*hug* Everyone slips, my friend. It is NO indication of who we are, or who we can be. I am a performer (belly dancer), and I have had my shares of utter humiliation on stage. And still, I make a very happy and successful living at what I do.

Keep on keepin' on, I always say. My worst day doing what I love is 100X better than my best day doing what doesn't inspire me in the least,

Be well.

Playing in front of others is a different skill then playing by yourslef, and has just as much of learning curve as playing in a band vs playing solo. Don't sweat it. Everyone sound like that the first time.

I dont really like playing on stage (usually I play by myself or at house partis or with friends), but when I do get up on stage I intentionaly play it "safe". To me that means that whatever I play is the stuff I am 100% sure I have down. This can be tough for me because i am always more excited about the stuff I just learned or the song I just wrote. By the time I have that down Ill be excited about the next thing... and so it goes.. so I usually pick out what I am going to do a week or so ahead of time and practive the sh*t out of it. Something I remembered reading about playing on stage:

Practice each song start to finish. Dont stop when you mess up, because you cant stop on stage and start over. Also it will teach you to deal with a suddenly out of tune string (play around it) , sudden urge to sneeze and all the real-life stuff that can happen on stage.

If you have a short set keep re tunings to a minimum. (ie I have some songs I like to play in Drop D, I always play them last so I can tune (down) once. Or have two guitars.

Once youu determine a set, practice the whole set in order. Even the Greatful Dead started with set lists.

Change your strings 1-2 days before the set so they can stratch in. Arrive early enough to let the guitar acclimate to the venue (taking the guitar out of the case speeds this process up- but never leave a guitar in an open or unlatched case- someone will pick up the case thinking its latched and the gutar will fall out. Been there done that...) The day of. make sure you have everything that you need (Including spare strings, picks, slides, capos) in your case. Just double checking and knowing its all there will make you feel better.

Be careful how much you drink. Lots of venues are bars, and if you have second set then the temptation to drink all night is there. Unless you play well drunk (I don't), watch your intake (I usually drink a beer and then sip the second one till I play).

If you looked like Lisa Kudro you might get away with it.

"Hey they were all stoned or drunk anyway." That's what we used to tell each other.

Console yourself with the fact that as long as you didn't do something unforgettable (like take your pants down and pee on the audience), nobody will remember your performance, and 90% of them forgot about it the moment you left the stage. Also, remember: it was YOU up there. Which means that even if you really stank, you probably still played better than 99% of the audience and they were probably not that conscious of your mistakes.

I write and perform funny songs. There are nights when I go over like gangbusters and nights when the audience seems hell-bent on not having a good time. This just makes me more inspired to go out and get 'em the next time. You do that, too.

TT