JASON A. FERRIS

It can be a perfect enhancement or a total distraction Congratulations, you’ve made it to the the final round. As I said in the beginning of this series, in cooking shows or any reality competition show for that matter, many talented individuals join but contestants are eliminated each round. This is due to their underperformance or by being out-performed by the others. The same holds true in music. If you’re reading this, your music and your message still has a purpose and has a platform to be shared. It takes a constant pursuit to create a memorable experience for you and your audience, and you’re ready to take some bigger leaps forward. I mentioned how I see artists and their management teams put an emphasis on adding lighting and other special FX to their show without working on establishing a good foundation first. I’m an advocate for added production. If the budget allows, I’m all for dreaming and creating something spectacular in a live show, but all of that is filler. Filler needs to be those finishing touches on what is already the masterpiece. I shared how my wife doesn’t enjoy burritos when they split open and the contents spill out. It’s great if you wanted a burrito bowl, but when you want to enjoy it in a nice warm tortilla, spillage makes it unappealing. Likewise, to get to the custard filling of a donut, the center of a Tootsie Pop or enjoy that sweet taste of Italy in a Cannoli, you will notice they are all wrapped and supported with a firm outer layer. The filling is purposely placed inside a solid form. It’s not just the filling flung into a box, served on a plate or sold as a glob on a sucker stick.   What is filler? Production and Technology   PRODUCTION & TECHNOLOGY Stage lighting, special FX, video walls and stage props all enhance an artist’s performance or a church’s worship experience. However, that’s how it should be used — as an enhancement. Not as a crutch, not in place of, not to distract or take away from, but rather to enrich the overall performance and experience. If there is nothing to put the filler into, what is it’s purpose? We all know it tastes good, but what is it there for? Why use the production and technology if we have no message and no purpose? You might as well hang up the towel because people don’t want a relationship with stuff or with filling and fluff; they want a relationship with YOU. If they don’t feel a connection with you, your career is in jeopardy of fading away. There you have it, my key ingredients to creating an impactful and memorable performance for you and your audience.   Are you interested in diving deeper into these areas for YOUR show? I’d love to get to know you and learn about your journey in music! Let’s schedule a call today! SCHEDULE YOUR CALL     For more great resources, visit my FREE RESOURCES page!

Things are really starting to heat up! So far we have discussed Love and Devotion, building and sustaining a solid Foundation, honing-in on the Fundamentals. Today we’ll get into one of America’s favorite founding words: Freedom. All of our lives we have had to live under, and be guided by, some sort of rules. For all Christians, there are rules established by God. As children we had rules and safeguards put in place by our parents, teachers and coaches. As citizens there are laws of the land we are to abide by. There are rules to just about EVERYTHING. And if you haven’t figured it out by now, just like there are rules and structure in song-writing, there are also rules and guidelines in performing. If you know how to properly follow the rules, you will also have the freedom to break them in creative and productive ways. Back in December, I shared a story about an artist I have worked with for several years and how he came down sick on a Christmas tour he was on. He called me for some advice on how to play his show that night. We discussed some options, but before he even called me, deep down he knew what he should do. I was only there to confirm his decision. Later that night, he called me and shared how well the show went! You can read more about that story here. That artist worked hard on preparing his live performance, he had a solid foundation and is constantly practicing the fundamentals. He then came to a point where he had the Freedom (To Follow). Actually this very set of “Show Ingredients” as I call them, partially stemmed from that very phone call. I told him to follow his instincts. We all have God-given instincts. Whether you acknowledge Jesus as Lord or not. For us believers, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us.   Where does freedom come from in our performance? Practicality, Spirituality and Originality   PRACTICALITY Gaining confidence onstage—leading to freedom onstage—comes from good preparation and good practice. I love having a good team around me on my journey of partnering with artists. Several months ago, I received a text from my dad sharing a quote he came across from a book he was reading and thought I could hold onto it to use in one of my blogs. Well, today is that day. The author wrote, “Confidence and preparation are, practically speaking, almost synonymous.” There is a very real practical side of our performance that we need to continue to develop.   SPIRITUALITY We should use our freedom to follow the Holy Spirit, listen to our instincts and trust our gut. We should be listening as we’re putting together our show, before we play our show and during our show.   ORIGINALITY These guidelines, or “ingredients” of putting together a live show, are not to turn us into something we’re not, but rather give us more freedom to flourish in who we are. Every performer is up on some sort of a stage or platform, every singer uses a microphone, every drummer plays some sort of drum, guitarists play a guitar and so on… How you use them is what separates you from the rest. You develop your own sound, you have your own writing style and you can pour your personality and creativity into your performance.   What makes you unique is YOU. YOUR unique love and devotion, the foundation YOU build off of and the fundamentals that YOU practice. That’s what gives your show the memorable and irreplaceable flavor that people can’t get enough of. Nothing is really ever free. Freedom comes at a great cost. Using your freedom onstage properly stems from a lot of hard work before hand. But you’ve made it this far! I’ll see you in a couple weeks in our final “cook-off” round.   Are you interested in diving deeper into these areas for YOUR show? I’d love to get to know you and learn about your journey in music! Let’s schedule a call today! SCHEDULE YOUR CALL For more great resources, visit my FREE RESOURCES page!

