Thought for The Day - On the Mic

Expectation 24 x 36 Oil painting

That's "mike" or "microphone," for those who may not know. They get on stage with two goals in mind: to entertain and share themselves. Singers, or as they are known around these parts "sangers!" They want you to enjoy them, they aim to please, but they can't please you if they aren't feeling the beat and the message. And when they feel it, either in preparation for the performance or during, WE feel it! Sometimes, the most basic renditions can blow you away!

Recently surfing Facebook's News stream, Lalah Hathaway posted a link to YouTube, where she's performing a song: "Something." Now her vocal skills are seriously off the chart, so everything she sings blows you away, but the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SJIgTLe0hc, the energy from start to finish is filled with promise, joyful anticipation and wondrous surprise! Her energy, the energy of the band, the sound technicians, the audience...seriously you could not bottle this!!!

On that mic, on the stage in dance gear, guitar in hand, a canvas, a poem straining to break free from your throat. Where ever your expression finds it's release...SET IT FREE!!!

Thought for The Day - What is it with Singing?

The Phoenix

Some people can't help themselves! They sing all the time, practically incessantly. My sister and her children are that way. And they make nearly everything a song. But they have beautiful voices so it's okay! To be able to take words, a tune or rhythm and put them together in a way that's appealing, how do you do that?

Now as a visual artist, I love seeing objects, people, textures and the like and trying to render it. It's something about the contours and shapes and colors and the whole clashing and blending that sends my soul into another place. I thought about this the other day, how when I was about four, I saw my mom sitting with a pad of paper, doodling a flower, growing out of flower pot. It wasn't anything fancy or 'gallery worthy,' but it was the ease that she did it, that's what did it for me. I was hooked and I can recall trying to do the same thing. Except it didn't stop there; there was always a challenge to do what others had done and to do it my way.

Singing has to be the same; it has to be hearing or reading music others have done and being moved to the extent you express yourself. It has to be adding your own flavor, your own style to a song and hearing it expressed in your voice. It must be about rendering words, a story or feeling in a way that is uniquely your own that keeps singers singing.