Vision is a hard thing to explain, but let me give it a shot. When I say "a vision" for your show, I mean when you look at each song that you play in your set, you should visualize specific things happening. Moments need to be created that emotionally connect you to the audience. You can actually sense and see in your mind's eye how the crowd is going to react to each song. If the song is fun (and you should probably have a fun song in your evening), you see in your mind's eye the people having fun, laughing, singing, high-fiving. If the song has got some great musical stuff going on, you see in your mind's eye people reacting to a specific harmony or an awesome solo in a certain way because you've created a musical moment out of it. If it's a touching thing, you can sense the connection with the people. It's an emotional thing, not a technical thing.

So you need to get a vision for how you want your audience to respond, then you go into rehearsal and "work out" how to get to that place you envisioned in your head. And until you get there, don't give up. Don't just play songs! This is what rehearsal is to me - working something out after getting a vision for what you want to have happen.

And sometimes rehearsal can be messy. You might not get there right away. For one song I worked on, it took me 9 days to get there with the group.

This maybe sounds a little "cosmic" - but it's not intended to. Having a vision will inject passion into your songs. You'll have a passion for getting booked more because you can see in your spirit what's going to happen in your concerts even before it happens. So when you're talking to someone on the phone about booking your group, they will sense you're different than others that just "play songs and hope something is going to happen." You'll be able to tell them how their audience will benefit from your show, how they'll be moved, what special reason there is for having you come in and perform for them.

Tom Jackson Productions is happy to help you figure out where you are as an artist, and what might be your next step in really improving your live show. Just give us a call at 615.591.0910, or send your name and phone number via email or our online contact form. We'll have one of Tom's consultants get in touch with you to visit about your needs and your goals, and they'll give you some ideas to get started. There's no charge to visit with them - just have this basic information ready when you talk:
1) Amount of experience doing live performances, and what types of performances that has been (full concerts, a few songs for special events, etc.)
2) A description of the type of show you'd ultimately like to be doing, and your style of music
3) What, if anything, you're specifically preparing to do (concert tour, special event, showcase, etc.), and how many songs that involves
4) What you consider to be your strengths and your weaknesses
5) What you expect to gain from Tom Jackson Productions

If your child is old enough to perform several songs on stage in front of an audience, then they're old enough to learn some of the basics of live performance. Learning at an early age how to connect with an audience and how to communicate from stage will help them, not only in live performances, but in life skills as well! And learning some technical onstage skills at an early age will help keep them from developing bad habits which are hard to "un-learn" as an adult. If you think your child is ready, go ahead and contact us via email or our online contact form. We'll have one of Tom's consultants get in touch with you to talk about what would be best for your child.

Tom's number one choice for anyone is the "All Roads Lead to the Stage" workshop on DVD. (Right now, the pre-release of that product is available online, with the final product nearing completion.) It contains all of the basics of what he teaches - how to connect with your audience, creating musical moments, the five ways to make a living from your show, how to rehearse, surprising your audience, and much, much more. But there are some other product choices as well. The "Live Music and Performance Makeover" is a way to see Tom working one-on-one with 5 different artists - a great choice for bands to get some good, practical information. (Some of that footage is included in the "All Roads Lead to the Stage" series as well.) If you're a Christian/Gospel artist, you might consider purchasing either the "Live in Kansas City" CDs or the "Onstage" DVDs. "Live in Kansas City" gives some great business and financial information for the performing artist, and "Onstage" was a performance seminar recorded live at GMA in the Rockies.

The easiest way to keep informed about all of Tom's speaking and teaching, including Nashville workshops and seminars, is to sign up for the Tom Jackson Productions newsletter. In addition, you can add your name to the workshop/seminar interest form - when we get enough requests, we contact you with some dates and you can let us know at that time if those dates work for you or if you want to wait until the next one.

Tom and his consultants are always happy to teach in other cities besides Nashville. You can call us at 615.591.0910, or send us an email letting us know the following information:
1) location for the workshop/seminar, including the venue you might use
2) your goals for the workshop/seminar
3) how many days would you like the workshop/seminar to last
4) how many artists you expect would attend
5) any dates you have in mind
After we've reviewed the information, we'll get back to you with some options for the event, as well as more specific information about fees and expenses involved in hosting a workshop/seminar.

Absolutely not! Even though Tom Jackson began in the Christian music industry, all new products are for artists of all genres.

Please note, some of the older, Christian-focused products are still available for purchase but are labeled as such throughout the website. If you have any questions or concerns about a TJP product or service, please contact us as we would be happy to answer any questions!