Impact Over Numbers: Redefining Success in Music with Michelle Lynne

Michelle Lynne: And during COVID, I was doing one-on-one concerts. I actually sold them through my Instagram, and people could come on Zoom for 30 minutes. I had a menu of pieces they could choose from. I’d had a ton of classics, like, you know, well-known Chopin Nocturne, Moonlight Sonata, Clair de Lune, all that kind of stuff. And they could choose what they wanted to hear, and I played that for them. And then we had, like, a short conversation after. So there I am, playing for one person and having the most impact. And even last year, um, so what people would do is they would buy those concerts for like, their elderly aunt or uncle who’s, um, isolated—we’re all isolated. COVID put it on the big screen in the living room and sent me a picture of this person, like, watching me on their big TV in the living room doing this concert. And somebody last year wrote and said, “You know that my uncle still remembers that concert that you gave.” And so those are the moments that we’re like, “This matters, this matters.” That one moment for that one person matters way more than maybe one of the candlelight concerts I did for 300 people. And they went home and they liked it, but it didn’t like, stick with them for four years, you know? That was a big thing for me. I think we need to take off all of that arrogance or pretense around the numbers of people in the room and think about, “Why am I here?”

Robert Bosworth: Yeah, or the style music too. Like, I know a lot of the candle…

Michelle Lynne: Yes.

Robert Bosworth: …music that you do is not the highfalutin classical, poo-poo, “Uh, my acciaccaturas are historically correct” kind of…

Michelle Lynne: Yeah.

Robert Bosworth: …thing. Um, just realizing that there, you know, music is music, and it’s not—it’s not highbrow or lowbrow, as much as we want to put terms on it to help us distinguish, I guess, uh…

Michelle Lynne: You know, another big learning lesson for me was, um, this French singer-songwriter called Jean-Jacques Goldman.

Robert Bosworth: I don’t know him.

Michelle Lynne: So, Candlelight asked me to prepare this program. I didn’t know him at all, except he does do, uh, he has an album coming out with Celine Dion, so I should have known him, but anyway, I didn’t. But from my dad’s upbringing, country songs in me, I knew that if this guy’s a big deal in France, then I better nail it because these people know every word. They know every note, and I have to walk out there and know the music. So, I listened over and over and over—like, at the gym, I was listening to Jean-Jacques Goldman. And then when I played that specific concert, I mean, the response is enormous because these people grew up with him. And you have to understand, like, these songs have carried these people through hard seasons, through good seasons, through birthdays and memories in their childhood. And so I’ve had grown men in their sixties come up, you know, tears in their eyes, “Thank you. You have gold in your hands. This meant so much to me.” And I’m like, I’m a Canadian, so I am so honored that I paid this guy a little bit of justice ’cause I know that he matters so much to this country, and I’m a foreigner. So for me, that was a big bigwig. Like, you just want to be very careful in those situations that you have a lot of respect and integrity for, you know? He’s a pop singer-songwriter, and I am taking it very seriously ’cause I know how much it matters to these people.

Robert Bosworth: Yeah, but at the same time, that’s more proof to the fact that music is such a universal thing, is…

Michelle Lynne: I…

Robert Bosworth: …you being—I mean, yes, there are. I, for instance, I feel like I struggle a lot with, um, certain Latin American music just because…

Michelle Lynne: Mm.

Robert Bosworth: …flavor is not in my system. And I love it, um, and I can imitate it. Okay, but it’s, you know, you hear somebody from that background play that music and you’re like, “Nope, that’s that.”

Michelle Lynne: “Very white.”

Robert Bosworth: That?

Michelle Lynne: “I am a white guy,” yeah.

Robert Bosworth: Yeah.

Michelle Lynne: “I should take some salsa lessons or something.” I started you.

Robert Bosworth: Pretty close. I mean, my Spanish teacher in high school said, “You know, your accent is never going to sound like you’re a native-born speaker, but you can get pretty close.”

Michelle Lynne: Yeah.

Robert Bosworth: And I think…

Michelle Lynne: Absolutely.

Robert Bosworth: …of that in this conversation, too. Now I am curious, what artist in Canada would that be comparable to if someone, you know, if you were not Canadian and you had to come to Canada and play the most well-known Canadian artist of…

Michelle Lynne: I am gonna say like, Ann Murray is one of them. Um, I’m gonna say, you know, Bryan Adams, um, where I grew up in Alberta. Yeah. Paul Brandt, Terry Clark—those are country singers. Um, yeah, Ann Murray, she’s from the East Coast. A lot of East Coast music is very popular in Canada. Also, obviously, Celine Dion.

