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I'd like to hear peoples' thoughts on what musicians can do to cultivate the impression that real live music adds something that the alternatives lack.



1) Pursue EXCELLENCE in your performance at ll times.

Whatever it takes, get R done. Practice, of course. But there is so much more to turning in a Strong Performance than just the rote practicing part. Pursue a trustworthy critic that knows the business and see if you can get them to honestly evaluate your act and if they tell you any aspect of it that they feel could stand improvement, by all means pursue that avenue until you have conquered whatever it is.

2) LOVE your audience.

Don't become one of those musicians who play only what they want to play, ignoring what their audience wants to hear. If they want to hear a song that you feel is quite the cheezy number, for whatever reason, don't fall into the ego trap of making fun of their choice or refusing to play their song. A lot of those songs may be easy - and that's a plus, actually.

As Les Paul so famously put it, "Some of those guys get up on the stage and want to make the customers listen, even if they have to tie 'em to the bastool!" The customers are who pays you. The workin' guy who wants to hear that song and be taken away from the worries of the workday deserves your respect and you should joyfully play the song he requests whenever you can. Then one more customer will come back and pay to see you again and very likely will talk it up to others as well.

3) Help the venue owner or manager SELL their product. If a restaurant, take the time to get to know the menu and add it to your between song chatter once in a while. Bars, this should be easy enough to accomplish. I once asked a bartender at a joint I was playing solo piano in which kinda booze he had too much of. He instantly replied, "The Tequila. For some reason, nobody ever orders the Marguarita or even a straight shot with lime and salt around here."

Before my break was over, I had a little conversation with one of the waitresses, pressed ten spot into her hand, and after I had played the first three songs of the next set, up she comes onstage with a tray, lime, salt and a shot of Tequila. Mmmmm. Thok. A bit of patter included, of course.

The guy couldn't believe it, people started ordering Tequila shots.

Needless to say, the relationship with that particular club and myself got a little bit better.

4) All of the above can - and should - be applied, with a little creativity, to ANY venue, from the bar through the church through the retirement community homes, weddings, bar mitzvahs, you name it.


--Mac

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