Welcome back to the “kitchen!” If you missed any of the previous posts on Breaking Bad Habits, Love and Devotion, or Foundation (which is the 1st ingredient), I highly recommend you go back through those before reading this post. In game shows, many talented individuals begin the tv series, but as time goes on, one-by-one contestants are eliminated each round. This is due to their under performance that day or simply being out-performed by everyone else. The same can be said for music artists. There are SO MANY talented groups and individuals that can achieve success in music, but oftentimes they can’t make ends meet and are forced to quit doing the thing they love. I take a lot of artists and church worship teams through the foundation. We build live song arrangements, make a setlist, work on talking points, form a message, create an opportunity for them to share an experience with their audience and start scratching the surface on purposeful movements. And many stop there. They don’t quite make it through the next round and dive into the detailed fundamentals that would take them to the next level.   What are the fundamentals? Techniques, Transitions, Intention, Repetition   TECHNIQUES To be learned: - Using / Not Using Onstage Tools - Movement Styles and Expressions - Microphone and Mic Stand Practices For lead singers, learning when they should play an instrument and when they should NOT is huge to their overall artist development. Proper mic and mic stand techniques should be learned in order to best communicate to the audience both verbally and VISUALLY. Being conscious of physical barriers between you and the audience are often easily overlooked.   TRANSITIONS The Different Types: - Verbal Transitions - Musical Transitions - Visual Transitions Transition can present a special experience in and of itself for both you and your audience. Lead singers need to learn how to effectively set a song up, and the band needs to learn how to create seamless segues between any musical intro and outro.   INTENTION Effective Communication: - Performing with Purpose - Feeling the Music / Expressing your Emotions - Bridging and Listening in the Gaps You need to be intentional with what you play, what you say and what you do throughout your performance. You need to bridge the gaps between songs and be able to listen to the audience in those gaps.   REPETITION Building Sustainability: - Breaking Bad Habits / Building New Ones - Putting in Practice - Practice vs. Rehearsal - Adequate Preparation (Physical, Spiritual, Emotional) Again, again, again. Just like coach Herb Brooks said in the movie Miracle, we too must “again” repeat our processes. For singers, doing vocal warmups daily, or at least a few times a week (but FOR SURE the week of a performance), is a must! You can’t run a marathon without the proper conditioning, neither can your vocal chords. Practice as individuals and rehearse the show as a group. When it comes time to play your event, it’s a good idea to establish a pre-show routine to get you in the right mindset. “Look great, feel great, feel great, perform great.” I recently had a conversation with a Pastor friend who said he wears the same color underwear each Sunday. That might be TMI, but it has weight to it. Performing well comes from preparing well. Before having the freedom to do whatever you want as a performer, be led by love and devotion, establish a solid foundation and continually work on the fundaments.   Are you interested in diving deeper into these areas for YOUR show? I’d love to get to know you and learn about your journey in music! Let’s schedule a call today! SCHEDULE YOUR CALL     For more great resources, visit my FREE RESOURCES page!

