Uh--I think you guys are both saying basically the same thing.

It's normal, I think, to be a bit keyed up and eager to do a good job, but to be debilitatingly frightened is both selfish and self-defeating. I don't know any performer worth his or her salt who doesn't focus their concentration before a performance, but it you are worried so much about how you will do, there is something wrong, and you're laible to disappoint both yourself and your audience.

One of the things Dr. Chapple said in our conversation was about the immportance of being well-prepared and well-rehearsed. This, I've noted, is a common flaw with a lot of singers of folk songs who seem to think, "I don't have to practice. In fact, I shouldn't practice. After all, this is folk music!" Implication: "Because it's folk music, I don't have to be all that good."

When you get up in front of an audience, no matter what else you might be, you are a performer, and you owe it to the audience to be well-prepared.

Being well-prepared is the master key to conquering stage fright.

Don Firth