Episode 24: Live From Philly Podcast Fest 2015, Part 1
This week, I’m beyond excited to put out my first live podcast ever. It was such a blast to do. There are a lot of emotions. Mostly relief. Is relief an emotion? It is for me. It means an end to whatever thing was making me anxious/frantic/hard to be around. It was a huge weight off of me to get this thing done, and to know that everything was going to be fine.
I am by no means a stranger to performing in front of others. I’ve been a musician for most of my life, and being in front of people, even alone, does not really phase me anymore. Without the buffer of band members, or even the security blanket of a musical instrument, going up in front of people with nothing but your wits, your charisma, and your general ability to engage with people: that’s freaking scary.
It came down to this: keep an audience engaged and enjoying themselves for an hour or more. I knew that I would be engaged in conversation with whomever I was interviewing. I knew that they would (hopefully) be engaged in conversation with me. But would it be enough to be interesting to an audience? That’s the question that bugged me constantly, and as the day grew closer, it had me more and more anxious. It turns out that I am, in fact, not too bad at the whole engagement thing, and everyone seemed to have a really nice time. The musicians I interviewed had fun, and the audience was into their music, and I know they all sold records to the audience, making new fans. There’s something to be said for watching someone just play a few feet in front of you, in a room with not a ton of other people. The intimacy and inclusion is just so there, you can’t deny it.
I thank them all many times in the episode, but let me do it again. Thanks to Scott Ratinoff. Thanks to Rachel Schain. Thanks to Ben Hughes. Thanks to Teagan and Nathan at Philly Podcast Festival for putting the whole weekend on, and for letting me pitch them this crazy idea of doing a live show in the middle of a music store. Huge thanks to Steve Harner from Bridgeset Sound for agreeing to let me do my show in his store, for providing all the equipment to do it, and for being my sound guy. And for being as excited about doing it as I was.
Biggest of all thanks go to you folks reading this. You all listen to my show, some since the beginning, and some of you are joining us for the first time this episode. I started doing this show almost a year ago because I didn’t know what to do with myself creatively anymore. It’s kept me in the loop with awesome, creative people, and given me something to make. Making things is important to me, whether those things be songs, poems, paintings, films, plays, or simply providing a place and a context for other creative people to come together and be celebrated.
Hope you all enjoy this one, I really enjoyed doing it. If you’re around Philadelphia on September 5th at 8pm, we’re doing it again for the second weekend of Philly Podcast Festival. Same place (Bridgeset Sound at 710 South Street), same host (me), three different guests. If it’s anything like last Saturday, it’ll be a great time.
Be well, and I’ll catch you all in a week with a new live episode.
Cheers,
DD