Notes and Asides

I have a sunburn on my nose, well earned and cherished since I got it at the ocean in Port Aransas. I had been to Port A twice before but never had time to actually hang out in the ocean, only look at it. Sometimes I stress about things like money, scheduling, people, and life...but sometimes I get to hang out on the beach because I'm there for my job and that's pretty awesome. I had a meeting with Katie, Melissa, and Emily last night to discuss some musicalness...Katie's blog tells you the topics we covered in detail. The thing that made the biggest impression on me was when Katie picked up her purse from the floor of the coffeehouse and a clipped toenail fell on her lap. I almost gagged. Then we wondered who would clip their toenails in a coffeehouse. Today Dan and I re-listened to what we had tracked on the new EP last week and we liiiiiiked it. Some vocals are a little edgier than what you are used to hearing from me, or what I am used to hearing from me...but I think it works. It's all in the name of the story of the song in my mind. I'm having issues identifying the type of singer I am "supposed" to be...it's not a matter of picking my favorite singers and copying them, and it's not a matter of angling toward some fantasy of what I think I should be. I believe overall most of us could sing however we wanted to, with training and practice. I think in my case my voice is there to serve the song and the words I write. Not much should get in the way of that. What that means in terms of inflection and breath and thought behind it is what I am working on, but I guess it's good I decided my voice is that of a storyteller. I like that idea. This weekend I leave on a two week tour again to Colorado and New Mexico...I'm about to freak at the 50+ days of over-100 degrees we've had so not a moment too soon in my book. Hallelujah.

I practice Google stock prices?

The past few days I have been singing "GOOG GOOG GOOG GOOG GOOG" etc. over and over again. As much as it makes me think of Google stock prices, it's actually my new warm up. It's by a method from Roger Love, who I guess is the "vocal coach to the stars" meaning...lots of stars take vocal lessons, apparently. 5 minutes of GOOG and GUG and MUM and NO! (Also good self-defense practice). This is on top of 13 minutes of warm ups from The Zen of Screaming, involving lots of Gi-Yah-Gi-Yahs and Wee-Oop-Wee-Oops and Eee-eee-eee and Eee-eee-AH-Heys. It probably sounds ridiculous, but it is totally relaxing and Professor Dan says he hears progress, though I just hear "goog goog goog." :)

A Bigger Toolbox

I took that. Oh kids. It's been a long week. Why is it that the 4 day weeks after a holiday are always longer than the usual 5 days? Not that I'm complaining, 3 day weekends rock. It's just getting to the NEXT weekend that hurts. But I got a lot done this week...more on the website redesign, some new gigs, some old gigs, lots of grad skoo' work. Folk Music Grad School has taken on the form lately of dismantling and re-building. It's horrific and good. It's not to say you won't recognize my voice or playing style, but I will have more options in my toolbox as a singer and a player when I am done. Which means totally ignoring my old habits and predilections for the time being and starting over. For instance...have you ever tried to sing only as loudly as you talk? Those of you who know me know I don't talk very loudly, usually. After years of playing in markets and stores and other places with no PA, I've really worked on the projection and volume thing. But this week, the task is to sing only as loudly as a normal speaking voice, which is weird but oddly good. It opens up a vocal palette that works well within folk music. On the opposite side of the coin, it's hard to let go of all your pre-formed notions of How You Do Things...because you generally do them for a reason. I guess grad school is supposed to knock your pride a bit before it pumps you full of knowledge, otherwise you'd never think you needed the knowledge anyway. Collecting new tools, that's the name of the game. And right now, the only tool I want is a bagel. Mmm bagel. Happy Friday!!!