That sounds like a great set, Ebbie:

Performer heebie-jeebies... like everyone else, I've had them. The only cure for them is to "put your hand on the ha'nt." (haunt) Your approach sounds good to me, though... practice, practice, practice is the best short-term approach because the more you practice the more it can build your confidence. The first many times I performed, I was terrified. I had been playing guitar, singing and writing songs for ten years before I ever found the courage to get up on stage... and that in a small coffee house at a hootenanny where expectations run low.

I suppose that there's some underlying generality in all of this... the more you can focus on something other than yourself, the easier it is. Doing it is the trick. As you're doing some gospel, I'll offer up the experiences I've had in the last year in that regard.
They fall into the general category of not thinking about yourself when you sing.

I've been singing now for going on ten years with a male chorus, as I've commented on many times. Initially (and for a long time) I was very self-conscious as I'm normally the only white male in the church. When I sang a lead, I was thinking about myself too much, wondering what people were thinking about this old white guy getting up there to sing a lead. The experience was really no different than singing a song at a hootenanny. A couple of years ago, I started praying before I went up to sing a lead. (It works for me, but not necessarily for anyone else.) I prayed that the Lord would take charge of me, and sing through me. The experience has been overwhelming on several occasions and people have commented that they've never heard me sing in that way. There've been occasions when I've brought the whole church to it's feet and we couldn't stop the song. They wouldn't let us. When that has happened, I almost felt like I had an "out of body" experience... as if I was standing next to myself, watching the Lord sing through me. It's a difficult feeling to verbalize. You have to "be there" to really understand it.

A more secular observation I'd add is a question... one that I've asked the guys in my group when they've expressed anxiety about what people will think. "What will Johnny C think?'" was a concern I heard expressed too many times to appreciate. I finally started asking the question:

"Who are you singing for?"

It's a loaded question, and has a different answer for different occasions. For us, singing gospel, we're singing for the Lord. Not for Johnny C.. But, the same question can cause reflection on why we are singing. If I'm singing to impress people so that they'll think that I'm good and I forget a line, I'll consider it a disaster. Of course, when you step up on stage, the most obvious answer is, "for the audience." If that's the case, then try to focus all of your attention on the song and the audience. The less you think about yourself, the less nervous you will be. It may help to focus on wanting to share the song, too. That may help to take some of the pressure of the "performance" off of you. In folk music, sharing a good song is a primary motivating factor. You could argue that it is THE motivating factor. In gospel (for us) bringing the message is the primary motivating factor. That is a release too, because it becomes less about the performance, and even less about the performer.

It also helps some people if they zero in on a few friendly faces in the audience, and sing to them. Again, it has the effect of focusing on something other than yourself.

All I gotta say is, Good on you, Ebbie! It sounds like it's going to be a wonderful set. I wish I could be there to hear you. If you get a good tape of it, I wouldn't be averse to receiving a copy...

Hint, hint..

Jerry