Won't the Audience Get Bored - Tom Jackson with Brett Manning

[kathrynh89]

Like you said, part of it is what the audience hears, and part is what they see. If you move around and get emotional and look into the eyes of individual people, they will probably connect more.

[ReverendNovember]

It's not about acting, Kathryn. It's about feeling. You keep talking about things to do outwardly. Remember there is an inside to you too and that's where emotion happens. There's no emotion in your eyes if there's none in your heart. Forget about your eyes and focus on feeling.

[kathrynh89]

it would be helpful if you could go into more detail on exactly HOW to create that emotional connection..because to me, sometimes, the emotion connection has everything to do with the way the person sings it or the song itself. If i relate more to a certain song, I'm going to have more of an emotion connection with that particular song over another one. Or if the artist goes into falsetto or does a vocal twirl or crescendos on a certain line, that's going to have an effect too.

[ReverendNovember]

I don't have Tom's DVDs, though I'm saving... But from my personal experience, making an emotional connection stems from being emotionally available. You've got to open up on stage like you would for someone you're in love with. Sure, vocal licks are nice.. AFTER you have rapport with the audience. How to have rapport? Understand them by understanding yourself. Everyone wants to see a band that has their stuff together so well they can just rock. Tom talks about this.

[kathrynh89]

Yeah, I have thought about that a lot too. One of the hardest things for me as a singer/songwriter is complete abandon when I'm singing with or without people in front of me. And even to write a song in the first place and have a "musical identity" to where you know exactly what your "sound" is, you really have to know yourself inside and out. And that's really hard for me because I'm still finding myself. I feel like if you present your true self to the audience, they connect more.

[ReverendNovember]

I know what you're saying. I'm in the same spot. I don't know. Do you have any positive experiences playing live? The more positive experiences you have of playing live or even seeing great shows you'd like to emulate, the easier and more stable you'll find a resourceful state and a positive belief in the whole thing. Make sense? Do karaoke or poetry reading. Something you CAN let go in. Or remember something you did like that.

[kathrynh89]

Yeah, I've actually thought a lot about doing live poetry reading, even though it gets a bad rep sometimes, because I write a lot of poetry with the intention of making them into songs, but I haven't spent the time to make them all into songs so they just sit in my notebook. And it might be a good way to get used to sharing your soul with an audience without having to worry about delivering the musical part. I've had plenty of successful gigs as a violinist, but haven't done much live singing.

[livemusicproducer]

thanks guys...

[yeffal413]

Great Tom,

The stuff that keeps em' coming back.

[asbpkmusic]

great advice!