Beyond the Spotlight

We are all familiar with the following statements. “We’re only as strong as the weakest link.” “There is strength in numbers.” “There is no “i” in Team.” There is a large body of opinion that we can achieve more by working together than separately. I am one who subscribes to this theory.

I learned a valuable lesson years ago when studying drama. One of the actors was feeling very highly about himself and one day our professor decided to use this as a teachable moment. She got him up on stage and instructed the lighting person to kill every light in the room. In a completely blacked out theatre where you literally could not see your hand in front of your face we heard our professor say, “OK Hotshot, act.”

The lesson was loud and clear! No matter how good an actor you might be, you are not going to really shine unless everyone else in the cast and crew is doing their job. Theatre is a team sport.

Music is also a collaborative activity in that regard. When we hear Natalie, Rita or Ashley perform live or on record we don’t often hear them play solo. This is just the way it is. We buy the ticket to see the High Diving Act but they usually have supporting musicians with them to help deliver the show.

I don’t mean to say they are not talented. In fact, when they do perform solo or sing a cappella it is usually very powerful because we have been listening to them play with a group of other talented musicians. Eventhough the spotlight is not on the back up musicians, they play an important role in collaboration with the headline performer.

In the next few blogs I am going to introduce you to some Cape Breton musicians who make everyone they support sound better. These are people you should know more about.