Jackie DeShannon Quotes

I went from a playing in a bar on a bar stool for free beer and tip money, where people weren't paying attention to me, to now I've got their attention. It's up to me to what I feed them with my music. It's up to me how I do that. I've put a lot of thought into how great the songs are, and how I want people to perceive me.

Own every note I sing and sell it. Make a connection to the audience. That's what it comes down to, you know?

It used to be enough for me to get on stage and sing. I kind of crave the performance part now. I write knowing it's going to happen, which I didn't do before.

I wasn't playing the music, the music was playing me... and once that went away, and I had the feeling I was playing music, I had to stop. The need to go onstage and get my brain flattened every night left me, and what I didn't wanna do is go onstage and perpetrate a fraud... You cannot fool an audience.

I feel like every time I go out, I want to do a good job. I want people to say that he's just as good at stand-up as he is in some of the movies I've seen him in, so I try to do the best every time I go out there.

I learned a long time ago from David Mamet to wipe your feet at the door, get it out on stage and then go about your life.

One of the main reasons for wanting to perform live again was to have contact with that audience.

The real test of a musician is live performance. It's one thing to spend a long time learning how to play well in the studio, but to do it in front of people is what keeps me coming back to touring.

You don't really know a song until you play it live.

From the first time you can look in the paper and you accept that you're the entertainment for some people that night, it becomes so much more enjoyable to play live.

Once you sit in front of people and start playing songs, it's all on you. No matter what happens, it's entirely your responsibility the entire time. I like that intensity.

It's a constant challenge to get your arrangement and musical expression across to a new audience, especially when you're playing live every night like we are.

Live performance is everything. First of all, I have terrible stage fright. But beyond that, once the music starts, it's OK.

The music comes alive when you actually perform it in front of a crowd.

There's no performance where I never have to think about setting up a phrase or making a technical adjustment while I'm performing.

I have a great time with my band and on the stage we get along well.

It was definitely hard when I first started, and by no means do I consider my live show to be where I want it to be; it will develop step by step for the rest of my life.

I remember seeing McCoy Tyner in concert, and thinking that the music was incredible, but wanting to be invited in. I figured that humor was the way of letting the audience in. I've gotten a hard time about it, but I love to be funny onstage.

It took me a long time to be alright with smiling onstage.

For me, it's always this constant battle and search when I'm out on stage as to where and when do I really open myself up to the people that are there. How do I let myself feel present in the space, and how do I allow myself to get into the music and interact with the band members.

You get very comfortable doing the open mic circuit, turning up to the same places and playing to 20 people. In that situation, it won't matter if you aren't great on that night because no one will really remember who you are. Then suddenly you are doing rooms to 400 people and you have to up your game.

I've never, ever in my life enjoyed playing live the way I am now.

I sing and play guitar and harmonica. I've been doing it for a long time.

I think I have great responsibility, and when I do my music, when I try to relate to my audience, I just try to do it in an honest fashion, you know, just try to be as earnest as possible and sometime it may be self-effacing. Sometimes it may be finger-pointing. Sometimes it may be beautiful, and sometime it may be ugly.

One of the great things that I loved about doing solo - which I ended up doing because I was too shy to ever try out for bands back in the day - I could sit there with a list of songs and 'paint away' for the show.