Maria Kelly – PRESHOW RITUALS

In this Preshow Rituals segment, the alternative folk artist, Maria Kelly, shares what she does before every show. You can check out her rituals, after the break.

The morning of a show, I try to get up reasonably early, hop in the shower and begin some crazy vocal warm ups (much to the dismay of my sleeping roommates – sorry guys!). I like to get my vocal chords moving as early as possible to break out of that ‘groggy’ morning-voice feeling.

The next thing I do is make myself a cup of hot water, lemon & apple cider vinegar. For me, it totally soothes my throat and really helps the warm up of my voice. It’s also super relaxing! Then, I would usually settle into doing a longer vocal warm up, including some breathing exercises, for about 20 minutes.

In general, I TRY to have as chilled a day as possible before a gig – but having said that, anyone who has seen me before a gig will know that I am more than likely running around, a total ball of nerves, speaking about 2 octaves higher than I normally would!

Despite that, I always eat something substantial a good bit before it all kicks off and continually drink plenty of water. I’d also have another hot water and lemon to calm the nerves about an hour before stage time – but I think this is more of a placebo ritual at this point!

If I’m playing a solo show, I usually try to find a little corner to myself before I go on – just to relax and get ready. If I’m playing with my band, I love nothing more than hanging out with them beforehand and getting pumped up to put on a really great show!

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