The Why Why move when you’re onstage? I’m sort of philosophical. I want to understand the “why” before the “what” and “when.” And the “why” helps me apply concepts to what it is I want to do. The why of moving onstage is that your songs don’t sound the same, and so they shouldn’t look […]
Don’t Skip the Skip
by Backstage: Materials, Tools & Skills Greenroom: Leave a Comment
Contrary to some artists’ way-too-casual approach, how you get around on stage during your show matters. Let’s think about it for a minute. First of all, remember that 55% of communication from the stage is visual – what the audience sees. Example: If your show uses lights, I’m guessing that during a rockin’ song, those […]
I Want You to Want Me
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I just returned from our Road Show Bootcamp event in Baton Rouge. I had a really great time talking to artists and demonstrating how to improve their live performance. Our group was all over the map in terms of musical style, age, personality, goals, and where they are in their careers. In spite of these […]
Even Without the Bells and Whistles
by Backstage: Materials, Tools & Skills Greenroom: 1 Comment
In every craft, to be a professional there are fundamentals that need to be learned. And as the live show becomes more and more important to an artist’s career, the fundamentals and tools of performance are becoming more and more important. You need to understand and know how to use those tools to become engaging […]
The Songwriter Round
by Backstage: Materials, Tools & Skills Greenroom: 4 Comments
I recently wrote about a songwriter round at the Bluebird Café in Nashville. ‘Rounds’ for those not familiar, are when a group of writers take turns singing songs they’ve written. Typically they just sit and sing, sometimes playing or singing along with the other writers. It’s not what you’d call a show. It’s more a […]
A Better Introduction to Your Song
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Setting up a song can be critical to how a song goes over! At the very least, you want to create some anticipation with the audience for what you’ll be doing. So in this article, we’ll look at a specific song and see what you might do to create the right atmosphere and emotionally connect […]
Painting With Musical Colors
by Backstage: Materials, Tools & Skills Greenroom: 2 Comments
We get this question from soloists and singer/songwriters all the time: “How do I apply what you do? I’m all by myself onstage – there’s no way to make things ‘look’ different!” And the answer to that question actually applies to everyone who performs onstage: It’s really about using all the colors you have in […]
The Storyteller
by Backstage: Materials, Tools & Skills Greenroom: 4 Comments
I rarely go to songwriter rounds, because for every 1 great writer you often have to sit through 3 or 4 bad ones. The other night at the famous Bluebird Café in Nashville was an exception. I mainly went to see one of the artists I work with, The Stellas, and they did not disappoint, […]
The ‘In-the-Moment’ Moments
by Backstage: Making it Your Own, Materials, Tools & Skills Greenroom: Leave a Comment
Ok. You’ve worked on your set. You’ve worked on your show, your moments, your transitions, and all manner of details. You are now standing onstage, keeping an eye on the audience. To one side of the stage you see some people doing a really cool dance move to the chorus of your song and you […]
To Move or Not to Move – It’s One of the Questions
by Backstage: Materials, Tools & Skills Greenroom: 3 Comments
There are a lot of psychological and spiritual reasons why we don’t want to move when we’re on the platform. Many people think it’s distracting. And it can be distracting when it’s done at inappropriate times. But it’s also distracting if it’s not done when it is appropriate! We should always look to keep the […]
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