Last week at the cafe we had a wonderful Victoria, BC based singer/ songwriter named Justin Hewitt (www.justinhewitt.com) perform. His show was great to watch and kept my attention (which is hard to do as a solo performer). Seeing an experienced performer is completely different than stumbling upon a open mic sort of performer; they capture your imagination quickly and demand a kind of attention from their audience. Hewitt's songs were well crafted but what drew me in to this show was his stories and his intensity as a performer. I watched this show not in the cafe, but in the V.A.N (the Video Audio Neurocentre of the cafe, which is actually a van) on a five inch screen, a undoubtably hard interface for a performer to penetrate.
My point, probably an obvious one, is that experience is a necessity as a performer. Not experience as a singer and guitar player (although that is important) but experience playing music in front of an audience. The ability to take an audience on a journey with you even when they aren't necessarily familiar with your music. Justin Hewitt did that.
Check out some of the show at www.streamingcafe.net,
Mr. Producer
