Two for me this year....
First is to lose 40 lbs, and run another race (competitively) by or before my 48th birthday in June.
Second is going to be a work in progress... the short version is; I need to improve my 'Stage Presence'.
This is something I've been aware was lacking in my performance for a while, but until recently, I've always been more of an anchorman bass player, and not really responsible for frontperson duties. Or maybe I've just been lazy. Whatever the reason behind it, that role is changing with this-coming season, as our neo-oldtyme band New River Bound is trying to expand beyond the comfortable little niche' as a semi-formal Appalachian String Quartet, and become more of an 'entertainment' group, showcasing some original music and songwriting in a more cogent way.
I drew some inspiration from actress Barbara Eden's 2011 autobiography,
"Jeannie, Out of the Bottle". Early in her life, she initially wanted to become a singer, (and eventually,
did) but her Mother noticed something was missing. Listening to young Barbara sing, she commented-
"...your notes are perfectly pitched and placed, but I can tell, you don't mean a word of it." So she suggested her daughter take some acting classes. The rest is television history of course, as Barbara became famous for playing memorable, some would say, unforgettable characters more so than singing.
The lesson I took away was this... I need to connect with an audience better, even if it means I play a character while onstage. No idea what that character might be yet, or how it may develop, only that I'm going to work on it just as earnestly as those 40 lbs of laziness.
And for what it's worth, I've had an autographed picture of Jeannie in my case for 20-some years... and a smoke-green Christmas 1964 Jim Beam decanter bottle in the practice room longer than that. I
know she's around there
somewhere...