Robert Bosworth: Sure.

Michelle Lynne: Um, yeah, that’s what comes to mind. That’s what comes to mind. These, these old songs. Shania Twain. Everybody loves Shania. “Man, I Feel Like a Woman.”

Robert Bosworth: Do you ever do her pieces in your concerts?

Michelle Lynne: No, because nobody over here would know her. It’s very sad.

Robert Bosworth: No one would know Shania Twain over there?

Michelle Lynne: I don’t think in Europe people know Shania Twain.

Robert Bosworth: But Celine…

Michelle Lynne: They might know a few songs. Yeah, they know Celine, of course, but that’s the French connection. So, uh, Candlelight did propose a Celine concert, so I’m hoping to do it soon.

Robert Bosworth: There you go. Well, get Shania over there, too. You should just—I mean, get her, actually. Just…

Michelle Lynne: She has a house in Geneva, and every time I go to Geneva, my dad says, “Did you see the Queen?” And I’m like, “No, Dad. I didn’t see Shania.” Yeah, I think it’s on the lake, so all I gotta do is go through every mansion on the lake and ring the doorbell and find Shania.

Robert Bosworth: You’ll find her. Um…

Michelle Lynne: Gosh, during COVID…

Robert Bosworth: Yeah.

Michelle Lynne: I…

Robert Bosworth: …was…

Michelle Lynne: …listening to this sermon from St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields. We—I listened with my neighbors and he used her as an example, and he called her, “Shania,” and I almost wrote a complaint letter.

Robert Bosworth: “Shania.” I think Shaya…

Michelle Lynne: “Reverend…”

Robert Bosworth: “…cousins,” yeah.

Michelle Lynne: “…I, I respect your sermon so much. I can’t remember what it was about called…” Oh, I think he was quoting one of her songs, and, um, I was like, “It’s Shania, please.”

Robert Bosworth: “Shaya,” yeah. I think that was one of Mark Twain’s cousins. “Shaya” is a little different.

Michelle Lynne: Okay, okay.

Robert Bosworth: Well, all this mention of Candlelight actually does—I had a can… I had, this is a fun question now.

Michelle Lynne: Ooh.

Robert Bosworth: I did a Candlelight con… explain briefly what Candlelight concerts are for the people who are not aware.

Michelle Lynne: A global phenomenon. They bought 10,000 candles, they stick it around a piano, and they sell an experience. They do not sell a classical music concert. And that, my friends, is the marketing genius behind Candlelight. They find beautiful venues. They know how to market and sell, unlike most classical musicians. They spend money on advertising, and they get butts in seats. And I have played for—I’m gonna say—150,000 people in the last three years, which is insane to me.

Robert Bosworth: Mm-hmm.

Michelle Lynne: Because they know how to sell tickets and they put on what they call classical music concerts. They are not. They are like, classical. I do some film music. I’ve got one—I’ve got two actual classical programs: Chopin and Mozart. Uh, the rest is pop stuff arranged classically, you can say.

Robert Bosworth: Yeah.

Michelle Lynne: And they’re great, and they’re fun. And I feel like they have healed me from perfectionism. They have given me so much joy, met so many people, amazing collaborations, amazing audiences. I’ve never been so appreciated and received from people who just love music and they’re not there to judge me or criticize me. So I feel like this was just a gift. I’m so grateful to be able to do this. And yeah, I love it.

Robert Bosworth: And they’re like, interesting venues sometimes, too. Like, they’re not always a…

Michelle Lynne: Insane. I mean, I played the cathedral in Bordeaux. That was just incredible. Um, I do a lot of An Audi because, uh, that’s like the closest classical thing that they—you know, he’s considered classical on Spotify. Like, with all respect, he’s not, you know. Um, but, uh, so in that cathedral we weren’t allowed to play anything except him, ’cause it was like kind of meditation music. But I’m happy to present a concert of kind of meditation style, no problem. But I’m not gonna pretend that it’s Chopin or that it costs me the same time to prepare as a Chopin recital.

Robert Bosworth: Yeah.

Michelle Lynne: Um, but anyway, that’s an aside. And, uh, the aquarium, obviously, very cool. Um, many venues, outdoor venues are always my favorite. I think playing outside is so special. Very cool. Very cool experience.

Robert Bosworth: Person, so you don’t have to worry about the pages flying off into the breeze.

