Preparing for a Radio or Newspaper Interview

Only one week until the start of my "Celebrating the Divas of Jazz" tour!  The first gig is Stratford Jazz at The Chapel in Stratford upon Avon on Sunday 6th February.

Last week I appeared on two radio shows.  The first was an interview with John Hellings for BBC Hereford and adjoining regions and the second was with Ruth Fisher for the Good Groove Show on Solar Radio.  Listening back I realised that I might have done better if I'd prepared a bit.  I spent a lot of time searching for things to say and interspersing my sentences with "you know" - one of my pet hates!  Here are the sorts of questions I should have been prepared to answer:

How did you start out?
Which artists are you influenced by?
Who have you worked with?
Who would you like to work with?
What's been the highlight of your career?
What are you currently working on?
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
What's on your wish list?
What are your plans for the future?
When/where are you performing next?
(And remember to plug website, facebook, twitter etc!)

I suppose I know most of the answers to these but put on the spot and not having  thought about them recently meant my answers ended up a bit garbled.  So next time I will be prepared!

I've got a rehearsal with my band this week.  Can't wait!  And I've still got to decide what to wear for my first gig.  Swithering at the moment between either a black or a red dress...




About to be interviewed at Solar Radio studio