datamusicata

It is Saturday and I am in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It’s a beautiful day and I am taking it easy as I have a house concert tonight and one tomorrow night, both without sound systems, so I have to have plenty of rest and make certain that I don’t sing too hard; something that is very easy to do when you are working without a sound system.

I have been asked how many concerts in a row I can do without the show suffering, and I think that three is my particular limit. I mean the shows are always at least two hours of performing not counting the interaction before, during and after the sets.

The fact that I have two unamplified house concerts in a row, followed by a concert in New York City at the Cutting Room (www.thecuttingroomnyc.com) and this being my first show in New York City in years, I am very much interested it doing my best there.

I mean you are always interested in doing your best. My friend, Tom Dundee, payed me an enormous compliment when he told me that I treat every gig like Carnegie Hall. I don’t think that it should be any other way, but, you must pace yourself, so that you can do that at every gig. And if this sounds like a burden, believe me it isn’t. Carrying around the memory of a show where you couldn’t deliver your best is much more of a burden.

It is my plan to ease into this day and to sing and play gently for several hours today. I am going to start out with humming and playing and then ease into the singing. After I ma thoroughly warmed up, I will do a tweny minute meditation and then get cleaned up and sing and play more.

That way when I walk into the spotlight, I am already in the place where I can access the best of what I ‘ve got to offer. And I will do a fifty five minute set followed by a thirty break which is actually a meet and greet, and then a fifty minute show.

After the show, I always do meet and greet at the end of the show. I like to make certain that anyone who’d like to talk to me can do so. Plus I like the connection. It is both fun and rewarding to know that the music that came from my heart is actually resonating in another heart. Nothing tops that sort of interchange.

However this evening, I will try to be more of a listener than a talker, as talking actually is harder on your voice than singing. That’s one of the reasons that I never go to a loud bar after a show. Shouting after singing all night will really fry your voice. And as a solo performer I have no place to hide if my voice can’t do the songs that I’ve written.

And I have one more consideration in this instance. I must get up at 7 am tomorrow morning and drive some three hundred miles and then do another show tomorrow night. So will be careful and aware this eveing and tomorrow evening as well. Hopefully I can sleep until I wake up on Monday and then make the relatively short drive to NYC from Philadelphia.

I will also stay very well hydrated today and tonight and tomorrow. Not drinking enough water is another thing that can fry your voice. You must stay completely hydrated when you are doing three shows in a row.

Actually you should always stay well hydrated. It’s better for your health and your vitality to keep a constant stream of water flowing through you. You can tell when you are getting enough water because your urine is almost clear. I know this sounds a bit coarse, but make certain that you are not a dark yellow. That is an indication that you must drink more water.

So the short summation here is plenty of rest, plenty of easy warm up time, focused meditation and plenty of water. That’s how I plan to do it. I’ll let you know how it goes after Monday night’s show. I will have done the three concerts in a row at that point.