Michelle Lynne: Exactly.

Robert Bosworth: Correct.

Michelle Lynne: Also like, turning pages. I think the main reason I got the iPad was because, A, all of your scores are with you all the time, and B, you can turn your own pages.

Robert Bosworth: Has there ever been a gust of wind strong enough to knock the iPad off?

Michelle Lynne: No, but sometimes it like, fell back when I kind of perched it ’cause I like to lay it kind of flat so it doesn’t look so obvious and it kind of just slid back a little bit. But, uh, once it turned off ’cause it was too hot…

Robert Bosworth: Ooh.

Michelle Lynne: …once it was dying because it was too cold, so, you know, you always got these things.

Robert Bosworth: Well, what do you—does somebody just come along and breathe on it, like from the side to warm…?

Michelle Lynne: No, I turned the low battery on…

Robert Bosworth: Oh.

Michelle Lynne: …which was a very bad idea because then the screen dimmed every 10 seconds, so I couldn’t read the notes anymore. So I had to keep frantically tapping it to make it come outta low battery.

Robert Bosworth: It’s like…

Michelle Lynne: That wasn’t good. That wasn’t good.

Robert Bosworth: But my, okay, so my—those were all my unplanned questions. The, the fun planned question that I had about Candlelight is they’re not real candles. Correct?

Michelle Lynne: No, come on, Robert. My no any—have you seen my dresses? I would’ve been on fire oh, many times by now.

Robert Bosworth: Well, we might get to the dresses. But the question is, if all the candles were scented once…

Michelle Lynne: Oh.

Robert Bosworth: …what would you hope that that scent might be? In…

Michelle Lynne: Oh my God.

Robert Bosworth: …thousands of candles and you have to be a… surrounded by a scented candle. What is the scent that you hope that it is?

Michelle Lynne: I kind of hate any scent, so I, I get overwhelmed, like if it’s too strong. So I, that sounds like a nightmare to me, to be surrounded by 10,000 scented candles.

Robert Bosworth: “What is what scent do you hope that it’s not?” So that maybe in a scent…

Michelle Lynne: Like any scent. Yeah. Or something supernatural, like the scent of fresh grass or, you know, leaves or something nature.

Robert Bosworth: Yeah. See, I’d just start sneezing if it was just the smell of grass everywhere.

Michelle Lynne: Like maybe the smell of fresh rain or dew. I could do that.

Robert Bosworth: There you go. So that’d be…

Michelle Lynne: Yeah.

Robert Bosworth: …And that would be good for the style of music, too, the light…

Michelle Lynne: Exactly, yeah.

Robert Bosworth: All right, well that ticks off my Candlelight question. Let’s…

Michelle Lynne: Did you make these? A Cha GBT?

Robert Bosworth: I asked people, “No.” I did actually. You wanna hear one? I checked JBT’s questions. I haven’t…

Michelle Lynne: Yes. Oh no.

Robert Bosworth: Here we go. I also always say “GBT” and I know it’s “GPT,” but lazy.

Michelle Lynne: I actually don’t know what it stands for, but anyway.

Robert Bosworth: Says, “I don’t know what it stands for.” Um, well, on the Questioning Classical podcast, you mentioned that what audiences want isn’t perfection, it’s humanity. Can you share…

Michelle Lynne: Hmm.

Robert Bosworth: …when letting go of that perfect ideal opened up a meaningful connection?

Michelle Lynne: Oh my gosh. I’ve got a story for you. So I, um…

Robert Bosworth: For that…

Michelle Lynne: …I played—thank you for that insightful question.

Robert Bosworth: Yes.

Michelle Lynne: Playing Victoria Hall, you mentioned venues. Victoria Hall is one of the biggest halls in Europe. All the greats play there. I’m talking like Zimmerman, Ridge, like big pianists. And then I got to play there. It was insane. It was beautiful. Three balconies. You walk on stage, 700 people, you’re like, “What is this? This is so cool.” The piano is amazing. The technicians, the other thing is the professionalism, right? Like I’m standing backstage and I can see the screen of the stage and they’re like, “Artist entrance in five, four.” And I’m like, “Oh my gosh.” Then they swing the doors open for me and I like, enter in. And I was like, “Whoa.” Like I’m so used to setting up the chairs for the audience and like sweeping the floor and like…

Robert Bosworth: Lugging…

Michelle Lynne: …out the programs.

Robert Bosworth: …from the Subaru.

