For online HomeSongs4Life it’s been my pleasure to have a front row seat, so to speak. Although technically, I’m just the guy (along with Chris Annetts) who presses the Go Live button, and does their best to sound like a sound engineer. I'm behind a computer as I watch, like everybody else.

But sitting behind that screen, having just spoken to whoever is playing that evening, feels like a very privileged position. It feels like I’m in the same room as each performer. And the variety, quantity and quality of original music I’ve heard has been a revelation.

But it has also been an insight for me to see the way everybody deals with speaking to a computer webcam as though it’s a live audience.

It’s a hard thing to pull off. Some of us, me included, find the “in between the song” bit the most difficult, even with a proper live audience. It’s good to get a close up view of the natural performers among us, giving it their best banter. Definitely a learning experience.

Anyway, it’s my turn this evening. I’ll be trying to fake that Au Naturel style. And then, like a crab running sideways looking for the safety of a rock, find refuge in singing a song.