Some advice.

All bands and artists should listen closely to what Amanda Palmer has to say here.
At the crux of it is that she is promoting that connections should be made.
It is something that I have always advocated to.
No matter what form of art is being created the artists intent is to touch something in us all.
It can be a little line of prose, a lyric, a note hanging in the air or the punchline to a joke.
They all share something of themselves when they do it, and in my opinion they should be rewarded for doing so.
We should be considering that what we are all mutually entering into is a symbiotic relationship. and as it is a relationship there should be a degree of respect given that goes both ways.
It should never be an experience that is held at arms length.
Let us all embrace it.
Sharing our appreciation for each other is a worthy thing to do.
Tell an artist how moved you are by their work, how much enjoyment you have taken from their performance, and likewise if you are an artist express appreciation that someone has made the effort to connect with you and support you.

Tonight I will be attending a show by Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby, and this nights entertainment is actually a perfect example of the symbiotic relationship at work.

Initially I pledged for their album and you could say that was the first step.
On receiving it I was blown away, and to this day I haven't altered my opinion that it is quite literally a work of genius.
I wrote a glowing review and from that Amy thanked me for it.
That was a nice touch.
The effort made to contact someone and express their thanks for some kind words written about them was appreciated by me.
From that the venue they are playing in tonight used a quote from the review to promote the show.
From that I was asked if I wished to attend and was added to the guest list.
I of course said yes, but that's not the end of it.
It's not the end because now the circle of people has widened that are involved.
There's Eric and Amy, The Fallen Angels Club who are promoting the show, Mike Ritchie who has acted as a middle man in the process and even the venue itself.
Before a note is struck I would consider that this has now been a successful evening due to all the little connections made.
Not that the connections are rooted in finance.
It's people connecting with people.
Even just for a second or online.
This is the magic of it all, and it's not an exclusive club.
If we all remain open to connecting then this is what happens.

Another example of connections being made is from when I put on a show by the Canadian band The Wooden Sky.
They brought along with them The Evening Hymns and their current album was written in its entirety surrounding the events of the singers father dying.
It's beautifully raw in places and I'm not ashamed to admit that at times it has brought a tear to my eye.
As Jonas and myself had shared a drink or two on the night I messaged him to say how much I enjoyed the album, and how on an emotional level I appreciated his honesty.
Then I told him about my father dying.
I'm not sure why I decided to reveal my experience, but it felt right.
I suppose I was just reciprocating what Jonas had done night after night on tour.
He just tore down the wall and let his emotions show, and because he had I think I felt comfortable in doing the same.
It turned out that on most nights people shared their experiences of loss with him.
Apart from picking up fans he made real connections with people and enriched his own life by doing so.
Once again there is the magic.

Nurturing that openness can only be a positive thing for us all.

I hope I haven't misrepresented Amanda Palmer here, or misconstrued what she was eloquently saying, but if I have then hopefully what I have written straight off the bat and unedited here does still make yet another connection with someone somewhere.
If you are an artist then keep doing what you are doing.
Be brave. Open up to us and we will open up to you in return.