James Lee Stanley

I recently did a series of concerts in areas where I have dear friends.    They were as gracious and accommodating as they could be, and they wanted to spend as much time with me as they could.    Friends do make you feel good, don’t they?

And that’s what I want to talk about today.   I was in the area to do concerts.   That’s why I was there and I had no days off, as I had to travel several hundred miles the second day to get to the second concert.

I elected to drive in on a Thursday, so that Friday I would have an easy day of it, leading up to the concert. 

My plan was to check into the hotel, have a good dinner, go to be early and get up when I woke up; go to the gym, come back to the room, relax, play my guitar and wait for my appointed sound check time.

My friends wanted to have dinner with me and they chose a wonderful but expensive restaurant, at least by my standards.      Not over the top for a night on the town, but I was on the road and just looking to bring home more money than I left with.

I take good care of myself, but I do watch my expenditures on the road.  I know what the government will allow.  You don’t want to give them any red flags.

My friends wanted to get together the next day and show us their newly purchased home, into which they were to move over the next few weeks.

As much as I would have liked to have done that, I wasn’t there to visit.   My first responsibility is to the show and getting up early, squeezing in some gym time and then racing away to a social obligation wasn’t what would make for a good show.

It is amazing how few people realize what it takes in focus and commitment to put on a good performance, particularly if you are a solo artist.    You need the rest and the focus and the goal of a great show clearly in sight.  What ever it will take for you to deliver that, you must do.

And it that means not spending the time with your friends that you wanted to, then that’s what you must do.

When you go on the road, you are at work.  And as I’ve said before, preparation for the gig starts taking place at least twenty four hours in advance.

Let your friends down easy when you are on the road and stay on target.  Stay focused on doing a good show and make the choices that will give you the best chance of doing that.