Stage fright. No longer bothers me. But it sure did once.

In 1957, wanting to make up for my almost complete ignorance of music theory, I was determined to get into the University of Washington School of Music. When I applied, they told me they didn't recognize folk music as a legitimate branch of study. I had taken some classic guitar lessons, so I tried that route, but they said they didn't recognize the guitar as a legitimate musical instrument, despite Segovia's playing a concert on campus six months before (now, the U. of W. School of Music has a guitar department, but times have changed). Anyway, a music professor, John Verrall, went to bat for me and got me a special audition with Dr. Stanley Chappell, the head of the school. When I auditioned for Dr. Chappell, I was so nervous that I totally screwed up. My voice quavered and my hands shook so badly I couldn't even find the strings. Dr. Chappell stopped me, and said something to this effect:—

"If a musician is not properly prepared, he has every reason to be nervous. And well he should be! But, you are prepared, I can tell that. Another reason for being nervous—and the one that I believe applies here—is when a musician is more concerned about what his audience thinks of him than he is about the music he's playing. I believe that right now, you're far more concerned about what I think than you are about your music. Right?"

Dr. Chappell was absolutely right. He told me to relax. We sat there for awhile and he asked me about my interest in folk music. Then he wanted to know a bit about my goals and ambitions. After awhile he said, "Do you feel like playing and singing a bit now?" I did. And it went okay. Afterwards, Dr. Chappell arranged for me to be admitted to the school, and I became the first singer of folk songs to be accepted into the department. I never forgot what Dr. Chappell said.

On another occasion (1959), my nerves almost got the better of me. I was just starting a series of live television shows (this was before the days of videotape) on KCTS-TV, the station that's now Seattle's local PBS affiliate. I got through the first show okay, but I was absolutely petrified. It was fortunate that everything went as planned. I confessed my nervousness to Sally, the producer. She told me that it hadn't been at all noticeable, and assured me that by the second or third show, I'd probably feel like an old pro.

Then she said, "Look, here's something that may help. It's easy to imagine thousands of people out there watching, and that can be pretty intimidating. True, there may be thousands of people watching—we hope there are—but that's beside the point. Look, you don't get nervous singing for a few people in someone's living room, do you?"

"No," I said, "I do it almost every weekend."

"Okay. Just remember, that's exactly what you're doing when you're on television. You're coming out of one TV set at a time into somebody's living room. Since there are usually no more than a couple of people watching any one set, in effect, you're talking and singing just to them. Sometimes it helps to think of someone you know who's watching, and direct what you're doing at them."

Sally was right. The second show was a lot easier, and by the third show, I was on top of it. As a result of the television series (which I'd lucked into), I suddenly found myself with a lot of calls to perform. One thing leads to another.

Since then, I've had my nervous moments, but I remember what Dr. Chappell said. My whole purpose for being there is the music. And what Sally said. Even if there are 6,000 people in front of me, I pick a couple of people and sing it to them (being careful not to stare at them!!). This has stood me in good stead. Do I get nervous in front of big audiences? Well, maybe the nervous energy is still there, but it manifests itself as exhilaration. And it's a great experience!

Keep at it. I hope this helps.

Don Firth