Michelle Lynne: Exactly. Getting the bench out. I mean, I do this for Opus 16, my, my concert series, like sometimes. Anyway, whatever. My life is wildly, no, there’s many, many varieties.

Robert Bosworth: We love it.

Michelle Lynne: Um, so I’m in this amazing hall, I wanna play rep that’s challenging to me. So I had this Christmas program. Now, a lot of it I had to play, so I’m like, you know, Christmas classics that are pretty easy, but I’m like, “This is my chance, so what am I gonna do? Okay, I should play Clair de Lune.” This is beautiful. But I hadn’t played it in a while and I didn’t have a chance to warm up on the piano because my hair and makeup artist came. And then we were doing the photo shoot and the, the dress, and it was just like a lot of people around me. And that’s something else I’ve had to learn. But anyway, so there’s no time to warm up properly. And I was worried. There’s like a middle section with a D-flat arpeggio thing happening, and I was like, “Oh, I’m not sure how clean that’s gonna be.”

Robert Bosworth: And…

Michelle Lynne: And so I really…

Robert Bosworth: …it should not be that awkward.

Michelle Lynne: It’s…

Robert Bosworth: Right?

Michelle Lynne: It’s an awkward thing.

Robert Bosworth: It.

Michelle Lynne: I texted…

Robert Bosworth: I feel…

Michelle Lynne: …I’ve got a piano, piano group chat, and I said to them, like, “Hey, help, you know?” And, and they, the response came back and said, “Just go through it twice and you’ll be fine.” And, um, so I did that. Went through it very slowly, twice. Just trusted, played it. I don’t remember how it went. I mean, I was playing in Victoria Hall. Anything’s gonna sound good in Victoria Hall. Okay, you gotta look at the pictures after. It’s incredible. Then I’m, as you know, I go stand and talk to the audience as they come out, which is hugely important. Anyone listening to this, go talk to your audience. It’s how they’re gonna fall in love with you and come back, and they love it. They appreciate it so much. This girl comes up to me, big eyes and she says, “It has been my dream, my life dream to hear Clair de Lune live by a pianist. Thank you so much for playing that.” And all I can think of is I wasn’t gonna play it ’cause I thought I was gonna have a couple wrong notes.

Robert Bosworth: Yeah.

Michelle Lynne: And this girl’s telling me that it was her dream of her life. And because, you know, she loves piano, she watches it on YouTube, she’d never seen it live before. And she was just so touched. I’m like, “Oh Michelle, you gotta get over yourself.”

Robert Bosworth: Yeah.

Michelle Lynne: ‘Cause what am I robbing people of if I put my own ego above sharing?

Robert Bosworth: But how do you do that? I feel like there it is, it’s hard for, I mean, because especially if you’re a soloist, quote unquote, soloist primarily, and this, I mean, I work with singers a lot, so they are often, quote unquote, soloists. And with that comes a lot of spotlight and a lot of, um, kind of expectation and grandeur and all. It’s, it’s well and done in theory what you just said, and it’s a wonderful reminder. But like, how do you actually put that into practice before it’s the moment? You know? I think that was, uh, you know, I guess I think it’s great that you ended up playing that when you weren’t going to, but like, what’s something that you can, I dunno, how can you repeat that? If those egotistical—not you, but how can one, how can…?

Michelle Lynne: No, I definitely have an ego. You can say it. It’s okay.

Robert Bosworth: No, no, no, no.

Michelle Lynne: I think that, no, but no, I, but I agree with you, and I think…

Robert Bosworth: …channel? I do too.

