Yahoo Music Series gives performers room to move

LOS ANGELES - Musicians have learned to downscale their expectations for TV exposure these days. Those lucky enough to score any might get a song spotlighted in a TV show or commercial. If they make the cut for one of the late-night talk shows, it's typically one song at the tail end of the hour.

That's what put a kid-in-the-candy-store grin on veteran bluesman Buddy Guy's face one night this week when he stepped onto the Fox Studios soundstage in Century City. He was there to tape a performance for the

Nissan Live Sets on Yahoo Music

series, one of a growing number of Internet-based forums offering musicians, and their fans, a more generous chunk of time in the limelight.

"I'm like a baseball player," the 72-year-old guitarist and singer from Chicago by way of Louisiana said while relaxing in his dressing room after an afternoon rehearsal and sound check. "I like to get out there and play for as long as it takes. But you can't do that on most television shows. I love to walk the floor and play - this is the first time I've gotten the freedom to do a TV show that's 100 percent Buddy Guy."

Walk the floor he did - and more. His performance, to be posted on the Yahoo Music Web site in October, ran well past the hour allotted. He prowled the stage, then ventured among fans who'd snagged free tickets by replying to targeted e-mail invitations that had been sent to his most ardent supporters.

"I think we caught lightning tonight," said Neal Weiss, the show's executive producer. It was the kind of moment he always hopes for. The series has presented 44 installments, with acts spanning the musical spectrum. Participants have included Weezer, the Offspring, Herbie Hancock, Tony Bennett, Moby, John Legend, Incubus, Snoop Dogg, Brian Wilson, Trisha Yearwood and Santana.

A key element of the Yahoo series, now in its second year, is a question-and-answer segment that typically comes midway through each set. Questions are vetted by the show's producers, and they aren't always voiced by the fans who submitted them. But the results can be wildly unpredictable.

At last week's Brian Wilson taping (to be posted Sept. 1), a fan asked what he most regretted. Wilson responded straightforwardly with a laundry list of drugs he'd used. "They messed with my brain," he said, "so I regret that."

When Guy was asked to cite the best solo he'd ever played, he turned the question back on the fan: "What's the best love affair you ever had?"