You don’t have to be good to be great

I doubt that any of my favourite singers would have passed the audition stage of The Voice let alone made it through to the finals. I avoid watching those supposed “reality” shows because my feelings about pitting one vocalist against another in some sort of battle to the death makes me quietly fume. (sometimes not…

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The search for newness.

I’ve never been a fan of awards shows in the music or film industry.  Probably because I’ve never won anything.  I’ve never even been nominated.  Only myself to blame for that, I suppose but as a result, I’ve never tuned in or shown any interest in the Grammy Awards, The Oscars, et al as I’ve…

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It was a very good year..

It was a very good year. One of my favourite songs of all time.   I should warn you that the following blog is pretty introspective, self indulgent and it’s all about ME!!  Lol.  So if you’re not into that, here are some amusing pictures of kittens so you don’t feel like you’ve come here…

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The Circuit

I read someone else’s blog about what is wrong with the music industry in this country the other day and it got me reminiscing about “the good old days” when we actually had venues to see great bands or to perform with our own bands in.  Specifically the venues on the Northern Beaches.  I guess…

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I hear you guys are lookin?

Finding the right band to join can be a harrowing experience.  Combing through the “Muso’s Wanted” column of the classifieds can be seriously hit and miss and, despite how well-worded that three line advertisement may be, it hardly gives you a very good indication of whether the band will be a good fit not only…

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The first “Live On Deck”

A couple of weekends back we ran our first “Live On Deck” show at Continuumusic.  Basically, we put on four bands on our stage in the studio backyard, recorded them in multi-track and set up a bunch of video cameras to capture their performances.  It went well.  Each band was asked to invite some guests…

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The Secrets of Great Singers

  Who are you and why are you here? That’s the first question I ask a new student when they come in for singing lessons.  The answer I’m looking for is rarely the one they supply however.  I already know their name and they would have already told me that they want to “learn” how…

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Career Low Points

If you’ve been on stage, you’re likely to have had them. Those nights when something went terribly, terribly wrong. Whether the problem was brought about by a technical issue, illness or just a plain, old fashioned screw up, there are those times when we didn’t quite hit the mark and the show went into a…

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The Dos and Don’ts of performing at a venue Part IV

Last week we covered Dealing with Sound Engineers and Dealing with Promoters/Venue Operators. This is our last part of the series: During the Performance and After the Performance  9. During the Performance Do avoid “dead air”. (moments of silence where no music or between song banter is being projected from the stage.)  Audiences lose interest quickly…

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