Michelle Lynne: No, I’m not offended because I think the ego is something that we constantly have to have kind of this interaction with and being like, “Okay, I need you here, but you can’t be too much.” So I’m also learning this as a, you know, quote unquote, public figure, speaking to people, but then also just recognizing humility is the way forward. And like, humility is how we become bigger and better and can give other people place. So I’m thinking a lot about this, and I think that I’ve, I’ve changed my mindset to, “I’m here to serve. I’m here to give what I have to give.” But of course, the insecurity’s gonna come in and like, I’ll share another example, which is a little bit embarrassing, but last week I was playing in Porto for my, uh, teacher from university. And we were playing this, I’m working on this nocturne with him, and, uh, there’s this moment where the phrase finishes and then there’s a rest before you take back the main theme. I’m talking about Opus 20, “Posthumous Nocturne,” for any pianist listening. And he and I kind of like, whipped through it ’cause I was a little bit uncomfortable and I’m nervous playing for him and whatever. And I want it to be good, and I want him to think that I’m good, and all these stupid things. And then he’s like, “What? You don’t like silence?” And I’m like, “No, I don’t like silence because I know I, I blew through my wrist, but it’s because I’m still a little bit uncomfortable on stage when I have this moment of doing nothing, this silence.” And he looks at me, he is like, “Well, it’s not about you. It’s what the music wants.” I was just like, “Oh, here’s the knife in my heart.” Like I’m so embarrassed and also like so pinned. I’m like, “Yeah, you got me.” Like, it’s not about me at all. You’re right, there’s a rest here, and I need to sit and just let the music finish and then take it back again and stop worrying about, “What are people thinking about me?” So I think fighting this ego thing or like overcoming the ego is gonna be a lifelong, hopefully not lifelong, I don’t know, constant dialogue of like, “How can I give what I have to give and be a catalyst rather than being like, ‘Am I good enough? Look at me.’” Actually, perfectionism has—is actually egotistical ’cause it’s so self, self-centered, so self-focused.

Robert Bosworth: Mm-hmm.

Michelle Lynne: Like, what if we just get over ourselves?

Robert Bosworth: Yeah. Well, and I think for some of, I mean, I’m a, I’m a selective perfectionist. I’m very…

Michelle Lynne: Okay.

Robert Bosworth: …I’m very perfectionist about certain very specific things that really don’t matter in the grand scheme of things, but that’s just, that’s I guess, what God wanted with me. Um, but I think some things, it’s interesting that you say, “Hopefully not lifelong.” Maybe it will be lifelong, but the, but the times that the scales are more in your favor, hopefully diminish over time. I think sometimes we have things that are lifelong, that we never really conquer, but hopefully, at least for me, I feel like those certain things, like I will never fully conquer those weird perfectionism things, but I can get better at realizing them and being aware of them and not letting them drive the ship as constantly, you know what I…

Michelle Lynne: Exactly. And I think in that moment I had the choice of like, getting kind of shrinking back and being maybe defensive or just, you know, and I was just, I just took it. I’m like, “Nope, he’s right and I need to, I need to own this.” So I think that’s part of the growth is that you recognize when your ego stepped in and it shouldn’t have, and you say, “Okay, ouch. I’m gonna gonna switch some tactics here. It’s not about me.” And I think that’s why, you know, I’ve had people ask, like, when that moment of applause at the end, they’re like, “Oh, how does that feel?” I’m like, “I actually, it doesn’t actually touch my head.” And I’ve been very clear with myself about that. Like, this is not the moment of affirmation. This is not, you know, there’s a pastor I listen to a lot. He’s like, “If you live by their praise, you will die by their criticism.” So it’s not at the end when everybody’s clapping for me that I’m like, “I am awesome.” I’m just like, “You know what? I’m glad they liked it. I’m gonna go talk to ’em at the door. I hope that I can have some more personal connection or conversations with people.” But like, it’s not like I get my little filling at that moment, like, you know, suck up all the juice or something.

Robert Bosworth: Oh, see, I…

Michelle Lynne: …and that I’m glad about. I’m like, “Okay, cool.”

Robert Bosworth: I really do love when people are just like, screaming and, but it doesn’t have to be for me. It can be… No, no, no, no. It’s, it’s, it is just like the sound of it. It’s not even…

Michelle Lynne: Right.

Robert Bosworth: …like I’ll watch random sitcom clips on YouTube and the crowd will just go nuts for something and I, I get a rush and I’m just like, “I…”

Michelle Lynne: Well, okay, I mean, I don’t wanna say that. I don’t too. Like, I mean, of course if they’re clapping loud, you’re like, proud and satisfied. But I’m just trying to say that I, I don’t think it feeds me. It doesn’t, it doesn’t, it’s not my validation, but of course, I love when they’re cheering. I love it when there’s like a loud, when they’re, you know, if they stand up at the end, you’re like, “Okay, good. Like, I’m glad they liked it.” But it’s, it’s a different, it doesn’t touch me as deeply, I think.

