Rehearsing Virtually - Creative Ideas - Onstage Success

Missed you guys so much! I’m ready to get back to some live shows. How about you?

This shutdown is, hopefully coming to an end soon, and I’m excited to see venues open back up and people flock (positive thinking!) to live shows – now that we’ve all been deprived of them!

Be. Ready. Polish up your chops and let Tom or me help you come out fighting.

We’ve offered Skype sessions with artists for many years, and especially in the last couple of months Tom and I have seen an increase in online work.

I was chatting with Tom on the phone the other day and he asked me to get online and give you some ideas of how you can use these virtual sessions that we’re offering.

**Check out the video blog. It has more ideas (than the written transcript) for your show that you can work on (even on your own).

Some clients are booking several hours and others that maybe can only afford just an hour, have seen a real value in that short amount of time.

I wanted to let you know some different ways to work on your performance in a Skype session…the first and obvious way of course, is to set up a monitor and perform live and we work on creating moments with the right arrangement, along with staging, visuals and everything else.

Or, you might choose to send us a live video, and we simply go through it and stop and start as we critique song by song, giving you ideas for moments, changes, and things to work on.

Maybe you just need help with speaking to your audience. This is something that trips a lot of you up and stops the flow of the show.

You may have a great show, the songs are great, some of the moments are happening, but then it comes to the place where you need to say something to the audience and it falls flat. That’s not cool.

I’ve had artists send me song lyrics so I can look at the lyric get a real grasp on what the song is about. I have them tell me what it’s about, why they wrote it where they were when they wrote it and then help them craft an interesting way to present that song, so by the time the song starts the audience is on board, they’re ready to hear it.

I’ve had enough of this crap “The name of the next song is……I hope you like it.”

Speaking to an audience is difficult for many of you. That was my weak area so I have a particular passion to help you figure that out and I really enjoy digging in to help you with this.

Some artists have asked for help simply on how to put together their set list. In this case, I might take an hour on my own to listen to the songs and figure out what type songs/moments are there, and put them in order.THEN, we can get on the phone for a second hour and talk through the ideas.

I’m working with an artist that wants to weave his life story into a show – a combination of speaking and music and media. So I’ve had him send me photographs and talk through his story so I can help him put together a moving, cohesive show.

We get on the phone and I give him ideas and homework – ie; this is the type of song you should have to go with this part of the story….or, tell us this piece of your childhood here…etc.

We’re also going to incorporate media into it. It promises to be an amazing show! So if you’ve thought of doing something like this, Skype is a great way to do that.

You might just need help or have questions about using different tools in your set. Maybe the best way to use a mic stand or a stool or a headset mic, or smoothly transitioning from one to the other.

Let’s get on Skype and let me show you. No question is too dumb!

Maybe you need to troubleshoot your show….something’s not working and you’re not sure why. Let’s talk through it and figure out a solution.

Another thing I love doing is helping you figure out the type of merchandise that works with your gig. Let’s dig through the moments you’re creating live and match them up with the right products.

For example, that hook line the audience sings with you should be on a shirt, or, your wine and cheese house concert crowd would probably love to buy a wine glass with your logo on it.

Let’s brainstorm on those things!

There are SO many ways to use these one hour virtual sessions. Let’s get creative and get you ready to hit the stage strong!

Click here for more information and to book your virtual sessions with Tom or Amy.

Remember, the half off sales on downloads and the discounted e-book sale ends on May 31st, 2020. (Use coupon code 50%OFF for the downloads. Use coupon code TWENTY_OFF for the e-book)

Amy Wolter

As a trained Live Music Producer for Tom Jackson Productions, Amy Wolter brings her years onstage as a lead singer & keyboardist - along with her experience as a producer, arranger, and songwriter - to singers and bands who won’t settle for ‘good enough’. She’s worked with artists at all levels, and genres ranging from Rock to Celtic, empowering them to have confidence and authority onstage, and put on memorable live shows, a few of whom have been on two of the largest US tours in recent history. Some of her clients include Grammy award winners The Band Perry & Lacrae, CMA and ACM –winning country acts, Gloriana & Thompson Square, 2016 The Voice contestant Mary Sarah, CCMA (Canada) winners High Valley, Jess Moskaluke & Chad Brownlee, and Winter Jam Tour veterans Sidewalk Prophets & Love and The Outcome.

Rehearsing Virtually – Creative Ideas