"My Word" back to the acoustic for this one :-)

[Ferryman_1957]

Nick Drake! I wish :-)

Tom

It sounded darn close in parts, especially some of your chord sequences. Very haunting quality there Tom, lovely fragility and ethereal nature.

Cheers,

Nigel

[The Gobi Desert Canoe Club]

A haunting melody Tom, well written and well played. I'm always careful about writing for people I know in case they read to much into them, but for your kids, lovely. Although I played professionally and semi pro I never lost my nerves, I think you need a bit of an adrenaline rush to help things along. Having said that, I always played in bands and could hide behind the guys that did project, I can imagine playing on your own is a different ball game altogether. Remember though, that even now you are playing to people all over the world and your music is well accepted and liked why would a local gig be any different. These people have come to see you, enjoy it and please tell us how you got on...........Willie

[OsCKilO]

This is Sublime!

Nick drake vibe big time!

That guitar work is Superb, and the vocal is full of heart!

Love it!





I play live and run an acoustic night every week now.
Ferrymans advice is spot on!



Stagefright is the fear of not performing to your own standards.
So why not beat it by lining yourself up for a good performance!

Always introduce yourself on stage. It gives you a chance to check the mic level once you are on . Then Just get comfy on stage and dont let any fucker rush you...
If you need something before you can play (reverb, Lows, volume....) just ask the host.

I once (well... Last week) went to a shit open mic when some idiot used to time the acts with an egg timer. Hardly good for the acts...

The trick to dealing with those places is simple. Find another open mic. There are tons! Bad hosts lose acts and end up losing thier night due to lack of attendance.

Remember.... it is your show!



And you are gonna be awesome judging by this!

[tom r]

Thanks again lads. Many years ago I did a gig on my own and a gang of helps angels turned up at the pub (it was there local) god what a night I had!!! Character building :-)
I will give it a go in the new year.

T

[OsCKilO]

a gang of helps angels turned up at the pub

Are they like hells angels? But help you instead of Beating ya up?

[tom r]

Oops! i typed my previous response on an ipod touch :-) rubbish little keyboard
Very good I wish they were "helps" angels but alas no. They gave me lots of words of encouragement such as F..K ..f your Sh.t. But i battled through two sets!!!!
If i were in a motor bike gang i'd be in the helps angels

T

[SwanSong]

HI Tom
First of all nice peice. however the vocals need to b boosted in the mix
as far as stage fright , when i was able to preform live. in tribute bands
i was scared scared to death. and i had no rehearsal with the band..at
the party..so i just paid attention to my keyboard playing and what band
mebers would tell me. to do  once i got into the groove after a few minutes
the stage fright disappear.s trust me.! either way nice song could definately
work . u have nice vocals it sounds but a bit weak on mix. but live would b
different of course. tc NEIL

[SE]

Hey this is a cool tune very personal and emotional, maybe not your first on a open mic night, but this would certainly work.
I think you,ve got the best advice possible from Andy, Ferryman and Osckilo and if you follow that you won,t go far wrong.

[tom r]

I have taken note and hopefully will get out with the guitar asap. Definitely try the breathing excercises and do lots of prep before hand

T

[j.g.]

This a great song, but as everyone says if you're getting stage fright don't use it as an opener. Use all your comfortable ones first. The advice given by all here is very good and one thing I can add is my personal experience.
For years I had played in local bands as backing vocals and guitarist and even then mainly rhythm to some really good lead players. I formed a duo with a guy (he was a excellent guitar vocals) and had been out for about four five months with him. I got a phone call on the way to gig to say he had badly cut his hand, so he couldn't make it. I was just outside this huge pub and thought "The show must go on" . I walked in, set up the gear and then took a deep breath. I then announced "Advertised on the board is the Duo "Tim and Geoff", as you can see there is only one of us for the night. If you don't like what you hear, my name is Tim, if you like it, my name is Geoff, so here's the first one........" The howls of laughter settled my nerves, and as they were not expecting much, I got away with it and had a great night. In fact at the end the guy came up and said "How much do we owe you" I said " Just pay me half the duo fee" He said "we've had a great night,as you were taking the mick out of your self all night we'll pay you the duo price and you can come again on your own"
The moral of it all is "Relax - Just do what you do and enjoy the night - a nervous artist will always be nervous and that feeds to the audience and they will pick up on that and it will get harder and harder all night"
"Relax and enjoy"  
Geoff