Nice. Sun is out, birds are chirping everywhere, snow is melting. Spring seems to be peeking out from wherever it’s been hiding. Lovely. I love mornings like this.
Last night I play at the Acadia Cafe for the third time. This time was, by all accounts, my best gig ever. Nick Barretta opened by playing a few solo acoustic tunes and then he brought up Mike and Tashiki (?) and played a few more. It was sweet. They were really good. Next up was Derek Helland and he (of course) was his usual great self too. The turn out was OK, there were a few people there and it was lots of fun. I played my set and the audience was really supportive and responsive. We did “Why We Need To Show Each Other” and I got everybody to sing along to the chorus. This guy Cam in the audience thought it was the greatest thing in the world. Heh.
Anyhow, I was really comfortable, really happy up there. I think I am developing into a performer. I have always been such a studio guy, being a performer is fun. I’m really glad that I’m finally learning to do it. I always wondered how people can “do it”, you know, how they can get on stage and get a crowd on their side. Turns out it’s both harder and easier than I suspected. The easy part is that you just need to emphatically be yourself, project yourself to the audience. Play your music enthusiastically, like you mean it and have fun. If you’re having fun, they will too. People are so sensitive to what a performer is doing, whether or not they should be happy, sad, excited, bored, whatever is entirely a cue taken from the person on stage. In concept all of this is easy to understand, in reality it’s hard. You have to develop confidence with what you’re doing up there, develop belief in your ability to entertain people. I have developed that a bit now. I believe I can do this. Last night I wasn’t nervous, I was just ready to go and have some fun up there. I think the more fun I am having, the more the audience likes it. At least, that’s what I think is happening.
More From Ryan Sutter
- I figured something out
- musical submissions
- skywriting by word of mouth
- air supply
- the week of kloey
