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Performance is tricky.
There are many ways to engage an audience. Generally, one should be outgoing and warm, particularly if one is the singer. Bassists or drummers are expected to be quiet and reserved; they're background players. Singers often serve as the face of a group, and are therefore expected to be engaging.
As with many instrumentalists, I am prone to a variety of odd facial expressions when deeply engaged in my craft. Among the rock and pop crowd this is commonly known as 'guitar face,' largely due to the popularity of the instrument in those styles, and is a widely accepted phenomenon. When playing a challenging passage or lick I'm unlikely to be smiling or even making eye contact with an audience, as I'm concentrating on what I'm doing.
Describing the way I do the things I do is difficult. I suspect this is true of many musicians. Mechanically, I can break it down quite easily; the thought processes, however, are more difficult to convey.
In any event, if we discount my digression I have found the most important thing is to simply have fun. Joy is contagious. If you're happy doing what you do and you're reasonably good at it, then the people who are there to see you do it are likely to be happy also. Don't worry too much about the mistakes. We all make them, and are more likely to notice them then the audience. We are almost always our own worst critics.
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I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said
- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame
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