Friday, February 15, 2013

Welcome To The Playground


 Hello Folks!         Due to the overwhelming success of the show last fall featuring Ivy James, JP Saxe, Mike Butler and Rebecca Codas, the good people at Hughes Room have asked Singers Playground back for a spring concert!
  It was truly a wonderful experience as a coach to see young and talented artists rise to the challenge of the excellent concert venue, including their learning curve around publicizing the show, which was a large part of how we ended up with such a large and attentive crowd.
   Unlike a lot of commercial venues Hughes Room believes in fostering up and coming talent, and to that end, have asked JP Saxe back for his own show in March.  They believe in what we are doing at Singers Playground  and are helping us foster the growth of musical careers with this concert series.
We have set a date (June 5th) for a spring concert featuring some of the other artists that I have been working with at Singers Playground. Stay tuned for the announcement of who will be performing.
In the meantime let me share with you the criteria for who is asked to perform on this invitational evening.

                                               Choosing The Performers.

  Most of the artists featured in the last show were first introduced to be during the Singers Playground Workshops where a room full of talented singers face the challenges they experience in live performance. Although usually followed up with private sessions, the workshops are the first way I get to meet and  work with a singer and it always proves instructive to me as a coach to see how they respond to the experience.

There are a few simple criteria for me in choosing who is asked to perform:
  Is the artist digging in to the best of their abilities to improve their skill set? This means working on their voice technique, their songwriting and/or arranging skills, learning how to record demo's and working with producers to hone their sound?
Is the artist out performing already and gathering an audience for their music? Do they have the commitment to publicizing their shows and building their careers?
Are they using social media to tell their story and create a buzz? Do they understand their "brand" and are they willing to examine their potential place in the marketplace? Are they increasing their understanding of music business strategies and learning how to build a team of believers around them?
 Simply put, the singers who are working hardest on the music, on themselves and on their musical careers are going to be considered for this opportunity.

Believe it or not there is only a very small batch of singers that I work with who are actually focused on ALL of these elements.  Its a hard balancing act and no one gets it right all the time..however its my job as a coach to help support that possibility and remind the young artists of what their job actually entails.

Welcome To The Playground!

http://www.singersplayground.com/workshops.html