This a short story I hope you’ll enjoy.

The first time I got on stage in front of a packed venue was at The Imperial in my old hometown of Weston-super-Mare in 2002. I didn't know anybody. I sucked it up, filled my lungs with breath, and told myself “If you don't do it now you never will” and proceeded to walk towards the stage... I played an instrumental guitar piece called Day at The Beach by Joe Satriani while the house band stood behind me and the whole room fell silent throughout. I felt like my entire gaze was concentrated on my fingers and the only way to survive the feeling of falling into myself was to block everything else out. I'll never regret putting myself through that.

Since playing on stage for the first time back in 2002 I was hooked; the trepidation combined with almost crippling insecurity should have been enough to prevent me from ever stepping onto any stage but my love for playing guitar was greater than the fear of humiliation

Singing came a little later but I couldn't sing very well, some people even told me to concentrate on guitar instead because it was a bit embarrassing when I tried. It felt bad to hear that of course but I kept singing anyway.

The only reason I kept going as long as I did was that there was a space for me to practice, there were people just like me who were getting better each time they played and along the way, there was also plenty of encouragement which felt very nice.

Since then it has been my goal to empower others in the same way. I host open mics that welcome newcomers. They should be a place where you can feel safe and make mistakes - and encourage each other through the love of music.

I think most performers do get used to being on stage in front of people eventually but the fear never really goes away completely. Someone once told me "you should just call nervousness and fear ‘excitement’ instead". It frames it better I think. Because even though I've been on stage for over 15 years, I still get 'excited' before every performance.