Be More than a Singer

By Morgan Cryar
Published 02/28/2007
The Music
Rating: Unrated

Morgan Cryar

MOST OF THE TIME, WE DESIRE MORE THAN A SINGER!

I got a phone call from a friend recently about his daughter. She sings
old-style jazz.

The reason he called was to ask if I had any advice on what to do with
a daughter who sings old-style jazz. (He chose to call me because MY
daughter sings the same style and my friend knew we had gone through
the same decision-making process they were going through: career vs.
college, this style vs. that style, how to approach record labels, etc.)

He made an off-hand comment that stuck with me. His daughter sings
so beautifully that her voice is what I'd call 'stunning.' But he mentioned that she came home from school and said 'I can't sing,' (which meant, 'I'm not good enough.')

He asked her why she was saying such a thing. She replied that she
had sung for her friends at school and they had not expressed much
other than boredom...

As you can imagine, he and I both experienced a mix of emotions
hearing thisreport. We were offended ('those young punks...what do
they know?...') We were indignant ('Kids today don't even know how
to recognize a great song...') And we were unabated (Because we
know that there is still a market for old-style jazz...think of Madeleine
Peyroux--whose voice was restored by working with Brett Manning--she alone is proof.)

But upon thinking about this comment, I got the idea for this article.

HERE'S A 'HARD TRUTH'...
MOST OF THE TIME, WE DESIRE MORE THAN A SINGER!

My friend Tom Jackson (stage show expert) likes to compare what
happens between a singer and an audience with what happens at
a restaurant: The audience is like a table full of hungry people.

Tom Jackson provides artists with the knowledge of how they can
put together a show that \'keeps the audience guessing\' just enough
to keep them engaged the entire time.

That brings up another point about audiences everywhere...

AUDIENCES LIKE WHAT THEY LIKE...

NOT just what YOU like.

We are a very diverse people. We have been given many choices
of \'taste\' in music and other entertainment. Therefore, you cannot
expect everyone to like what you like. This doesn\'t mean that you
should try to be all things to all people...you can\'t.

But if you sing a particular song that continually \'doesn\'t go over well,\'
don\'t get mad at your audience...instead take it off the menu...or
re-write it, if it\'s your own composition!

This also means that you must use common sense when you accept
an invitation to sing. If you do Country and Western music...DON\'T
ACCEPT AN ENGAGEMENT AT A JAZZ CLUB! Or better yet, don\'t sing
your beautiful classic jazz song for low-riding rap fans and expect
them to be impressed.

SOMETIMES AUDIENCES \'MIX\'

It\'s not always as simple as the example above. Sometimes audiences
are a mixed bag.

Tom Jackson often works with singers in the Christian music field. I\'ll
use them as an example because the church-going audience is often a
MOST mixed group of tastes.

They are drawn into a concert many times by the message (the
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They don't think much about the waiter...they think about getting some
good food.

And this analogy works very well, if you remember times when you've
been in an audience yourself...

You don't go into a restaurant and order 3 orders of french fries and
nothing else, do you? You like variety, so you order several different
things in the same meal. This is very much what an audience likes...
they like to have some variety during the same concert.

Tom Jackson provides artists with the knowledge of how they can
put together a show that 'keeps the audience guessing' just enough
to keep them engaged the entire time.

That brings up another point about audiences everywhere...