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Archives for 2017

Taking Control of the Stage – Beginning with Confidence

by Backstage: The Foundation Greenroom: 4 Comments

This year I’ve been traveling all across the US and Canada and have talked with many artists.  Some of them invited me to see their shows, so when time allowed, I did. If these artists were confident, I’d be impressed.  Well-l-l… don’t get me wrong… they were all good!  But I didn’t see anyone take control […]

Who’s Getting It Right?

by Backstage: Vision & Planning Greenroom: Leave a Comment

If you look at today’s live acts, what is it that makes them great? What do they do and know that makes their connection to the audience work? You might say, “Well, they’re married to their audiences – they’ve got hits and records under their belts.”  True… but what keeps people COMING BACK to see Springsteen live […]

Would You Like Fries With That?

by Backstage: The Foundation Greenroom: 8 Comments

I really want you all to succeed!  I want to help you to the best of my ability.  As they say in the south, “I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed.”….but, one thing I do have, it’s perspective on the live show.  I’ve worked with probably between three and four hundred artists during my […]

Choosing the Right Cover Tunes

by Backstage: Making it Your Own Greenroom: 6 Comments

We receive lots of questions about doing cover tunes.  Since many of you have them in your set, either entirely or a few, let’s talk about this! We got an email from Barry, who spelled out his dilemma; “I am in a constant battle with my band-mates over the subject of cover songs.  As a primarily original […]

Give Your Audience What They Came For

by Backstage: Vision & Planning Greenroom: 1 Comment

I want to give my audience what they came for! As musicians, we assume the audience is there to hear some good music.  We have some great music and songs for them and some cool lyrical things going on.  In one song there’s an awesome bass lick, and in another song the lead guitar is stellar. […]

Can’t Download This! The Live Connection…

by Backstage: Making it Your Own, Sneak Peek Greenroom: 6 Comments

 Performing artists still have it…that one thing. Something a CD can’t contain, it can’t be duplicated, digitized or downloaded, and you can only get it if you’re in the same room. It’s that personal connection with your fans. The Booming Concert Industry A couple years back, while on a long flight, I read an article […]

Bailing Out

by Backstage: Materials, Tools & Skills Greenroom: 3 Comments

No, not talking about bailing you out of jail, or quitting your music career…though at times I’m sure you’ve felt like it!  I’m talking about the ‘bail-out’ – an onstage technique you should implement into your performance now. You’ve heard us talk about putting pressure on the audience from time to time, right?  This is […]

Sitting Down on the Job – (Becoming Stool Savvy)

by Backstage: Materials, Tools & Skills, Sneak Peek Greenroom: 12 Comments

If you’re doing 45+ minute sets, where people come to listen to your music, you need to consider using a stool for a song or two.  Maybe I SHOULD say instead, you should be doing a couple of songs in the 1-2 range.  These are “more emotional”, “you can hear a pin drop” songs.  (See the section […]

Your Success is Important to Me!

by Backstage: Materials, Tools & Skills, Sneak Peek Greenroom: 4 Comments

As we say here in the south, “I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed”.  But, one thing I have is perspective.   I’ve worked with hundreds of artists over the years and taught at workshops around the world.   My expertise is the live show.  I’ve seen the struggles artists have with their careers […]

More Mic Stand! (‘Cool Tool’) Part II

by Backstage: Materials, Tools & Skills Greenroom: 1 Comment

We had some good feedback and great questions on my mic stand blog from a few weeks ago…let’s take this further and answer some questions we got on the first blog. One question referred to singing into the side of the mic when you’re using angles.  A lot of us were taught we need to […]