Robert Bosworth: Do you feel like some of that has come, some of this awareness has come more since you’ve been a coach as well in helping other people figure that out? ‘Cause I feel that for me, is trying to teach these things to other people has made my for putting my ego in chuck much stronger than…

Michelle Lynne: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Robert Bosworth: …me.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah. Coaching has changed me enormously, and I’m so grateful to Bernhard in, uh, Vienna, who has Be Your Own Manager. Coaching has taught me how to slow down. It’s taught me how to ask better questions. It’s taught me how to listen. And I think as a teacher, we know this from teaching music, that when you have to explain something to a student, it’s because you then have to think, “Wait, how do I do this?” Like, “I can do it.” Maybe we can do something right away, but you’re like, “Okay, why is this working for me?” And now I have to figure out how to articulate it. So I don’t know. I wouldn’t say that I have things figured out in a, besides coaching is, is a different relationship, anyway. Coaching is an equal relationship where the coach holds space for the client, the coachee, to think through something and to come up to their own solution, actually. And that’s what I learned the most in my coaching course was that actually for the majority of the part TFA, I’m acting as a consultant ’cause people want me to just tell them how, what to post, how to, how to get concerts, how to network, how to do the business side. Um, so in that sense I was like, “Okay, if I’m actually gonna coach people, then I need to set it up a little bit differently.” And I’ve learned that and it’s a lot of fun.

Robert Bosworth: Hmm. See, I’m not even sure that I’ve ever thought there is a difference between a coach and a consultant.

Michelle Lynne: That was one of the biggest revelations for me taking this course. I was like, “Oh wow, okay.”

Robert Bosworth: So at least…

Michelle Lynne: A coach doesn’t tell you what to do. Yeah.

Robert Bosworth: …see, I feel over here a lot of the times those terms are interchanged.

Michelle Lynne: Because people don’t know and they just call themselves whatever they wanna call themselves. So, you know, but I’m taking this from the International Coaching Federation and reading about the ethics and like, confidentiality and all of these things that we take like really seriously now, especially with vulnerable artists who are sharing their thoughts and feelings and fears. You just wanna make, again, coming back to that safe space.

Robert Bosworth: Mm-hmm. I like it. Yeah. ‘Cause I, I mean even, ’cause I call myself a coach, but it’s not like a career co… I mean, part of it gets into…

Michelle Lynne: You’re a vocal coach. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Robert Bosworth: But see, in the classical world of things, at least as I know it, vocal coach is different than a voice teacher. And in the pop world, a lot of the…

Michelle Lynne: It is. Yeah. Right.

Robert Bosworth: …used interchangeably, too. So I’ll get people…

Michelle Lynne: Right.

Robert Bosworth: …to me on Instagram being like, “Hey, you’re a voice coach. Um, I really need help with my blah, blah, blah, blah.” I’m like, “No, no, no, no, no, no. That’s not,” they’re asking like a pop coach question. And I’m like…

Michelle Lynne: Yeah, but you can still help. I mean, you gave me a voice lesson that was helpful and you also worked with Rachel, so I mean, there’s things you can…

Robert Bosworth: I wasn’t in there…

Michelle Lynne: Mm-hmm.

Robert Bosworth: …talking about your larynx and talking…

Michelle Lynne: Okay.

Robert Bosworth: …like…

Michelle Lynne: Yeah.

Robert Bosworth: …things.

Michelle Lynne: I learned what to do with my larynx from my vocal coach taught me about Yogi Bear.

Robert Bosworth: Well…

Michelle Lynne: Woo-hoo!

Robert Bosworth: …Bear?

Michelle Lynne: Yeah. You have to talk like you’re Yogi Bear and then your larynx goes down. “S” goes down. Oh, “I’m Yogi Bear. Hi, I’m Yogi Bear.”

Robert Bosworth: I don’t think I’ve ever heard a better impression of Yogi.

Michelle Lynne: Thank you. Thank you.

Robert Bosworth: And I’ve not heard many, so don’t take it.

Michelle Lynne: So you jumped on Instagram stories. Did anyone have any questions or no? Was it just like a total dead…?

Robert Bosworth: They don’t.

Michelle Lynne: Everybody knows everything they wanna know.

Robert Bosworth: They…

Michelle Lynne: Okay.

Robert Bosworth: Um, but do you have any pre-performance mantras or ways that you get, and you’ve talked about flipping a switch before, before you go on stage? What does that look like if you, or is that a private thing that you care not to discuss?

Michelle Lynne: Um, it means that…

Robert Bosworth: …you’ll be on your Instagram stories and you’re like, “I’m going on stage in 30 seconds and my shoe strap just broke, but I have to leave because I’m going on stage. Goodbye.” But then you also talk about flipping a switch. And I’m curious, is that just in the two seconds before you go on stage? Or is it, you know, what is that kind of, put on the…?

