Performance advice

[Chris Prieto]

I've been presented with the opportunity to play my banjo at an art show event. However the amount of time is 3 hours which seems insane. I can with no issue play 3 hours or more but this is usually in my living room in front of my wife who is totally nonplussed lol to play in front of actual humans for that long seems a bit daunting.

I figure with some allotted breaks it is two or three chunks of music? I am in the process of putting together a set list but its a pretty overwhelming list at this point. I am trying to convince my buddy to play a small tambo and the jawbone on a some of the tunes so I don't bore folks to death. I will prolly bring two banjos.

Any advice to help this go as smooth as possible?

[Chris Prieto]

long hair power!

[Al Smitley]

Just today, I was telling Tim that one time I played music for a story-time at the library.  I said, "The kids weren't even in kindergarten yet and I was still nervous!"  He suggested that maybe I should start to get a hold of my nerves by playing at animal shelters!

[Al Smitley]

Yes, good idea.  Real puppies can roll their eyes!

[Brian Kimerer]

I used to play my banjo for the talent show at work. It was a fund raiser for the United Way campaign, so nobody in the audience really expected much out of us.  I got four minutes on the stage that I had to fill with patter and banjo music.

Every year it was the same thing..... sitting there waiting to go on I would talk to myself, saying, "You idiot! Why did you say you were going to do this? You're going to die out there. This is terrible. You will probably faint or puke or something! Why do you do this?".

Then, my time would come, and I would go out there and completely mess up the whole act.

After I was done, I would sit down and say, "Well, that was fun". Then I would head off and start practicing my gig for the next year.

I think performing is only fun in retrospect.

Oh, and nobody has yet come up to me after a performance and say, "You stink".

[Strumelia]

I once did a grownup birthday party gig with another woman banjo player who had never performed for an audience before.  We muddled through somehow, and got everyone at the party singing along, etc.

As we walked to our car, I asked my friend how she felt about the whole thing.  She said "I feel like I'm going to throw up.   ...When can we do it again?"

[Brian Kimerer]

LOL. It really makes you feel alive, doesn't it?