The biggest challenge I face as a singer is remembering lyrics. I've probably spent too much time with a music stand in front of me, comfortably reading along as I sing. I've even done it onstage, more times than I'd like to admit. At the root of this terrible habit is a basic distrust of my own memory. And the result is a loss of contact with the audience and with the true meaning of the song.
Tonight the Capt and I are performing together for the first time in more than two years, at a concert to benefit an orphanage in Empalme. It'll be outdoors on a green overlooking the beach, with four other groups doing everything from old rock songs to Mexican favorites. We'll do the token jazz and blues set of four songs. Here are photos of the groups we'll be honored to share the stage with.
The producers, Bobby and Leslie, are old professionals. Leslie used to perform with the Mamas & Papas and she's made it abundantly clear that relying on cheat sheets onstage is unprofessional and forbidden. Well, duh, of course it is, how silly of me to even wish for my music stand. So I've been running my lyrics through my head almost hourly, every night before I go to sleep (that's supposed to be a learning technique) and while driving. Yet I still manage to botch a word here, a phrase there, every time I rehearse.
I've decided the trick is not to expect perfection of myself, but to learn how to glide on through any mistake and keep going. Most people aren't hearing the song word-for-word anyway, they're busy ordering drinks, joking and greeting friends. Bobby tells me he's having the same difficulty, and almost gave up performing this year, in favor of recording. He loses it on songs he's performed thousands of times! But he'll be onstage tonight too, faking it until he makes it.
Every week I jam with two groups, playing guitar in my entry-level style and doing a lot of the singing: Arturo and the Beach Bums on Thursday and the Toe Jammers on Friday. It's a comfortable way to play songs, music stands in front of most of us, no drunken audience trying to shout over us, plenty of time to make mistakes, do songs over and get it right. But singing onstage is a different challenge, and one I find enjoyable, once I connect with the audience. Many of my Beach Bum and Toe Jammer friends will be rooting for us in the audience tonight, and though I don't expect rapt attention from them throughout our four songs, it'll be a comfort to see them there.
So wish us luck, amigos!