Michelle Lynne: First of all, that was, that was very accurate. Um, so here’s how it works. If it’s the show’s at 7:30, then 7:20, I’m still putting on my makeup. And what I’ve started doing is I’ll film on my camera that pre-story, pre-con story, and I don’t actually open the Instagram app ’cause then otherwise I would get sucked into some messenger story or whatever.

Robert Bosworth: So it’s…

Michelle Lynne: Um… Well, I post after it happened. Yes. I don’t post in real time.

Robert Bosworth: Yeah.

Michelle Lynne: And then the switch for me is probably like those three minutes before I go on. It’s just like, taking a moment of quiet. I can’t be chatting with people, like, sometimes my dress designer, I gotta be like, “I love you and you need to leave.” Like, I can’t be with people till like one second before I go on stage. And I usually take a quick moment to kneel and just be like, you know, “God, this is for you.” And I just pray that your spirit comes into the concert hall. And this isn’t—I mean, I’m here to, to, to give and to be, you know, to be used and to, I want people, I pray that people will feel your love and that they will feel, um, touched by the music and that they’ll be inspired and that it’s a good time. You know, also before the podcast, like just anytime I’m about to be in the public, I’m like, and that also probably helps with the ego ’cause again, like it’s not about me. And it takes the pressure off, too, ’cause it’s like I am, I’m here to do my thing. And if you believe that you have a gift, then you’re like, “Okay, like let that be seen.” And it takes—it’s not about you anymore. It’s about like what’s inside you to give.

Robert Bosworth: That’s interesting. I feel, I mean, I agree with that totally. I feel like I am a mix. Sometimes my flip a switch is, “Everybody please get away from me right now.” But then other times I’m like totally cutting up with people back, back there and like as we’re walking on stage, we’re stopping a conversation because I…

Michelle Lynne: Oh, yeah.

Robert Bosworth: …I want the performance to just kind of be part of the day. Like, for me, if I, if I start to treat it like, “Now,” and I think maybe that’s part of what lessens the, the perfectionist thing for me is that if I just treat it like it’s another part of my regularly scheduled day, instead of, “Whole day is now revolved around seven o’clock tonight.”

Michelle Lynne: Mm-hmm.

Robert Bosworth: “I must treat it like I’m gonna go worship at the altar at seven o’clock and everything.” I don’t know. For me, that seems to get me more in a tizzy. Um, and I know a lot of…

Michelle Lynne: Sure.

Robert Bosworth: …they have to do that, where they’re like, “No, I have a performance today and I am not taking any visitors and I am, uh, relaxing in bed.” All I would go insane.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Robert Bosworth: Um.

Michelle Lynne: No, I, I mean…

Robert Bosworth: …getting to a theater like way early just so I know.

Michelle Lynne: Mm.

Robert Bosworth: Um, but in terms of…

Michelle Lynne: I try.

Robert Bosworth: …the zone, I feel like I find myself doing that as I walk out instead of, or maybe like the, mine is like a two-second thing, like it’s just like, “Go.”

Michelle Lynne: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Robert Bosworth: Too much.

Michelle Lynne: Uh-huh.

Robert Bosworth: So…

Michelle Lynne: Uh-huh.

Robert Bosworth: …good to hear that it’s, you know, similar, yet different for you.

Michelle Lynne: And I think turning, flipping the switch is also about energy, so it’s about, you know, bringing, bringing your awareness to the present moment, like getting the phone away. And, um, being like, “Okay, what am I here to do? What do I need to think about?” Even if it’s just that opening tempo, that opening note or how you’re gonna walk out. You know, I, I really worked a lot on my stage presence. I’ve worked a lot on it. I’ve read books, I’ve watched Taylor Swift videos, I’ve gotten live feedback from people, and so just walking out with that head held high, the smile, looking at the audience, like the bow, the confidence, that stuff I think about.

Robert Bosworth: Oh, see, that seems, that seems so natural for you.

Michelle Lynne: Oh, no. You can look back to videos even two years ago and you’d be really surprised at the difference. Uh-huh. I walked out with like this rounded, apologetic look, like, “I’m so sorry that I’m here and I hope that you like me.”

Robert Bosworth: “I’m sorry to be here. Sorry you came to see me.”

Michelle Lynne: “Sorry that it’s me and not Martha Ridge. Sorry that, you know, I mean, whatever.”

Robert Bosworth: Have you ever seen her live?

Michelle Lynne: Martha? Yes.

Robert Bosworth: Uh, I…

Michelle Lynne: …Paris just a couple years ago.

