Anyone who has every tried to get anywhere in the music business knows that getting a record deal or having your song cut is like winning the lottery--it’s next to impossible. So it’s wonderful to see someone who is talented and deserving actually get somewhere in this occasionally heartless biz.
I met Kelleigh Bannen a few years ago in Barbara Cloyd’s Pitch to Publishers songwriting workshop. I liked her immediately--she was very pretty and friendly, and appeared to have a brain. During the workshop she played a song live and in my humble opinion I thought she had a great voice, but she needed to strengthen her guitar and performance chops. After the workshop we wrote a few songs together, including one I liked so much that I recorded it for my album Swimmer. While writing we hung out a bit and talked a lot about her career path. She was totally open to any feedback I had, and was very focused on doing anything she could to improve as an artist.
Though she was clearly talented, she was one of hundreds, if not thousands of talented artists trying to get somewhere in Nashville. So during the couple of years Kelleigh worked her butt off and did the following:
• Worked on her guitar playing.
• Gigged whenever possible.
• Took even more singing lessons, though she’d been studying since she was a teen.
• Recorded and released an album on her own.
• Followed every lead possible to meet with industry people.
• In an effort to stand out in the crowd, she organized and did a “90 Gigs in 90 Days” tour. If you booked her to play in your closet, she did it. As her website says, she did it “In honor of my little brother who passed away after a long battle with addiction.” (Just in case you think her life has been a bed of roses.)
• Because of the tour she got a meeting with producer Paul Worley, who proceeded to mentor her, sign her to his publishing company, and then set her up with a bunch of high profile songwriters.
• Spent almost every waking minute for many months writing with different songwriters, proving to Paul she had staying power.
• Recorded with Paul, who then got her a deal with Capitol Records.
• Knowing that getting a deal was not the end of the story but one more rung in the ladder, she then did everything she could to prove to the label that she was worthy. She gigged, kept practicing, and kept writing.
Last fall I took a student of mine to see Kelleigh play, and saw how she had transformed herself through sheer hard work. She had retained her smarts, sense of humor and friendliness, but the non-stop writing, practicing and gigging had paid off. Her voice was better than ever, her guitar playing was confident, her songs were powerful, and her performing was completely professional and passionate. She exuded star quality and charisma, but in a very open, down-to earth way.
Signing with a label doesn’t mean that you’ll ever release a thing. Some artists sign with labels like Capitol and then spin their wheels for years, recording and gigging, until finally the label lets them go. Two years after she signed her deal, Kelleigh’s first single came out. She debuted at the Grand Old Opry last week, and posted on Facebook a picture she took from onstage at another gig with the comment “This is what 25,000 people looks like!”.
We chatted this week about how to keep one’s voice strong with the demands of multiple radio meet-and-greets and a demanding tour schedule. She’s on her way, and she deserves to do well. Rock on, Kelleigh!
Showing posts with label vocal cord health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vocal cord health. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
How to Turn Vocal Cords Into Corn Flakes: Singing Vs. Air Conditioning
Yesterday I started warming up a very gifted student of mine and her singing sounded like her vocal cords were made of corn flakes. “You sound air-conditioned out,” I said. “Huh?” she replied. “Do you run your AC at night?” I asked. “Yes, I blast it,” she answered. “Is that a problem?”
I don’t know how she missed all my ranting about air-conditioning and what it does to the voice, but in case you have missed it too, here goes: Vocal cords like to be moist. Air-conditioning cools the air by pulling moisture out of it. Breathing air-conditioned air dries out your vocal cords.
Remember Border’s Books? I was playing a gig at the west Los Angeles Borders in the late 1990s. It was icy in there from the AC. I was wailing away when all of a sudden: no voice. Gone, just like that. It was a duo performance with my drummer pal Albe Bonacci, so I squawked a barely audible: “Drum solo!” and dove for my water bottle. Once I was hydrated my voice returned enough to finish the show. Later I read that it was zero humidity in LA that day, and the Borders AC was drying the air who knows how much more. My poor vocal cords didn’t stand a chance.
Some singers are more affected by AC than others. Before that show I’d noticed some vocal dryness from AC, but I’d never experienced just how much it can mess with the voice.
We had a very mild winter and spring here in Nashville, Tennessee, which does not portend well for the summer. On Cinco de Mayo I sat sweating in the park, watching the wonderful Fisk Jubilee Singers. It was 90 degrees at 5 PM in early May and I thought “We’re in for it this summer”. AC is necessary when it gets really hot. What’s a singer to do?
1) Ceiling fans. Some think they are bad since they can blow dust and other allergens around, but I love them. Just wipe the dust off the blades periodically.
