Customer Reviews

Stage Performance

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
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Liv Taylor's book is an excellent resource for all musicians and performers who engage in live performance or touring. As a writer, Taylor brings the reader into his Berklee College of Music Stage Performance Class, where assorted characters (based on real students) receive coaching and wisdom Liv has garnered from his 30+ years of performing and touring experience.

Taylor's primary message is one of cultivating a sensitive and attentive relationship between the performer and his or her audience. He also presents useful thoughts on stage presence, performance anxiety, audience interaction, life on the road, and the requirements for maintaining a viable performing career.

Though Taylor's book is primarily targeted at young, aspiring popular musicians at the beginning of their careers, more experienced artists, musicians from other disciplines, and even actors and public speakers can benefit as well.

-Doc Wallace, Faculty, the Juilliard School

Written by the Instructor of the Stage Performance course at Berklee College of Music,this book should be required reading for all those contemplating performing or simply appearing before an audience. An articulate account of the art of performance and perseverance written by the thinking man's Taylor. A fascinating read with incredible insights into the music industry gleaned over a career of over 30 yrs. Also includes biographical info of great interest to all the Livingston Taylor fans worldwide.

Excellent, engaging, compassionate, humorous, with lots of useful information on myriad facets of the music business. This material is the fruit of 30 years of experience, and is laced with gritty, funny anecdotes that bring each of Taylor's "lessons" to life. I'm buying another two copies for friends.

This book is a fine tool for any individual who wants to enhance their experience of appearing before an audience. The focus on cultivation of an attitude of receptivity and attentiveness towards one's audience is supported by very practical suggestions as well as delightful anecdotes of a seasoned performer. I liked the tone of the book, as ideas were presented in a conversational, unpretentious manner. Its themes strike me as being relevant not only to those embarking on careers as performance artists, but to folks like me: a small-business owner who needs to communicate with strangers on a daily basis. Offers valuable insights on the qualities that are ingredients for longevity in any career.

Loved this book ... finished it in two days. A wonderful reminder of what a privilege it is for any performer to have people spend both good money and valuable time to show up and listen. A timely and necessary antidote to the self-possession of our age (for everyone, but artists/musicians in particular). This book (along with Jimmy Webb's "Tunesmith") should be read and re-read by anyone who gets up on a stage with the intention to communicate truthfully through music. It's a fun and relaxed read ... but it'll sneak in the back door and before you know it, you'll be growing and asking questions you may not have considered before. Thanks Liv!

I have seen Liv live on a number of occasions. He is an amazing performer - not as technically proficient as, say, Vince Gill, but he never claims to me. One walks away from his concert feeling as though their emotions have undergone Ty-Bo.

He mixes grace, humor, and modesty in a way that few have managed to master. For the new (or experienced) performmer, this book is a great way to begin that Mastery process.

Highly recommended, to say the least.

I haven't been on a stage in four years, but reading this book has got me seriously thinking about getting back up there -- and doing it right this time. A really great read from a great guy.

A couple years ago I just happened to be browsing the music section of my local Borders, looking for some inspiration, and stumbled upon this book. It is truly great, and has had large effect on my outlook (and skills.) I read through it regularly, write in all the margins, and should really be putting more effort into mastering these ideas. Buy a copy if you can, even at the current used price of $45. It's worth it, if you can only see the knowledge it contains and truly adopt this performance outlook for yourself.

I started to complain, with a little tongue in cheek, that Livingston Taylor's only problem in this book was that it was 35 years too late. (Jeez, what my career might have been like if I had something this valuable way back then!) Of course, Livingston doesn't let you off the hook so easily. You aren't permitted to live in a fantasy world of "what if." He gives you a very gentle smack in the face on the realities of the performing arts. (Think Moe Howard wearing a mink mitten.)

Livingston combines very gentle lecturing with a biographical style. You read his war stories and you envy those students lucky enough to be in front of him. You become the poor singer he puts on the stage, makes her sing, and then asks her why she is looking at her feet. You get violently angry at that knuckle dragging audience he had to endure while opening for Jethro Tull. And all of a sudden you realize that this man has just taught you how to use a knife and fork for the first time in your knuckle dragging career.

Performing is a conversation with you and your audience. Who ever would have thought of that? Welcome to the knife and fork.

For a musician like myself, (hoping one day to become a performer, after a life-long battle with audiences everywhere) Livingston hits the nerve that no novocaine or opiate-based pain pill can numb: "Please remember, we asked to be in front of an audience. An audience has the right to reject what we have to offer. And we have the right to let that rejection break our hearts."

I have often judged the best books by how long they take for me to read. The Bourne Identity took me an entire summer, not necessarily because it was so dense but because I slowed the process down and savored the brilliant Ludlum writing style. Atlas Shrugged took me nine months for the same reason. I get the feeling that I'll never be finished reading "Stage Performance" over and over again. Two years from now, I'll have found yet another brilliant detail in one of the chapters that I either missed or didn't understand.

For aspiring performers and musicians out there, I suggest you either read "Stage Performance" or stay out of the business entirely. You're going to get hurt if you don't have this knowledge. It is more important than an expensive guitar, a road worthy car, a hungry agent, or a good looking face. Your career will force you to experience all the horrible things that happen to a performing artist. Livingston Taylor is the first author (truly, the first voice in this entire business) to give you the "why" and "how."

If you want to "entertain" an audience, Liv can tell you how to do it. This book is concise, entertaining, and a MUST read. The author provides some real-world reality checks, shows you how to engage the audience, and does it all with humility and good humour. It is truly unfortunate that the book is out of print. It shouldn't be.

Buy it, if you can find it. Borrow a copy, check the library, but definately READ this one! It is short, to the point, and it is even a FUN read! I would sell my copy to you, but I want keep it so that I can read it again!

RHB