Shirley: Yeah, that's right. Yeah, just at live venues and having either a concert or a jam session.

 

　　Todd: OK, so what's the difference between just having just a concert or a jam session?

 

　　Shirley: As a singer you get a lot more control about what you would do and what kind of music you're going to do at a concert because that's really your chance to make you selection on the songs and the style of music and who you would play with and if you want to have a theme for the evening.

 

　　At a jam session, that's a little bit different again. Usually just musicians come together and every thing's completely unrehearsed and people just literally just jam which means they get together and they spontaneously play and sing and ...

 

　　Todd: So it sounds just like a party for musicians really?

 

　　Shirley: Usually the audience can get involved depending on the size of the venue. For example, a lot of places that I sing at are quite small jazz clubs so you're very close with the audience and they can ,you know, be clapping or just enjoying the spontaneity. There's usually a lot of energy in that kind of performance so I think that kind of leaks out into the audience and at the same time the audience bounces back that energy so it's almost like a conversation between the musicians and the audience and you get to feed off each other.

 

　　Todd: Right, so you feed off the audience, their energy.

 

　　Shirley: Yeah. Yeah.

 

　　Todd: Now when you preform do you get stage fright or do you get butterflies in your stomach?

 

　　Shirley: Yeah, enormous butterflies. Actually more like huge cockroaches fluttering around in there I think.

 

　　Todd: Yuck.

 

　　Shirley: Sounds pretty terrible I know but, yeah, I'm not an easy performer. It's kind of stressful for me before I get out there but once you get out there and you remember that the purpose for being there is to just give the audience a fun evening. Some relaxation, some time away from their everyday lives and that they're there to do that as well, so I find that a kind of reassuring thought and I see it as my job to just give them a nice time.

 

　　Todd: Well, I've heard you sing and you have an amazing voice. You're an incredible singer.

 

　　Shirley: Thank you.