This is it! This right here is the “meat and potatoes” of your live show. I work on developing the foundation of a performance more than anything else. My wife doesn’t like eating burritos when the tortilla splits open and all the filling falls out. Whether it’s savory like a burrito or something sweet like a donut, you can’t enjoy the filling without a good foundation. I see many artists and their management teams put great emphasis on adding lighting and other special FX to their show without first establishing a good foundation. I fully support added production. If the budget allows, I’m all for dreaming and creating something spectacular in a live show, but all of that is filler. As I’ve said before in previous posts, the production should only be an enhancement of what the artist is already doing and not act as a crutch or a replacement of good communication. I’ve seen it time and time again, it doesn’t matter if it’s a touring artist or church worship team, many of them spend time, energy and resources in places that truly aren’t important in the grand scheme of things. Good gear is a necessity and added production is fine, but all great shows need to be built on a good foundation.   What is the foundation? The Music, The Message, The Movement We must first begin with the music. Your songs act as our guide for everything. The first step I take in partnering with artists or church worship teams is to pull out the experience within your songs. We do this by creating live song arrangements that are different than the recorded version.   THE MUSIC The music tells us: - Where to go (The Setlist) - What to say (The Message) - What to do (The Movement)   THE MESSAGE The message guides us on: - What to convey to the audience and when (The Theme / The Delivery) - What the audience should do with it (Their Response) - What the audience could take away from it (The Tangibles / The Intagibles)   THE MOVEMENT The movement is determined by: - What the song arrangement is for that setlist (The Version) - What the lyrical or musical elements of the song is (The Content) - What the setting is that the performance is taking place in (The Venue)   I was recently sent an interview of legendary drummer Gregg Bissonette. In it, Gregg shared that he took lessons many years ago from another famous drummer. He was asked to share his biggest piece of advice he received from his lessons. Gregg said that is what that we need to be intentional with our communication. “We need a direct line of communication with a person in the audience. The more that we can be clear with our intentions of what we’re doing [onstage], that will translate to your audience.” Having a solid foundation is crucial. I can’t stress enough how important it is to work on your music, your message and your movement in order to communicate clearly to your audience. Everything else after this is the flavor. It will take a lot of work and a continual pursuit to creating an engaging live experience onstage, but with having the love for it and devotion to do it, you can accomplish anything.     Are you interested in partnering with me on your live performance? I’d love to chat to get to know you and learn about your journey in music! Let’s schedule a call today! SCHEDULE CALL For more great resources, visit my FREE RESOURCES page!

A good meal, in a good setting, with good people having good conversations can make for a great experience together. Food, by definition, is any nutritious substance that people or animals eat or drink or that plants absorb in order to maintain life and growth. Not too long ago, I was reading a book with a line that read, “Two topics that impact everyone, whether you are interested in them or not: health and money.” Our health can be traced back to our genetics, but with proper nutrients, a balanced lifestyle and time, our bodies were made to be able to heal themselves from a lot of issues. However, when I think of food, I think more than just a meal to sustain our lives. A meal can bring people together just like music can. For several years I’ve been in a band that our whole crew loves food. We would often recall the places we played associated with places we ate. Memories were made through meals we shared. I could say the same about my family as I grew up having dinners at the table as a family about every night. To prepare a good meal for family or friends, you first need good ingredients. I’m sure we all have a mom, grandma or know someone who has once said, after receiving compliments on their cooking, that it was made with love. Before gathering your ingredients, you first need a healthy dose of love and devotion. I wrote a two-part series earlier this year on the topic. The first part is that you may love what you do, but are you devoted to doing it? Secondly, are you devoted to loving the people you’ve been entrusted with (the audience)? I’d like to share another quote I recently came across. “Diets don't work because they do not help you maintain a lifestyle change.” As we go through each of these ingredients, I want you to be open to change. I want you to be open to trying new things while still be true to yourself. However, this is not a diet. This needs to be a lifestyle. There are no quick fixes or easy routes to becoming a great performer. It takes a lifestyle change to put in the work and to embody the moment created in your rehearsal space that you recreate onstage. Below is the list of “ingredients” that I believe make up a great live show experience for both the artist and the audience. We’ll dive into each of these individually starting with the foundation in my next blog post.   Ingredients #1 - Foundation #2 - Fundamentals #3 - Freedom (To Follow) #4 - Filler Are you interested in partnering with me on your live performance? I’d love to chat to get to know you and learn about your journey in music! Let’s schedule a call today! SCHEDULE CALL     For more great resources, visit my FREE RESOURCES page!