expressive worship

Owning It

We’ve probably all had people in our lives telling us to ‘own up’ to something or other. Or to ‘own’ something – meaning, ‘make it yours!’ Grab on to it and TAKE it!

I’m often telling artists while rehearsing that they need to own it. After we make changes and map out a song arrangement and walk through what the song should look like, they then need to really make it theirs and perform the song with confidence. This basically comes with more rehearsal and getting totally comfortable with what they are doing.

I love this paragraph from the book Life by Stones guitarist Keith Richards, where he talks about performing live. Keith says, “And from the earliest I always felt good on stage. You get nervous before you go up there before a lot of people, but to me the feeling was, let the tiger out the cage. Maybe that’s just another version of butterflies. It could be. But I’ve always felt very comfortable on stage, even if I screw up. It always felt like a dog, this is my turf… While I’m here, nothing else can happen. All I can do is screw up. Otherwise, have a good time.”

Great mindset. The stage is your turf when you are booked to play there. People expect you to bring confidence and authority when you step onstage. Anything less is cheating the audience! Kinda freeing, isn’t it??

Think about it. When you’re at a concert and you see the artist come out onstage in a big and confident way, you don’t think they are arrogant or anything! Actually, it’s more likely that you feel relaxed, because they appear in control of what they are doing, and you don’t have to worry or be nervous for them.

Think about that when you step onstage next time. Own your role up there as an artist and performer, and allow the audience to relax and enjoy the show!

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Amy Wolter

Amy has vast and varied experience in music, from keyboardist to lead singer, from songwriter to producer. She fronted a nationally touring Christian rock band that garnered some top 10 CCM hits. Playing in a variety of venues and churches gave her a real understanding of what audiences and congregations connect with. As a member of her church’s worship team, Amy understands the challenges that come with this, and enjoys helping Christian artists and Worship Teams create freedom in the room to truly express their worship.

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  1. Or to put it in more “churchy” terms: If God gave you the time, space and a job to do … and you don’t do it out of fear of failure, or fear of man … how good of a servant have you been? If God asks you to lead, then lead. His calling is your confidence, not pleasing of man. Are you communicating to people that you are afraid of the giant (stage fright) or that you have confidence in the Lord your God who called you to do His work? There are so many ways to say this same thing. Thanks Amy!

  2. Amy Wolter says:

    Right Jason! True humility is walking in the authority God gave you on that platform. If He’s led you to this role, you need to step into it with confidence! And I think ‘fear of man’ is one of the biggest enemies of Christian artists. We hold back for fear of what people will think of us, in a cloud of false humility. Not good!

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