I’ve got a special bonus episode for you today: an uncut recording of a live concert I gave on July 6th at a club in Martinez, CA, called Armando’s. My husband, known on my blog and the podcast as Miracle Man, or MM, for short, was kind enough to prop up my iPhone and capture the entire set, and I thought it would be fun to share it with you.
Listen or watch, as you prefer!
The concert starts at about 5 minutes 30 seconds, fyi.
http://youtu.be/qbW_2KwnIC0
Because my goal here is to get YOU creating, before I get to the performance, I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you that what you see here (if you’re watching the video) — or what you hear here (if you’re listening to the podcast) — is NOT in any way indicative of how I started out.
I was NOT a born performer. I did NOT start out comfortable in front of a crowd. Nor did I start out with a strong singing voice.
All of this is the product of years and decades of effort and practice.
When I started, I really sucked. The first several dozen (or possibly hundred) times I got on stage, my mouth was so dry, and my diaphragm so paralyzed, I could barely make a sound. I used to shake like a leaf!
And when I started playing with a guitar or ukulele, my hands shook so much I could not play!! I remember my first time in front of an audience, playing guitar and singing at the same time — I literally could not get my fingers to land on the strings where they were supposed to, because there was so much adrenaline coursing through my veins and making me shake!
As for my singing, although most people think that singers are born not made, singing is a learned skill, too. Until about 2009 or 2010, I didn’t have much of a head voice — I couldn’t sing high with any power whatsoever — and I didn’t have very much control over my singing voice in general. It took years of voice lessons and doing daily vocal exercises to learn to sing well.
Learning to sing is really developing and learning to control your vocal folds (aka, vocal chords) and your diaphragm. It’s basically a function of strengthening muscles, just like you’d lift weights to build up your biceps.
All this is to say, performers — and artists of all kinds — are MADE, not born. And they are made through EFFORT. Persistent and consistent effort.
You have to start out sucky in order to get unsucky.
You’re crappy at first, because you’re a beginner. You want to be great, and you strive to be great, but you’re a beginner, so even when you’re doing your very best, all you can produce at first is crap.
But that’s okay!!! You have to start out making crap first — and remember, we NEED the crap, in order to fertilize the good stuff! You’ve got to suck first, in order to unsuck! (Click to tweet!)
So with all of that in mind, I hope you enjoy the show!
Coming to a Living Room Near You (Possibly Even Yours!)
Oh, and if you enjoy this concert, and would like to have a show like this in your own living room, check out my Living Room Tour.
Yes, I’m couch surfing my way across the country (and around the world?), performing in living rooms, churches, community centers, and other intimate venues.
So far I’ve performed in California, Virginia, and Maryland, with three stops in Texas coming up in October. Your living room could be next! Click here for more info.
Contest!
Don’t forget! To celebrate the launch of Live Creative Now Podcast, right now I’m running a contest — if you subscribe, and leave a review, you could win:
- a copy of The Art of Work, by Jeff Goins (who I’m going to be interviewing in a few weeks)
- autographed copies of my CDs of original music – Online Dating Blues, and My Ukulele (the Naked Sessions)
- a 12×18” poster of my Creative Sandbox Rules.
OR, the “grand prize,” a half-hour one-on-one session with me, to borrow my brain for anything you want — get past creative blocks, help with your creative business, whatever you want.
So click here subscribe to the podcast, and leave a review, and leave your question inside.
Thanks for Listening!
Thanks so much for joining me this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!
If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post.
Also, please leave an honest review for Live Creative Now on Tunes! Ratings and reviews make a big difference in how the show is ranked, and that makes a big difference in helping other people find it, and that helps grow the Creative Uprising!
So you can be an important part of this movement simply by leaving a review.
Plus, if you have a question about living a creative life that you’d like me to address, type it into your review and you may just hear it featured on a future episode! (Yep, to incentivize you to leave a review, I prioritize questions that are left inside reviews. 🙂 )
If you’d also like your voice to be heard on the show, leave your question as a voice message right here.
And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates.
Now go get creating!
PS — Pssst! Know someone who might benefit from seeing this today? Pass it on!
