With the recent very cold front that has swept over my little corner of Belgium, it’s difficult to imagine the warmth and sunshine that illuminated my November 25 Monday visit to Petit-Château was warm and sunny. As I sit and write from my kitchen table, a cup of coffee and big, white husky at…
Tag: vulnerability
Semaine no. 1
Last week was Malcolm and my official first week of work as startup entrepreneurs in proximity to one another. We are not starting off fresh as spring daisies, but we are present and passionate. For the past several years, Malcolm and I have been working together from a distance with very intermittent opportunities to work…
Sometimes scary is okay
I did something scary today. I put myself out of my comfort zone, and it surprised me how very far out of it I felt. There is safety in numbers, and I have experienced this first hand in musical performance. When I went out busking last week, I went with a friend. We kept each…
Make the audience your friend
In my experience performing with ukulele in hand, I have found that befriending the audience helps alleviate much of the stress from being vulnerable on the stage. When I befriend the audience, I am no longer standing up there in front of a bunch of strangers. I can create a temporary community with everyone in…
Performance do’s and don’ts
In my last post, I began a dialogue about musical performance. This dialogue was inspired by a fellow musician, who wrote to me recently with questions on the subject. One her questions was how to remember music when you are in front of an audience. I reflected on this question. Remembering lyrics has always come…
Performance jitters
A musician across the proverbial pond recently sent me a message about performance. The questions she raised were perfect fodder for a dialogue, and I was honored by her words and her willingness to be vulnerable and reach out. For me, becoming comfortable with performance has been a long, bumpy ride, and even today there…
Hooked on Story-to-Song
The stories people share seem to take hold of me. They haunt me as I begin the process of creating a song. Just a few days ago, I asked a coworker if she would share a story about Lowell. She shared a fairly dark story of going into an abandoned building that was slated to…
A need for sharing our stories
Time banks are on the rise, and a skill I am offering to my community is that of songwriting. I offered a songwriting demonstration at the Merrimack Valley Time Exchange Skills Showcase last night in downtown Lowell at the LTC. It was a work night, but many folks came out to participate. I played a…
Guiding Song 