Real and Raw and Exposed

I’ve been playing music on stage for a long time. And I’ve performed my share of solos and even a few 2-or-3 song sets of just-me-and-the-piano over the years. But I’ve never done a whole 45-minute set with just me and my instrument.

No band to hide behind. No sequence to fill in the bad notes.

That changes this Friday. And I’m a little nervous about it…

You see, just like a lot of us like to edit our pics on Instagram and send out only the great-looking ones — the ones that are cleaned-up, uncluttered, and fancy-schmancy… I’ve grown accustomed to hiding behind all the aforementioned comforts.

It’s easy to stay where we’re comfortable, isn’t it?

And to top it off, I really haven’t done a performance-concert like this — i.e. not a worship event — for I-don’t-even-remember how long. Probably at least seven or eight years! Having five kids has slowed me down a little bit in that regard. In high school, it was commonplace for me to spend three or four hours or more an evening writing music and working on new sequences.

I still play with a band every weekend at church and lead at several events throughout the year, but it’s not the same as performing a concert. I used to spend hours preparing for these things: memorizing lyrics, playing through the songs and trying to make them the best I possibly could.

So… all that to say, I’m really looking forward to this challenge. And I’m thankful for a coffee shop setting where not everyone will be focused directly on me. Some people will be talking, and some part-time watching, and that’s okay. A friend of mine who has performed there before says the atmosphere is really relaxed. That’s what I need.

So I’m gonna sing. And I’ll be all real and raw and exposed. Here. we. go!

Visit the Facebook event here for all the details.