Not Just an Expression

You hear it constantly as one of many reasons why you should always bring your ‘A’ game for every performance.  It’s really not just an expression.  You never know who might be there.

I had a client performing in Nashville and although a double-booking made it appear as though she would be squeezed out, she decided to stay with it after I managed a successful solution with the organizer.  I was proud to see my client shake off the back-and-forth of whether she’d be playing or not, especially when she was approached after the show by none other than a music publisher.

You never know who might be there.

Another time, at an out-of-the-way spot on the east coast of Florida, I was approached by an interested listener who concluded that I was the performer’s manager.  He was so impressed with what he was hearing (same client), he good-heartedly offered to connect me with someone I would go meet with three months later – in Hollywood!  All because, through the effort and performance on that January night in the Sunshine State, “someone” was, in fact, in the audience.

Another time, I was judging an “Idol”-type contest and alongside me sat a musician who told me about having played at a mostly empty tiki bar and getting approached at the end of the night by someone who wrote him a check on the spot for the money he needed for his CD project.

He didn’t know who might be there, but he sure found out.

Oh, and the client I mentioned twice?  I first came to know her by being in attendance at an event I thought I was only attending in support of a colleague that was involved with it.  Instead, I ended up being the someone in the audience who came forward at the end to talk more with her about her music!

So, yes, bring your ‘A’ game, absolutely.  Every time.  No matter how big or small the audience.  Stage presence counts.  Let the lyrics in your original songs touch someone.  Play like it’s your first show and your last show.  While the above stories are just a few out of many out there in the industry, keep these real examples in mind, and as encouragement, each and every time you take the stage.  And then off the stage remember that you never know who might be watching the rest of your presentation – promo materials at your live show, what your website looks like, and, the awards and/or media attention you might be getting.  You very well could be the next example in someone’s blog recounting a story of a performer getting noticed by just the right audience member.  After all, it’s not just an expression.