Number 25, April 15, 2022

Getting Back Out!

I wrote last time about getting back out into the community to start joining in once again, in music, sports, whatever your passion is.  As the pandemic restrictions ease, some measure of comfort is now out there for us in order to engage with each other again in person.

If you’re a performer, you’re probably already engaged in at least a small measure of this great getting out.  And if you’re lucky, you’ve been offered the chance to perform in front of live human beings!  And doesn’t it feel great?!  It does for me, but, when I began, there was a slight “learning curve” as I got back out to the stage, and that’s the subject of my blog this time:  preparing to perform live again!

Performing might be a dim memory for many of you.  You might think, like I did, “Wow!  Real people!  They’re all right here and we can see each other IN THE FLESH!” Now what do I do???  How does this go again??

In doing research on this subject, I found a great piece on the Disc Makers website by Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers, who wrote the book “The Complete Singer-Songwriter: A Troubadour’s Guide to Writing, Recording, and Business.”  I found his writing and advice very useful, and not just for our present day weird reality, but for the entirety of your performing life.  He writes eloquently:

Success onstage begins with comfort in your own skin and with your own music. Your identity when you perform live onstage has to come across as authentic to the audience.

I also loved this quote that Rodgers uses in his article from Louise Taylor:

It feels good now. It feels like I’ve come to who I am. I didn’t understand that that’s what an audience really wants. For a long time, I thought they wanted something I imagined you had to be or you had to do, and very slowly I came around to the idea that really what the audience wants you to be is yourself – something that comes across as real. – Louise Taylor describing the realization that helped her overcome her deep discomfort with making music in public.

Throughout the article, the topics are about being in the moment while onstage, and to acknowledge where you are with as much honesty and engagement as you can muster.  For instance, I like this about “using” your nerves, and there’s some great insight about being a performer below that.

Use your nerves

Most people consider the jitters they feel before going onstage to be an obstacle (I’m so nervous, how am I ever going to pull this off?) or a sign of inexperience (if I really knew what I was doing, I wouldn’t be so nervous). But there’s another way to look at those butterflies in the pit of your stomach: as a source of energy. Nervous energy is what helps you rise above your everyday self and deliver a great show. I have on many occasions chatted with artists both before and after a gig, and I’m amazed at how edgy even the most seasoned and seemingly natural performers are beforehand, and how they are almost like different people when they finally relax afterward. The fact that they still feel that edge before their umpteenth gig is one reason they are so good at what they do.

Your nerves help to generate the musical energy that you send out into the room, and the audience reaction – which is what you are most nervous about – completes the cycle. Even strangers and just-happened-to-be-there listeners want you to succeed, for their own selfish reasons: they want to have a good time. You are in this together.

 

If there’s a common theme to all this advice, it is to be patient. As much as we all dream about the rocket ride to the stars, most long-term careers in music are built one fan at a time. It takes time to find your groove as a performer and to find the people who respond to what you have to say. No single gig is definitive; each is a step in an ongoing process of developing and learning and sharing.  Remember, too, that there are many varieties of performing musicians. There are those with day jobs who long to devote their lives to music, and those who perform occasionally without any professional aspirations. There are the local heroes who teach and gig only in their hometown, the regional acts who stay within a radius of a hundred miles, and those seemingly full-time pros who tour nationally but actually pay their bills with a flexible job during stints at home. No matter how you make a living, don’t confuse the financial status of your music with its inherent value as art. The moment you get up in front of people to play music, it doesn’t matter if you’ve spent your day doing data entry or teaching fifth graders or polishing your Grammy awards: what counts is the passion and sweat you put into your songs.  And whatever your disappointments and successes in the performing world, remember that when you step onstage and play your songs, you are offering something that no one else can offer: your music and a view of the world from where you (and only you) stand. That is a priceless gift.”

Read The Full Article HERE

I hope you’ll find a place to sharpen your skills on stage and get ready to spring out into action this spring and summer!

See you next time for all things singing for Folk and Americana styles!

Susie

PS:  Hey, get in touch!  Email me HERE about taking voice lessons on Zoom!

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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. Visit Susie’s Website HERE