Opening Smash Mouth like a Bat Out of Hell

Well, it’s been a fun week! By giving music everything I have, people started noticing me and my music and I was offered an opportunity to open for Smash Mouth! The show was Saturday, June 14 and dang, it felt so great to be on a big stage with all the big lights and space to move around.

Most importantly, it gave me a non-awkward setting to make my songs, not just sound different, but look different! I learned the importance of the look of your live performance by Tom Jackson, Taylor Swift’s live music producer. It turns out, humans process 80% of things visually! No wonder there're lights and pyrotechnics at big concerts! 

I had 11 songs to make look different, so for one of my slow songs, we brought out two stools for my guitar player and I to sit on. I played guitar on “He’s Mine”. For “One Night Man”, I did the infamous pointed finger with my arm straight up in the air on the "one night man" line. “Never Be Ready” was quiet and intimate and one woman even came up to me after the show and told me the story of her special surprise. She said she cried when I sang that song and ended up buying a CD, so she could hear it again and again. That’s what music is all about to me! “All I Need to See” finished up the show rocking it out and the Smash Mouth guitar player, Sean, even tweeted while I was on stage that I was “hitting it hard”!  

Playing that show was inspiring to me! It made me realize what I’m capable of and that I’m not afraid of a big stage, performing, or meeting fans. Those are my favorite parts! I get scared by the little things, the everyday to dos of booking shows and marketing myself, because they're the hardest parts for me. I don’t want to seem like the person constantly marketing and pushing myself on people, asking them to buy my music and support me. I want to be grateful, genuine, and provide opportunities and music that people love! As such, I’m now starting to offer backyard/barn/house concerts to people all over the country! That sounds like a blast to me and a great way to meet amazing people and music listeners! In fact, if you’re interested in hosting a house concert for a birthday, anniversary, event, or just for fun, send me a message! I’d love to speak with you about it!

www.CarolynMescher.com

Special thanks to www.tomjacksonproductions.com for teaching me about live stage production!