Thanks for all the replies guys! I'm glad this discussion may have helped some find solutions and different options - sometimes just knowing that the options are there is a relief. I know I wish I knew before...
 
Looking back on how this relatively minor condition (essential tremors) has had a negative impact of my life ever since I was a kid (I used to make drawing for other kids - they almost always ended up making a remark on my ever shaking hands even though it had zero impact on my abilities) and into my adult life (the first dinner with the in-laws was always a source of worry, especially if there was soup on the menu), and then, obviously, live performance, it was always on the back of my mind.
 
Actually, up until I was 36 or 37, I never knew what was wrong with me - I figured it was some kind of odd, unique handicap. I never talked about, never acknowledged it - I just tried to ignore and avoid it.
 
It can also be difficult to project self-confidence when your hands are constantly trembling - at least that's how I felt, not matter how sure of myself I could be in a given situation.
 
Being a guitar player, there are also some things which can be harder - playing that intro to Diary of a Madman for example... Your wrist gets into that very uncomfortable position for the last few chords, and your fingers all stretched - the tension in the wrist sometimes end up creating some kind of shock wave. No fun.
 
Anyway, back on topic - if like me you've tried a variety of approaches and find yourself realizing that none really work for you, or if you suffer from a weird bug like me, there are options.
 
You know what's the oddest thing? From as far as I can remember going all the way up through when I was 11 or 12, I would have done anything to be onstage: lip synch contests, imitations, choir - I'd even write little plays and force my friends to perform with me. Every chance I got, I was up on stage. How we change, uh?

Haven't you heard there are various stages to life Kris? 

I took a beta blocker just before my third year final Jazz recital.  I wish I hadn't.  It took the edge of my playing.  (drums) I still played well and passed and all but it still took the edge off.  They are over rated.  You don't get that ability to handle a nerve situation without losing something else.
 
I never really suffer from stage fright and for some reason I thought I was that day but I could have easily done the performance without any extra assistance.  It would have been a notch higher.
 
Learn to cope in other ways.  The ultimate way to do it is to do some subconscious mind training.  As you fall asleep for about a week you spend time telling your subconscious mind from your conscious mind that you will not suffer any form of stage fright and you will do a stellar performance at your best.  You visualise it and really believe it.  Feel it before hand.  Then when you go out there it will happen exactly the way you have been imagining it.
 

Part of my fear of being onstage stems from a school production I was in when I was ten. It was a spoof musical version of Star Wars called (wait for it) Star Flaws (lead character - Luke Warmwater). 
 
Anyway I can't for the life of me remember what character I was in it but I had been selected because I had a strong singing voice. I had a few lines here and there but toward the end I had a sizable speech which I spent hours and hours memorizing and perfecting at home. So I was completely and utterly confident....until halfway through speech, on the opening night, with the hall packed with kids and parents....the headmaster shouted at me from the back of the room "SPEAK UP JAMES! WE CAN'T HEAR YOU!" 
 
I suddenly felt 300 eyes burning through me like laser beams. It ruined my confidence and I've had a fear of speaking in public ever since. Amazing how one single comment from a thoughtless adult can stay with you forever. 

I'm not a person that suffers from stage fright other than a small case of the butterfly's just before it's time to play  .



As far as the "fantasy of playing with live onstage with cats like  "  BB King RIP , Eric  Clapton , Joe B , Warren Haynes , Jeff Beck or any other number of top ranked guys ..

I would love the opportunity to step up once given the opportunity ....
 
Oh Yeah , ...Bring it on ..

I'm ready for you .  Are you ready for me ?
 
Kenny

Jeff Evans
The ultimate way to do it is to do some subconscious mind training.  As you fall asleep for about a week you spend time telling your subconscious mind from your conscious mind that you will not suffer any form of stage fright and you will do a stellar performance at your best.  You visualise it and really believe it.  Feel it before hand.  Then when you go out there it will happen exactly the way you have been imagining it.
 

