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The Roles in a Band

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

Every band is unique and is made up of different personalities and talents. But there are still roles within every band that must be put into practice. The end result — where each member of the band understands and develops his or her role — will mean the band connects even more with the audience. […]

What’s Your Angle?

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

I watched a singer on TV the other night. With all the holiday specials, it’s hard to miss a few performances when I’m flipping through the channels. But I have to admit, I don’t purposely look for them – especially because I get so frustrated when I see the lack of understanding when it comes […]

Balancing the Stage

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

Whether you are in a singing group or a band, audiences like balance onstage. Someone in the audience probably won’t be able to describe it, but it just doesn’t feel right when there are too many people on one side of the stage or the other. It feels unbalanced. Oftentimes, when I’m working with a […]

Trashcans, Cut Offs, & Thanks: Ending with Authority

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

You’ve created a terrific moment… your audience has been visibly engaged & you played great… and now you’re heading to the end of the song. Here are your choices: 1) keep the momentum going and get wild, exhilarating applause, or 2) kill the energy and restrict the response. I’m guessing you choose #1. Of course […]

4 Ways to Move: Get Comfortable With It

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I’ve taught this for years – and yet I still find many artists either don’t understand or they don’t believe it. Or maybe they’re confused about the “why” and “how” of the whole thing. It’s a simple enough concept: you need to move onstage. Remember how important the visual is for your audience? It’s 55% […]

More Colors: 7 Ideas for Singers & Songwriters

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I’ve mentioned before that every musician, artist, band – each one of you has “colors in your palette” to use when you perform live. Some artists have fewer colors (1 person, 1 instrument). Other artists have a multitude of colors, with multiple instruments, voices, and ways to use them. Your unique arrangement of instruments, voices, […]

It’s Song #4, But Moment #3

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

Recently, I noticed an artist had very nicely blogged about what she learned at a workshop I taught a few years ago. She was complimentary about the set list I’d taught, and proceeded to tell everyone about it – problem was, it wasn’t what I’d taught. I’m glad she was appreciative of my session, but […]

Conversation with 3 Facebook Winners: Part 2

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This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series Conversation with 3 Facebook Winners

This is the second installment in a conversation I had with 3 artists recently. They won a Facebook giveaway for a free 1-hour conference call with me, and each of them had questions you might wonder about, too. Danielle Todd, Danika Holmes, and Mike Westendorf all joined me on Skype one evening. First, we talked […]

Conversation with 3 Facebook Winners: Part 1

by Backstage: Materials, Tools & Skills Greenroom: 3 Comments
This entry is part 1 of 2 in the series Conversation with 3 Facebook Winners

A few weeks ago we had a Facebook contest for a free 1-hour conference call with me… a chance to say anything, ask anything you wanted! Now, I’m not sure the prize of talking to me is all that great. But I was glad to pick 3 winners and have a conversation with them. We […]

House Concerts: Keep It Organic

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

An artist I work with asked me some questions recently about house concerts. For those of you who might be unfamiliar with these, it’s simply a concert done at someone’s home. Set up in a living room or basement, shove some furniture around and invite friends and family over for the gig. It’s typically a […]