A Healthy Singer

I did an event recently where I had to leave before the end of the event. I always hate doing it, but often I find I need to go to rest. I would love to stick around for that drink and chat afterwards but….

Like many singers, my health is a huge part of taking care of my instrument. I’ve tried all sorts of therapies and doctors to help keep it on an even keel, but the one thing I find which a struggle is the stress. I know it’s had a huge impact on my physical body because of the extreme highs and lows of someone who has chosen a career where the common cold can cause irreparable damage to my instrument, if it is not looked after.

Let me step back a few paces and explain a bit of my story. As a child I caught every illness in close proximity. Now-a-days, I’m at a point where I hardly get a cold or flu, mostly allergy problems. Something I didn’t understand as a child. It seems I’m allergic to dust, so if I do catch a cold, which normally only should last a week at the most, I suffer for longer, as it turns into an allergic reaction because my poor body is always fighting off the dust allergy, but gives up the ghost when a cold hits. So all those years I was thinking I’ve got no resistance to colds was a misunderstanding that I’m really someone who is on constant allergy fighting mode.

Now-a-days, I take much better care, but it has taken its toll. I have to adjust my lifestyle a lot to help give my body the rest it needs. As I see it, my poor immune system is constantly having to fight various dusts (new country; new dirt; new problem adjusting or new room; new dirt; new problem adjusting or animal;….well you get the jist of it!), so my immunity is on 24/7 on full, rather than moderate for someone without such an allergy. It’s not surprising I used to catch everything going and get tired so easily. I’m now changing lifestyle and eating habits as my body is tired from the irregular, stressful lifestyle of a performer.

I often wonder if I seem like the diva that leaves parties early, leaving others to wonder if I’m just too good for them, but really it’s not true! I just need a good nights rest, which I don’t think is a bad thing for anyone, but it’s particularly true for those of us who work such peculiar hours. It’s not great for my comradely, but it’s for my voice and health. Seems a bit of a catch 22, as being social and networking is a huge part of getting work, so now I try to do a little of both, but in moderation – ah, that age old adage.

What’s a poor singer to do? So the next time you see that singer who leaves earlier than the rest, consider they may have to, rather than want to…;)

Enjoy the holidays; hope they are restful and healthy!

Singers aren't Musicians - myth or truth?

Well, personally, I feel this is hog wash, but I am biased, as I am a singer who took the 'higher education' route. I studied music in high school, college and then ended up with a degree in Music Voice Performance. While I was studying it was drummed into me the importance of the equal partnership of working with instruments; such as piano, guitar or orchestra. To this day, I do not use the word accompanist for anyone who I perform with as it seems to mean someone as an added accessory, rather than the equal partnership it truly is.

Saying that, I'm frustrated at the myths which abound in regards to singers: we're difficult, arrogant and don't know anything about the music we sing or disregard what the other person is playing. It's just not true! In fact, I find that working with others I often need and want their input as to how they feel the piece works. If there isn't that vital pull and push with one another, it just doesn't work. I've had so many times when I've asked the person playing with me, what they think the music needs and I just get a blank face, expecting me to tell them how it's meant to go - ack! My worst nightmare.

While this is my experience, I've also experienced the singer who is insensitive to who they are working with and the stereo type I've mentioned, but they are few and far between. They are often either young and/or amateur. Professionals can't afford to have that kind of attitude in today's very competitive market of opera singing. With all these reality shows promoting opera/classical singing as a great career and colleges/universities pumping out singers by the dozen, well, you have to be on top of your game to compete. Especially if you are a soprano. Also, I've met this type of person in all musical genres and players. So why is it that singers are singled out and put to the side. Is it because we don't play an instrument outside of our bodies?

I think part of the problem is supported by the industry, through the fact that singers aren't a part of the Musicians Union, but rather Equity. Even within Equity, we are put in the category with the clowns, contortionists and the like. I'm not saying anything against these roles in the entertainment industry, but I believe I have more in common with a trombonist, than I do with a contortionist.

So I would love to hear from those of you out there that can either explain this or just give me your view point, but please be nice. I am human. I'd like to see that the 'poor second cousin' attitude towards singers moves into the age of now, where a singer is a musician and not just a pretty face.

To Brand or not to Brand? - a Singers Dilemma

A singers life is not what it used to be. The terminology just boggles my mind. I read an article recently that states, "to make it in the entertainment industry, performers need a Brand."



I can honestly say that Branding 101 may have been a bit more useful to my career than theory of music 101.



Still, I'm battling on trying to make sense of what branding is and how to create it. I've been going to business events in my local area to get a better understanding of how business works. Through this networking I've managed to meet with a business Guru and was asked, "If I was a car, what sort of car would I be?" And they say artsy people are out there, but at least I can relate and find it easy to answer, even if it seems a crazy way to find my 'brand'.



Then I've been thrown into another foreign term: U.S.B. (unique selling point just to clarify for those in the singing/music world & aren't business savvy). Is it just me or are there others that find describing my U.S.P. is rather impossible? The suggestion of stepping outside of myself and looking at me from a 'customers' point of view seems, well literally, physically impossible, if not a bit painful. So I'm faced with the dilemma of how do I get past this if I don't have the skills or budget to do it? (This may be a surprise to you, but artist really do not earn the big bucks, I definitely fall into the struggling multitudes).



So continuing to wade through this new and exciting time where business language meets musical terms and people, hopefully, I will come back to you soon with 'my Brand' - all shiny and new - like that BMW car I see myself as (convertible, British racing green and 2 seater. Vroooom!)