The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #121329 Message #2647828
Posted By: Jerry Rasmussen
03-Jun-09 - 08:24 PM
Thread Name: To introduce songs, or not, and how?
Subject: RE: To introduce songs, or not, and how?
I'd say it depends on the audience how long, and what kind of an introduction you give. If I'm introducing a song in a nursing home it's quite different than it would be introducing it to a knwoledgeable folk audience. I don't feel good about "practiced" introductions. I've heard some folk singers do the same word for word introduction to a song over a period of several years. The audience notices it and makes snide remarks about singers performing on auto-pilot. I know one musician who tapes every concert and memorizes the lines that get the most laughs. I'm sure that Disney could reproduce him. Each audience is unique, so canned introductions are likely to miss the mark.
I've had people say after a concert, "I don't know if you're a story teller who sings songs or a singer who tells stories." And yet there are times when my introductions may be very brief. It depends on the setting and the audience. If you're not responding to your audience, then you're just doing a "show."
Jerry