Waking up this morning wasn’t much fun; Jade was crying and my nose and throat were parched and sore. I’ve had a lot of colds in the past year, but most of the time I’ve had just a runny nose and a little fatigue. Rarely have I had a cough, too, as I have today, rattling deep in my chest.
Never mind, I had a great time at the YWIM fundraising house concert on Saturday night, so I’ll try to think about that instead. I came away completely awed by the musical talent we have here, and also grateful that I was slated as the second performer or I might have completely lost my nerve after listening to everyone else.
As I mentioned in my previous post, tickets were $25 each, which, to be honest, I thought might be a bit steep for the type of event. But then, I’ve never been to a YWIM concert before. Good thing I wasn’t in charge, because the concert sold out and there were no tickets left at the door! And even if there hadn’t been copious amounts of cheese, crackers, wine, and desserts, I’m still sure that everyone would have left feeling they had got their money’s worth.
My friend Caroline Watt was also performing; I asked her to get my performance on video, which she kindly agreed to do (which she may have regretted, because her arms got pretty tired from holding the darned thing up for 12 minutes!)
Watching a video of your own performances can be rather painful, I must say. It’s easy to nit-pick at details and wish things had been done differently. I know that overall I did okay, although nerves made me rush a bit. (What is with the nerves? It seems I have become more easily frazzled in the last couple of years. Although performing stuff I’ve written myself is definitely a lot more intimidating than doing covers. It feels so much more revealing.) The piano to voice balance on the video is a bit off, but I think that was mostly because Caroline was sitting right next to the amp.
Twelve minutes of video is a bit too long to post, so I broke it up into the three individual songs. There was a little more banter in between than what I’ve posted, but the important parts are there: the good, the bad, and the <insert-your-own-adjective-here>.
One Tear (3:22)
This song was based on a really short poem (three lines) I wrote in high school that is still somehow a favourite of mine. You can hear Caroline telling me to turn down the piano at the beginning of this song, and I sort of flub things up as I am trying to comply. No one else would know, but I sang the wrong words and put in an extra pause that I didn’t want because I didn’t move into the verse at the right time (being distracted). But that’s the fun of live performance!
Lullaby for Mama (3:49)
As I say in the video, I wrote this song for some friends who were rewarded with having twins after trying to get pregnant for a long time. It’s written from the perspective of one of the babies and made me bawl like one the first time I played it through after I wrote it. Caroline, who did harmonies with me when I played it for my friend, also cried the first time she heard it. I was actually feeling a wee bit hormonal when I started performing it, and had to tell myself to not think about what I was singing. Which is both a good thing (not breaking into tears!) and bad thing to do when you’re trying to convey emotions in a performance.
Under my Skin (4:30)
This was the song I mentioned in my earlier blog post that I was nervous about performing; well, it just doesn’t seem like the kind of song a happily married woman should sing (not to mention write). In the video, I talk a bit about the sentiment behind it, but I forget to mention that when I played it for Michael earlier in the evening, he said he liked it. Even so, when I played it at the concert, I was getting hot and self-conscious. You can see me breathe a sigh of relief at the end. As I went back to my seat, I was fanning myself and I said to BJ MacLean, “Whew, I got so hot playing that last song.” She made me laugh when she said, “I think everyone did.”
So, did you notice that I wore my party shoes? I figured since they were out, I might as well actually wear them, and I do love them so! Barb Chamberlin, who was emceeing, commented that she wondered how I’d got my shoes to match my water bottle. I didn’t even realize they did, but she was right. Ha ha ha! [Photo stolen from here: http://www.smartbride.com.au/bridal/sleepwear/SIGG%20Water%20Bottles/0/ ]
Normally when I post my songs, I post my lyrics along with them, but that would make this post really long, and it really is already rather longish, isn’t it? But I can’t resist, so I’m adding them, but tucking them under the fold here. Just click on “Continue Reading” if you want to see them.
