April - Not Just For Fools!

Hi Singers,

The count down continues to my departure from the various features of Sing Your Life as it was created originally on the web in 2000...

This month, I am sadly having to let go of the long distance lessons. It has simply taken up too much time and the frustration with less than perfect synchronization of sound and video has rendered the entire process more distracting for both the student and the teacher and not as helpful as I imagined.

And once again, I don’t have the resources to increase the quality of the broadband. So it has to go…

On the other hand, and with a little more cheer, I have decided to bring the site down to only a few pages, improve the navigation and offer more FREEBIES to members of this mailing list.

In a few days, I will have completed compiling a list of all the POP backing tracks I have and I’ll be placing the list on the Members Only page. This list
has taken a really long time because it’s the longest list and was housed in
folders and subfolders I didn’t even know I had. But it’s getting there and will be available for download for you to select your most coveted tracks
for only 75¢ each.

Of course, the singers social network is still going strong as a place where we singers can gather, sing for one another, discuss whatever we wish, (as long as
it’s in good taste), blog, make videos, and share personal stories across the
vastness of cyberspace. And I shall continue to blog on the importance of staying the course with the dreams you have of singing, for this is my mission.

As long as there is breath inside of you and the deep longing to sing your life’s story into the ethers, I am here to encourage that act and the courage it takes
to keep that flame going long after those around you have decided that it’s
just too late and/or that it’s time to grow up.

And that brings me to my featured talk for this month…

They say that we tend to TEACH that which we need to LEARN the most. I believe that’s true. In fact, I KNOW it! It is the reason I CAN NOT and WILL NOT let go of the passion that I’ve had for music since the age of 3. But more than that…

Well let me tell you a story…

The earliest performance of mine that I can recall was at about 5 or 6 years old, standing on a picnic table in a family friend’s back yard and singing a “La Vie En Rose”…

And feeling the praise and love from all those around me, I wanted that to go on forever. There was never a thought in my head as a small child that I would

ever wish to do anything else with my life…only to sing and keep on
singing…cause that’s where the love was…at least where I felt it the strongest.

But the times in which I came into my own, and my OWN lack of courage to go after my dream and possibly meet with disapproval from my loved ones, kept me from my life’s dream. And although I made a life and a living from singing for a long time, raising my children and gaining respect and admiration from fellow musicians…

Well…In the words of Terry Malloy, the character in the movie, “On The Waterfront”, played by probably one of the top 5 greatest actors of all time, Marlon Brando, “I coulda been a contender. I coulda BEEN somebody…”

Now don’t misunderstand me here. I am not by any stretch whining about the fact that I never DID get to sing at Radio City Music
Hall, (Hey, it could still happen…) :-)

I tell you this because the ONLY real joy we get to experience in this life, is the joy that we ourselves create. The “yeah, but’s” that our loved ones shower upon us may be meant well, but only keeps us from our dreams.

Courage! That’s the mantra!! And having said that, I am so so proud of my daughter,Jen Olive, who unlike her mother, has had the guts and passion to stay the course for over 20 years, through some bad times and bad relationships, and raising 2 kids, and is still coming out on top!!

She was signed to an Indie record label in the UK last year, and yesterday, her CD was released to a throng of accolades and fan approval. I am posting a link to the video she did in the studio at APE HOUSE records, her label.

I could not be more inspired…Hope you will be too…

And while the style of music she offers may not be palatable to the masses,

(Taylor Swift, she ain't, ha ha. And Thank Goodness!), the musicianship, the vocals, the uniqueness of her compositions, the choiring reminiscent of the Beach Boys, Carpenters, and even Les Paul and Mary Ford, cannot be denied. It does weave a spell...but then I'm her mom so...

My point is this. When I tell you NOT to compare yourself with any other artist, I realize I have just asked you to "NOT THINK OF A PINK ELEPHANT".

So perhaps I should be saying...OKAY, compare away, but know this: The result of your "research" will be that you will find that about 50% of singers you hear will be better than you and about 50% of them will not be as good.

The truth is that of the 40 million telephone votes for singers in last night's "IDOL" show, the lowest number of votes are still more than enough to sustain a career. So whoever goes home tonight will still have opportunities to sing and perform and have a successful career. Google any of the top ten from seasons past, who sing for the love and passion of it and NOT the celebrity, and you'll find working singers, not waiters and sales girls.

Check it out for yourself:

http://www.watchingamericanidol.com/category/where-are-they-now/

So I have no desire or intention to go quietly into that good night. And neither should any singer who still has the desire and ability to GIVE!

"He who lets his breath, hence his life force, flow consentingly as a willing sound sacrifice from the depths of his body, sings his life; for singing means to affirm life, to free oneself, and thereby to bring happiness and prosperity to oneself, and consequently to one's fellow man." Marius Schneider

See ya next time, singers!!