Well my friends after decades of dreaming and dreading , I finally made it to an open mic, and survived. I must say it changed my lifetime perspective on guitar. I am admittedly a hermit, I spent my career as that eccentric engineer in the corner who you went to when NOBODY could figure it out , and then solve it a few minutes. As a Luthier , I live for seeing my instruments on stage in the hands of people who are skilled.
It is the same way any parent feels of the child doing well ( I'm a grandpa) . I've always played just for the pure pleasure of it.
Performance was something I did in Orchestra years ago , never solo , or in any spotlight.
SO ...what changed ?? Through the steady encouragment of several musician friends and most importantly my dear friend Bill Hart, I took the plunge. A duet with Bill, which I'd done at my place before , so it was casual feeling. I realized for the first time that when you are up there , it's a different universe , all of a sudden the crowd is out there ...and quite suddenly since they are ...no worries !
Certainly not my best playing , but I DIDN"T freeze .
60 years of crippling stage fright GONE!!! God bless you Bill. Of course , as is his task in Life , after he made sure I could fly a little , he stepped away and let me play originals for about 10 .. I realized that the folks in the club needed "background music " and I'd done this on my lunch break in the lounge at work for a good ten years... Working in a high stress Mission Critical call center , people would frequently say " I wish they could pipe your playing to the building " I'm a Michael Hedges type acoustic player .... I always rolled my eyes, shook my head and kept playing , not appreciating that it was actually bringing them serenity ....
The EPIPHANY : The great lightswitch moment of Suzuki training .. Practice until you can't get in wrong , and more importantly NOT for your pleasure anymore , but with dillligence to bring joy to others.
It is the same way any parent feels of the child doing well ( I'm a grandpa) . I've always played just for the pure pleasure of it.
Performance was something I did in Orchestra years ago , never solo , or in any spotlight.
SO ...what changed ?? Through the steady encouragment of several musician friends and most importantly my dear friend Bill Hart, I took the plunge. A duet with Bill, which I'd done at my place before , so it was casual feeling. I realized for the first time that when you are up there , it's a different universe , all of a sudden the crowd is out there ...and quite suddenly since they are ...no worries !
Certainly not my best playing , but I DIDN"T freeze .
60 years of crippling stage fright GONE!!! God bless you Bill. Of course , as is his task in Life , after he made sure I could fly a little , he stepped away and let me play originals for about 10 .. I realized that the folks in the club needed "background music " and I'd done this on my lunch break in the lounge at work for a good ten years... Working in a high stress Mission Critical call center , people would frequently say " I wish they could pipe your playing to the building " I'm a Michael Hedges type acoustic player .... I always rolled my eyes, shook my head and kept playing , not appreciating that it was actually bringing them serenity ....
The EPIPHANY : The great lightswitch moment of Suzuki training .. Practice until you can't get in wrong , and more importantly NOT for your pleasure anymore , but with dillligence to bring joy to others.
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