After witnessing the Ann Arbor Folk Festival this past weekend (see my review) I'm feeling pretty motivated about not only writing, but playing out. In addition to hosting such great acts as Over the Rhine, Glen Phillips, Bill Staines and more, The Ark in Ann Arbor has an open stage night about once a month. I've played out a bunch as the drummer for my band in years past, but never as a singer/songwriter. Now that I've got a couple years of playing under my belt, I'm considering taking a few songs out to the public.
I'm wondering what others have to say about the challenge of playing your songs out live. Any comments, hints, suggestions or warnings?
Thanks,
J
edit to add: Also, what do you think about "scripted" banter? I know that most banter isn't technically "scripted", but artists repeat the same banter between songs as a result of trying different things over and over and finding what works. Seems to me that keeping the audience involved and interested is vital. Comments?
2 comments:
Playing live is a great way to see which songs "work" and which don't. Songs we love in the closet can sometimes move people to tears, or bore them to tears.
You can usually tell by the looks on the faces of the people you don't know.
I think whenever I play live, my goal is to win over that person who doesn't care...if I can get them involved or interested, I've done what I hoped to do.
I guess it also depends on why you play live. Do you play live to connect with people? To showcase new songs to friends and family? To "scratch the itch"?
On banter...I've done both. When I play with my band I tended to have a little more prepared (time was sometimes limited so things HAD to keep moving). It wasn't as much scripted word for word as I had an idea of something I would talk about at a certain point. It may simply have been about something I read online that day or about something that happened to me.
I think it's important to make a connection with your audience. There are those who perform and could care less if the audience gets it or enjoys it, but I come more from the U2 school of live shows...invite the audience in, make them a part of what you are doing.
I ramble therefore I am.
Thanks for the input Steve. I agree with you about getting the audience involved. This past weekend at the Folk Festival I was amazed at the different ways artists interacted with the audience. Some used comedy, some dramatic stories, some endeared themselves to us with their personalities or their stories of the road. I remember wanting to feel at ease with an artist. To feel, "hey, he or she is one of us." I especially noticed the new blood.
I learned something recently from a member of the Old Guard Fife & Drum Corps (which Lindsay is a member of). He said that the Old Guard Drumline is not THAT much better than some drumlines (although they are considered to be). He said what made people think that was that they SELL IT. Every show, every song... they sell it. Even though I didn't know what he "meant", I knew EXACTLY what he meant. There is a confidence to these guys. People are ready to be impressed. And they don't disappoint. Sure, they make mistakes, but they make you think they are the greatest musicians that ever played a drum.
Maybe it comes from their command of the stage. Maybe from their image. Maybe other things.
I think there's a lesson in there for any musician.
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