Playing in restaurants…

forces you to be small. It not only limits the size of your group, your PA, your volume, but also your personality. Show business is not for small personalities. And if you’re not putting on a show, well, you’re just playing songs.

My guess is Ani DiFranco became successful by pissing off most of the clientele wherever she played. She was willing to be her BIG self wherever she played… and if that irritated some people watching the game, oh well. If the guy at the counter had trouble hearing a customer order, so be it.

But everywhere she played, she picked up a fan for life. After a while, she was able to play in places where those fans showed up, and allowed her to be her even BIGGER self.

If you play restaurants, do a gut check once in a while, and make sure they aren’t putting you in the habit of being small. Make absolutely sure that you are playing CONCERTS more often then restaurants. Otherwise, you are training yourself to stay small. How inspiring is that?

Finally, it’s not that you deserved to be listened to with respect. It’s that the audience deserves nothing less than your BIG self.