?>
Lost Password?
You are here: Home / Archives for Materials, Tools & Skills

Winning the Crowd – What YOU can learn from Nashville’s Honky Tonks

by Backstage: Materials, Tools & Skills, Sneak Peek Greenroom: 8 Comments

Nashville is unique in many ways and is home to many types of venues, artists and genres. We have larger concert venues for international touring artists, smaller rooms showcasing both signed and indie artists, smaller ‘listening’ rooms that cater to songwriters, and everything in-between.  Then, there’s a six block area – downtown on Broadway and up […]

Making Peace with the Headset Mic

by Backstage: Materials, Tools & Skills Greenroom: 2 Comments

Yeah, yeah, yeah….we know what you’re thinking.  I can hear you screaming now, “Using a headset mic will make me look like Britney or Garth or Justin!  I’m not THAT kind of artist”.   Well, we doubt if you’re making the same judgement when you see someone playing a certain kind of guitar…ie: “Oh, she’s […]

From One Song to the Next

by Backstage: Materials, Tools & Skills Greenroom: Leave a Comment

Do you know what your rehearsal should look like? Because how your rehearsals look is a huge part of how your live show will look! Almost every artist I know thinks “rehearsal” means going through your songs over and over again until you’ve got the music just right. Maybe they decide where to stand during […]

Help, I’m Strapped! [Setting Guitar Players Free]

by Backstage: Materials, Tools & Skills Greenroom: 10 Comments

I want to talk to you guitar players out there who are in a band, but not singing lead.  You might be wondering what YOU’RE supposed to do to be interesting onstage. [Part 2 will focus on some additional things more applicable to lead players.] We’ve found that a typical rehearsal involving guitar players usually […]

How to Create a “Moment” in Your Live Show

by Backstage: Making it Your Own, Materials, Tools & Skills, The Foundation, Vision & Planning Greenroom: Leave a Comment

You’ve often heard me talk about creating “moments” in your live show!  Creating “moments” is key to having a successful live show and a successful career.  Many of you have asked: “How do I create “moments” in my live show?” or “How do I find the “moments” in my songs?”  I have to admit, it’s […]

5 Places to Talk in Your Show: Stage Banter

by Backstage: Materials, Tools & Skills Greenroom: 8 Comments

Working on the music, the visual, and most of the transitions for a show usually takes up most of a rehearsal time. So when I first started working with artists on their live show, and we’d get to places where the front man needed to introduce the band, tell a story, do a song intro […]

Talladega Nights and the Problem With Hands

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

There’s a scene in Talladega Nights: the Ballad of Ricky Bobby in which Will Ferrell is being interviewed and doesn’t know what to do with his hands. Consequently, his hands just float awkwardly up by his face. Funny stuff! Watch the video below to see this scene. Most of the artists I work with can […]

Onstage Challenges for Singer/Songwriters

by Backstage: Making it Your Own, Materials, Tools & Skills Greenroom: 6 Comments

Singer/songwriters have their own set of challenges when it comes to their live show. They are usually stuck behind a microphone and an instrument, and if they’re not in a duo, they have no one to interact with onstage. If you’re a singer/songwriter, you know what I’m talking about. Despite these challenges, there are performance techniques […]

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 […]