Robert Bosworth: What was she playing? Do you…?

Michelle Lynne: Oh, no, I knew you were gonna, I’m pretty sure it was Prokofiev Three. Uh, yeah, it was. And it was awesome.

Robert Bosworth: Did she die? Yeah. I would completely die.

Michelle Lynne: It was fantastic.

Robert Bosworth: All right. The biggest name, not again, not that big names are everything, but the biggest person like that I think I’ve seen was Emmanuel Ax at Carnegie.

Michelle Lynne: Oh.

Robert Bosworth: And…

Michelle Lynne: One of my favorite pianists.

Robert Bosworth: …Chopin.

Michelle Lynne: Love him.

Robert Bosworth: Program.

Michelle Lynne: He’s so great and humble. We wanna come back to humility. That’s a really great artist I admire for his humility.

Robert Bosworth: A, I mean, from his interview, I mean, I’ve never met him, but seems like he’s a person, like a…

Michelle Lynne: Hmm, mm-hmm.

Robert Bosworth: …so usually hear at the Fearless Artist Podcast, we like to leave our viewers, um, by asking our guests for an action point.

Michelle Lynne: Ooh.

Robert Bosworth: So, is there any one call to action or whatever our usual host, Michelle Lynn says, uh, Elo again, much more eloquently than I can ever hope to be, uh, about a call to action for anyone out there struggling, feeling stuck and not sure, not being sure of what to do.

Michelle Lynne: Yes. Two things come to mind. Um, the first thing is, think back to a moment when you walked off stage and somebody came up and thanked you. What did they say? Why did your music touch them? What did you give them that day? And then, you know, meditate on that and think about that before you perform again. Or even if it was, if you’re a teacher in a studio and you had a parent say, “You know, he came home and he was so happy. Thank you for whatever it was.” That is a really big clue that you’re on the right path. And the second thing is, we have a Fearless Career Day coming up September 8th with Bernhard Caris, who runs Be Your Own Manager in Vienna. It’s a very similar community to the Fearless Artist, and we’ve invited a lot of great speakers in the industry to come and give like, 50-minute sessions for an entire day. It’s fully recorded. There’s an early bird price discount until, um, mid-August. So that would be a great way if you’re feeling lost or stuck or if you just want some inspiration and to be, I mean, I’m really looking forward. We’ve got Angela Miles-Beeching coming back. Um, we’ve got Chris Still coming.

Robert Bosworth: I listened to her.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah.

Robert Bosworth: Yeah.

Michelle Lynne: Great. Um, and every session will have some kind of interactive portion where they’re gonna do an activity or a coaching with the group. So it’s really interactive. It’s not just lecture style. So I think that’s gonna be a great, great time to come together and meet as fearless artists.

Robert Bosworth: Yay. Well, how can people find you online and get in touch with you? How can we…?

Michelle Lynne: If you’re listening to this podcast, I’m pretty sure you know that we are the Fearless Artist Mastermind, and, uh, yeah. If you listened and you loved Robert, make sure you go follow Robert. He’s great. Thank you, Robert, for being the very first guest host.

Robert Bosworth: Well, thank you. And again, the seven-parter, so we’ll, we’ll have other opportunities to dive even deeper. Can I ask, can we end with another, just like a hokey question?

Michelle Lynne: Absolutely.

Robert Bosworth: What’s your favorite time of day to perform?

Michelle Lynne: Oh, I’ll tell you when. It’s not Sunday morning.

Robert Bosworth: Yeah.

Michelle Lynne: When the most of my concerts are is in my series of Sunday mornings. Favorite time of day? You know what? When I did the outdoor concert starting at 10:30 PM…

Robert Bosworth: Ooh.

Michelle Lynne: …the summer, couple summers ago, and it was like pitch black dark with just the stars and the candles. I mean, that was really special. That was cool. But then, you know, you have a nap and you, you set your day up differently if you’re gonna do a 10:00 PM concert. But, um, that’s always really special. It’s kinda like that midnight mass feeling, you know?

Robert Bosworth: That’s true.

Michelle Lynne: When you come out and it’s like super late. It’s, it’s exciting. It’s something different. Yeah.

Robert Bosworth: Nice. Thanks, Michelle.

Michelle Lynne: Thank you, Robert. It’s a pleasure. You’re welcome. Thanks for hosting.

Robert Bosworth: All…

Michelle Lynne: We’ll see you everybody on the next episode. Bye. Be fearless.