibilities, from sound system failure, to temporarily forgetting song lyrics and other acts of God. I write this as someone who has experienced many such “train wreck” moments on stage (some through no fault of my own! Yes!), and have had to improvise, address the audience, and find some graceful way to begin again, i.e., start over!
By the way, do you know the origin of the acronym “snafu?” I love this term, as it stands for a messed up or chaotic situation, and originated in military situations. The letters stand for “situation normal, all fouled up.” SNAFU (and you can replaced “fouled” with another word starting with F if you wish).
Back to our topic of onstage snafus: what do we do when a song performance is just obviously going south? From my work in the theatre I know that, as performers, it is a losing battle to try to ignore what’s happening, as the audience can certainly see and hear – though I will add that, not knowing what’s expected of your performance, your audience will probably not know to what extent your mistakes are occurring. They may not know, but YOU know, and it’s up to you to realize a few things: we are human beings, not human jukeboxes (as Joni Mitchell so beautifully said years ago in concert), and our songs are alive in the moment, not recorded. It takes a GREAT DEAL of focus and determination to perform a song, so give yourself credit for that, first, then turn the situation around.
So, you have a good opportunity here to merely stop, acknowledge what happened, address the audience (added humor always helps) and your playing mates (if you have a band), and suggest that you begin again. And when you do, I assure you, your focus and determination to make it work will be even stronger on the re-start.
So, never fear! Allow yourself to breathe, smile, focus and begin again. Your audiences will love you for it.
See you next time for more on all things folk singing!
Blessings and love,
Susie
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Award-winning recording artist, Broadway singer, journalist, educator and critically-acclaimed powerhouse vocalist, Susie Glaze has been called “one of the most beautiful voices in bluegrass and folk music today” by Roz Larman of KPFK’s Folk Scene. LA Weekly voted her ensemble Best New Folk in their Best of LA Weekly for 2019, calling Susie “an incomparable vocalist.” “A flat out superb vocalist… Glaze delivers warm, amber-toned vocals that explore the psychic depth of a lyric with deft acuity and technical perfection.” As an educator, Susie has lectured at USC Thornton School of Music and Cal State Northridge on “Balladry to Bluegrass,” illuminating the historical path of ancient folk forms in the United Kingdom to the United States via immigration into the mountains of Appalachia. Susie has taught workshops since 2018 at California music camps RiverTunes and Vocáli Voice Camp. She is a current specialist in performance and historian on the work of American folk music icon, Jean Ritchie. Susie now offers private voice coaching online via the Zoom platform. www.susieglaze.com
VOICE NOTES: A FOLK DIVA’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY Number 15
Onstage Train Wrecks and Other Snafus ~ What Do We Do?