Just make sure you word things positively.  Saying you will "not suffer" is actually telling the subconscious mind to suffer since it doesn't understand negatives.  Try something like "I will be comfortable on stage" instead.  When I was still working on my PhD, I was on the American Board of Hypnotherapy and we sent a letter to MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) informing them of this which is why you see their "Don't Drink and Drive!" bumperstickers being replaced with the positive alternative "Drive Sober!"
 
Going a little further, you probably are aware that the brain has two sides with the left brain (the logical side) usually controlling the right side of the body and the right brain (the creative side) usually controlling the left side of the body.  (I say "usually" because both sides are capable of running the entire body if needed, think of it as having a back-up system!).  So what does this mean to suggestions and affirmations?  Well, you should frame what's heard in the left ear as a command (e.g., "I am comfortable onstage.") while the right ear responds better to a permissive voice (e.g., "It's ok to be permissive onstage.").
 
Note that suggestions and affirmations have very little effect when the conscious mind is aware and filtering.  This is the purpose behind a hypnotic induction which helps put you in a suggestible state of trance to bypass the conscious mind (also note that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis, a hypnotist merely helps guide someone to the correct trance level).  That said, your comments about visualizing it, really believing it and feeling it before hand are very important.  You can't anchor things very well without emotion.  Visualize it (notice your surroundings, people involved, colors, etc. then turn up the power on all of it - brighter colors, more defined images and so on).  Hear all the sounds, smell all the smells and feel everything you can - the more intense the better!
 
An additional technique is to stand behind yourself on stage and see yourself being exactly what you want to be.  Say all your suggestions and affirmations as well as experiencing all the other senses intensely (as described above), then step into the image of yourself and BE that person.

craigb
How did Pedro turn this topic into psychic's and boxing??? 

Because you did not read it? 

craigb

Jeff Evans
The ultimate way to do it is to do some subconscious mind training.  As you fall asleep for about a week you spend time telling your subconscious mind from your conscious mind that you will not suffer any form of stage fright and you will do a stellar performance at your best.  You visualise it and really believe it.  Feel it before hand.  Then when you go out there it will happen exactly the way you have been imagining it.
 

Just make sure you word things positively.  Saying you will "not suffer" is actually telling the subconscious mind to suffer since it doesn't understand negatives.  Try something like "I will be comfortable on stage" instead.  When I was still working on my PhD, I was on the American Board of Hypnotherapy and we sent a letter to MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) informing them of this which is why you see their "Don't Drink and Drive!" bumperstickers being replaced with the positive alternative "Drive Sober!"
 
Going a little further, you probably are aware that the brain has two sides with the left brain (the logical side) usually controlling the right side of the body and the right brain (the creative side) usually controlling the left side of the body.  (I say "usually" because both sides are capable of running the entire body if needed, think of it as having a back-up system!).  So what does this mean to suggestions and affirmations?  Well, you should frame what's heard in the left ear as a command (e.g., "I am comfortable onstage.") while the right ear responds better to a permissive voice (e.g., "It's ok to be permissive onstage.").
 
Note that suggestions and affirmations have very little effect when the conscious mind is aware and filtering.  This is the purpose behind a hypnotic induction which helps put you in a suggestible state of trance to bypass the conscious mind (also note that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis, a hypnotist merely helps guide someone to the correct trance level).  That said, your comments about visualizing it, really believing it and feeling it before hand are very important.  You can't anchor things very well without emotion.  Visualize it (notice your surroundings, people involved, colors, etc. then turn up the power on all of it - brighter colors, more defined images and so on).  Hear all the sounds, smell all the smells and feel everything you can - the more intense the better!
 
An additional technique is to stand behind yourself on stage and see yourself being exactly what you want to be.  Say all your suggestions and affirmations as well as experiencing all the other senses intensely (as described above), then step into the image of yourself and BE that person.

Pedro, how did you get Craig's log-in?

Hey... Don't you have some hedges to trim? 

craigb
Hey... Don't you have some hedges to trim? 

No, I don't.