Mem'ry! All alone in the Stagelight!

Memorization
I have a horrible time with lyrics. I practice, write or type the words, rehearse with the band, listen while I’m driving, sing a cappella when I’m driving (used to have a bumper sticker that said “Caution, Driver Singing”) and STILL find myself standing onstage struggling with the second verse of Brown Eyed Girl. I cut myself two little chunks of slack that will apply to most working musicians, especially the pros.

First, I've been performing and teaching choir for over 30 years; how many songs have been in my head? How many have I memorized, performed, then shuffled aside to make way for the next set? Probably almost as many as Bob Dylan has written, and I have it on good authority that Mr. Dylan tours with a copy of all three bound volumes of his PUBLISHED works.

Second, I was at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville for several of their "in the round" shows featuring professional songwriters. Forgive me for not remembering every performer (this IS a blog about memory probs) but Ray Stevens was in one of them to give you an idea that these were not amateur nights. Each night somebody had trouble remembering lyrics to a song they had written OR they had the words in front of them. OK, not Mr. Stevens, but we were all singing along on his.
We’re humans, not computers. These professional song writers work 8 or more hours a day to make up new songs. By necessity their minds NEED to be a little loose. Those of us still out here in the fields need to not only work at creativity every day but do most of our own support work too; schedule and contacts and promotion not to mention the dreaded Day Job that uses some of those precious ganglia as well.
With these two points in mind, isn’t it silly NOT to use the occasional memory helper? Note book, laptop, big-screen TV, poster-board held by fans, I say do what you have to the get the show on. I heard recently about a local cover band that used a laptop for a teleprompter. My only question is what software were they using? That would be MUCH better than my raft of notebooks!

A quick anatomy lesson

Every singer has heard the advice "sing from your diaphragm", if only as a joke. So where is your diaphragm and why is the "G" silent? Your diaphragm is a thin shelf of muscle that runs horizontally across the inside of your chest about the level of the bottom of the ribs. It performs the admirable job of keeping your upper guts separated from your lower guts, and that about all it does. Your abdominal muscles are what power your breathing. Yes, that six pack you've been wishing for is already there! Everyone has abs, they're just a little covered up on most of us. Besides balancing your torso and bending your upper body forward, they also pull the diaphragm down to make the lungs expand and pull air in and push it up to force air out. Rather than trying to breathe "diaphragmatically" think of breathing to your belly! Imagine the air pouring all the way down to your naval and filling up to your chest like water in a pitcher. This visualization isn't anatomically accurate at all, but it will make your breathing deep and relaxed. Why listen to the anatomists any way? They don't even pronounce a perfectly good "G".

Lip Trill

Warm ups you want, warm ups you get! (And a cat attack.)

Best Singing Tip Ever!

How to sing like The King!

Zing

Where does time go? And, why does Summer Time go even faster than other time? It's August already and I haven't even started my magnum opus, not to mention kept up with my blog! Here's some thoughts about breathing:

Rehearsal

The key element to running a renagade a cappella band, such as BACUP is preparation. These former Woodford Singers have a HUGE backlog of rehearsal, like the muscle memory of a cage fighter; all it needs is the proper stimulous to bring that training to the fore front and have them lunging at the opponents throat... er, singing the correct notes and lyrics with little difficulty. That stimulous is listening to the recordings of the tunes while looking at the charts, both of which are provided at a convenient rehearsal website as suggested by our supreme pooba, Rebecca Johnson. Once through is often enough to bring back all the ability that once belonged to the individual leaving the singer free to focus on blend, balance and audience relations.
Not many former choir directors get to work with their former choir members (unless their part of the same chain gang or share a cubical) and I must say that I am proud and imensely pleased that I still get to work with these talented people. Thank you all! Now go practice!

Out of thin Air?

I love gigging! Playing good music for an appreciative audience is one of lifes most worthwhile activities. I started to say "well rehearsed" music, but that's not always the case. Last Weekend I play 3 gigs back to back. Thursday I played solo on the patio at O'Neill's where I played a variety of tunes for a very friendly crowd. They were receptive to both covers and original material.

Friday night Caribbean Blues played at Harvey's downtown. We played "I'm a Believer" by the Monkees because it went so well at the last gig when we faked it by request. At the end of our show, 1:05 am, a couple who had just arrived tipped us $40 if we would play "that song where she winds up her bottom and goes like a rocket". Drunk as they were, they were also amiable and generous so we put our heads together and managed a passable rendition of Jump In the Line by Harry Belafonte. Why that isn't in our regular repertoire was a mystery to every one. It is now. On the well rehearsed side, we finally got a good video of Collin playing Freebird on the pan! See it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8eCmZaTaxE

Saturday night at The Waterfront, I'm nursing what's left of my voice as Caribbean Blues pulls off requests of Sunspot Baby, Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha and Some Kind of Wonderful, none of which we played before that evening. That last one took some technique; which I was watching all night because I didn't Friday night (more about that later).

It's great to play with skilled musicians who are capable of trying a song they might have last heard years ago. Sure we don't play them perfectly, but a solid drum beat, sincere vocals (on the chorus and half verse that I know) and good cooperative playing by all band members can sell a song and keep the crowd happy. Playing well rehearsed music is always satisfying, but there's something special about taking a chance and pulling a crowd pleaser out of thin air.

5th of July party.

Amazing party tonight! In attendance were: Don Alexander, gun nut and leather smith extraordinaire with his wife Trish (didn’t get what she does, something in health care accounting), Harold Sherman pianist and his multi-talented wife Maryanne; Milt Toby lawyer/author and his wife veterinarian Roberta Dwyer; Jim Corcoran, percussionist and college prof with his wife Doris, nurse and oboist; Joe Pagan, Equine nutrition specialist and his wife Anna, dressage competitor, Josh and LaShane Lyons, newlyweds that I married yesterday. Obviously it was an incredibly eclectic group; all in the same house, all interacting amicably. The stories swapped were deep and almost unbelievable. The girls did their part, but it never occurred to me that Jim and Don are two of the best life story tellers I know until I saw them together. Don told tales of mayhem and narrowly avoided destruction which were countered and contrasted by Jim’s stories of growing up wild in Hawaii. I wish I could record them all here, but a combination of over storyation and Margaritas make it difficult to remember. Jim swam with a sea turtle; Honu in Hawaiian, supposed to indicate a connection with this powerful spirit. Don told of a security job at a horse park, living in a trailer for a month to make sure that an ex-employee didn’t shoot the horses at night. I love people with stories. Kim says I held my own, but my own stories seem common place next to the exotic lives of others. Perspective is the key to observing life.

Video Vocal Tip #1

New Orleans music

New Orleans is known as the home of Dixieland, Jazz and the Blues. Today in the French Market we heard two bands; one playing heartfelt renditions of jazz standards while the other performed a funky version of Black Magic Woman. A solo guitarist played fingerstyle chord melodies outside Cafe' Du Monde. On the way to dinner, our Ethiopian cab driver popped in an instrumental cd from his home land. The restaurant played a classic rock mix. Our favorite lunch spot (so far) features Cajun tunes with a live band in the evening. Yesterday, when the heat drove us into the airconditioned Riverwalk Mall there was a military brass band playing. I haven't been seeking out music like I usually do in NOLA, but still it finds me. I feel notably comfortable in a town that holds music so important and such a part of everyday life.