2) Build up your tolerance for heat. When students aren’t around I keep my thermostat set at 80 degrees. No kidding. 82 at night, and that’s for my labrador's sake since she can’t take off her coat. It’s the green thing to do, too.
Last summer the government of Japan requested that the country's workforce keep the thermostats in their office buildings set at 82.
3) Wear light clothing made of breathable fabric like cotton and silk.
4) Drink gobs of water, room temperature. A gallon a day at least, says Carlton Lee, the LA voice doctor I sent all my students to when I lived there. See my article on what singers should eat and drink for more on that.
5) If it’s really hot and you must run your AC, run a humidifier as well to put some moisture back in the air. Cool mist humidifiers won’t heat the air, but regular cheap humidifiers are often quieter, so take your pick. I use the latter.
While I’m ranting, what’s up with movie theaters, restaurants, museums etc. where the thermostat is set at 62 in the summer and 72 in the winter? There I’ll be in my nice summer dress in July, shivering away. My local movie theater finally changed its ways this year, but before that I was taking my down jacket with me to summer movies. Don’t the owners of these places realize how much money they’ll save on power bills by adjusting the thermostat a bit? Not to mention conserving energy.
Okay, back to singing:
6) Warm up and do your practicing early in the day, before the heat rises and the AC kicks on.
7) Warm up and sing in the shower where it’s good and steamy.
8) If you live in humid places like Tennessee, take breaks while singing and go outside to get some moisture on your vocal cords.
Don’t think that celebrities are immune to the effects of AC. When Celine Dion had her zillion dollar concert hall built for her in Las Vegas she made sure it was humidity controlled. Plus there’s a steam room backstage for her voice. Sounds good to me!
I don’t know how she missed all my ranting about air-conditioning and what it does to the voice, but in case you have missed it too, here goes: Vocal cords like to be moist. Air-conditioning cools the air by pulling moisture out of it. Breathing air-conditioned air dries out your vocal cords.
Remember Border’s Books? I was playing a gig at the west Los Angeles Borders in the late 1990s. It was icy in there from the AC. I was wailing away when all of a sudden: no voice. Gone, just like that. It was a duo performance with my drummer pal Albe Bonacci, so I squawked a barely audible: “Drum solo!” and dove for my water bottle. Once I was hydrated my voice returned enough to finish the show. Later I read that it was zero humidity in LA that day, and the Borders AC was drying the air who knows how much more. My poor vocal cords didn’t stand a chance.
Some singers are more affected by AC than others. Before that show I’d noticed some vocal dryness from AC, but I’d never experienced just how much it can mess with the voice.
We had a very mild winter and spring here in Nashville, Tennessee, which does not portend well for the summer. On Cinco de Mayo I sat sweating in the park, watching the wonderful Fisk Jubilee Singers. It was 90 degrees at 5 PM in early May and I thought “We’re in for it this summer”. AC is necessary when it gets really hot. What’s a singer to do?
1) Ceiling fans. Some think they are bad since they can blow dust and other allergens around, but I love them. Just wipe the dust off the blades periodically.
2) Build up your tolerance for heat. When students aren’t around I keep my thermostat set at 80 degrees. No kidding. 82 at night, and that’s for my labrador's sake since she can’t take off her coat. It’s the green thing to do, too.
Last summer the government of Japan requested that the country's workforce keep the thermostats in their office buildings set at 82.
3) Wear light clothing made of breathable fabric like cotton and silk.
4) Drink gobs of water, room temperature. A gallon a day at least, says Carlton Lee, the LA voice doctor I sent all my students to when I lived there. See my article on what singers should eat and drink for more on that.
5) If it’s really hot and you must run your AC, run a humidifier as well to put some moisture back in the air. Cool mist humidifiers won’t heat the air, but regular cheap humidifiers are often quieter, so take your pick. I use the latter.
While I’m ranting, what’s up with movie theaters, restaurants, museums etc. where the thermostat is set at 62 in the summer and 72 in the winter? There I’ll be in my nice summer dress in July, shivering away. My local movie theater finally changed its ways this year, but before that I was taking my down jacket with me to summer movies. Don’t the owners of these places realize how much money they’ll save on power bills by adjusting the thermostat a bit? Not to mention conserving energy.
Okay, back to singing:
6) Warm up and do your practicing early in the day, before the heat rises and the AC kicks on.
7) Warm up and sing in the shower where it’s good and steamy.
8) If you live in humid places like Tennessee, take breaks while singing and go outside to get some moisture on your vocal cords.
Don’t think that celebrities are immune to the effects of AC. When Celine Dion had her zillion dollar concert hall built for her in Las Vegas she made sure it was humidity controlled. Plus there’s a steam room backstage for her voice. Sounds good to me!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)