[Harp-L] stage presence

[Michael Rubin <rubinmichael@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I believe you can learn stage presence, but I believe it is learned by watching the greats.  Seeing live music will really tell you what presence is about.  I believe I was lucky seeing MANY greats (some not mentioned by the list yet-Rick Estrin, Norton Buffalo, James Harman, Will Clarke) when I was in college.  It was a very impressionable time.  I think an older player may struggle learning presence because his personality is already more solidified in his view of himself.  Adding stage presence may seem inauthentic.
   
  I also think stage presence varies by the group.  I  have learned the hard way that jumping around like a monkey is GREAT for some bands and gets you FIRED in others.  It's kind of musical.  You would not bring out the bassman to the old time country gig and play the blues scale during the ballad.  Some bands it's your job to stand there and support the singer even during your solo.  SOme bands it can get very theatrical.  
   
  Almost every bandleader that I have backed up that has even a modicum of success tells the same jokes and the same introductions to songs EVERY show and yet makes it seem off the cuff.  They have an amazing ability to make the audience feel like they are their best friends just hanging around the living room.  Yet when I am alone with them, often they are sorely lacking in social skills.

Right now I am struggling a bit.  I am in a band that improvises humor between the songs.  Sometimes I am hilarious and sometimes it falls flat.  Sometimes I worry that I am making too many jokes and the worry shows up as non confidence in my voice and messes up the joke.  IT's still a learning process for me.  
   
  I am in another band where I stand there with my head hung low, looking depressed, giving one word answers to the singer's questions.  WHen I solo, I look very animated.  At one point in the show, I do something VERY crazy, I get to choose what so as to surpirse the band as well.
   
  Michael Rubin
  Michaelrubinharmonica.com