As the untrained singer with the Jazz Funk Legends called "Our Dad", the closest I come to "technique" is to "Think of Tom Jones"! I love to scream and shout - inducing audience frenzy and a personal state of Voice-Wreck. Near the end of the set, my range is often reduced to half an octave, and after three nights running I can hardly talk, let alone sing. Maybe that's why those generous people at Musicademy asked me to road-test VocalEze and ClearVoice; two very similar voice-saving throat spray products - almost identical in both packaging and ingredients. However, I was a little concerned about this experiment; some medication can be indirectly harmful. I believe Strepsils can get you in trouble because they anaesthetise your voice. This allows you to continue singing without realising the strain that's happened - until the next day when you try to speak.

Last night my band was privileged to play at the wedding of Quin Delport (WW Message Tribe in the old days, and fronts new power-pop band, "Shackleton") - a lovely man with a great voice. There would be lots of musicians and singers in the crowd, so I kind of expected I'd be trying too hard and wreck my voice again. Therefore a great opportunity to take with me a voice-saving vocal spray!

In our first set "The Vibe Was Insane" (a quote from the audience there!) I gave it everything and wrecked my voice in 30m flat! Here's the news: a couple of squirts of VocalEze were highly effective. After a 30m break I was wailing again, hitting the highs and the lows all through set two. I was genuinely impressed because I've caused my own voice-wreck many many times before, and I know this time went differently.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't care what style of singer you are: prevention Is better than a cure, and so the Right Thing To Do is a proper warm-up routine. Not only will you avoid a voice-wreck in the first place, but even more importantly: you will sing better! However, for the inexcusable throat abusers like myself, these vocal sprays are a good insurance. These samples will definitely be on the Our Dad stage for my 5-night endurance test at Soul Survivor Momentum this year. Thank you Musicademy!

Vocal Staying Power

Because we play for two hours on five consecutive nights, the Christian Festival in Shepton Mallet is a double challenge for me. Firstly there is quite a lot of work to prepare five set lists that each have a good pace, and yet do not include the same "best" songs every night. The toughest part though is being able to sing that long, without losing your voice! Singing is a highly physical business, and everyone has limits. So, having not really got there yet, but still learning, here are my top tips so far:
- don't sing without foldback (I say this because, well,.. I was that foolish!);
- spend ages getting the foldback right, and the stage levels as low as possible;
- spend a long time warming up before every gig;
- avoid anaesthetic stuff. Strepsils (?) hide pain, and allow you to overstretch;
- be completely quiet (rest) before and after;
- start the set with low pitched songs;
- let the Backing Vocalists do some of the work!

A funny thing happened to me on my way to the theatre,..

It's a funny thing,.. when I was young I was rarely lucky enough to ever lead or play in a good band with great musicians, but did often struggle with beginners. Not aware of my own limitations, it was obvious to me that everyone else ought to be playing better! And to some extent, I was indeed the one who would show some of the others what to play and how to play it; sometimes even writing out parts for players who could barely read music.

So I would often wish (to myself!) how I'd like to be "The Worst Musician in the Band". Not that I wanted to be even worse myself, rather that I thought - wouldn't it be great to be carried along by people who make me sound better than I am,.. for a change. Well finally I seem to have arrived in exactly that position. Through whatever process I don't understand, I am the lonely amateur in a bunch of professionals.. and it is often that it feels exactly that way. Keeping in time, playing creative solos, recreating the right sound, working in a special "vibe",.. all these things seem harder to do at all, when all around you are doing it all so well!

But hey, ..I'm not saying that I prefer the old days! If wishes and dreams can come true, then even if seasoned with a little dose of humility, then I am not to complain.

Keeping It Simple

Sang at a dinner last night, and it was not a sophisticated affair. Also it was a voluntary gig, unpaid, so I teamed up with two other amateurs. Only the previous Sunday I had sang in a similar arrangement, and we'd attempted some complex sophisticated stuff. This time I thought I'd choose only really simple, even trivial stuff. It went well, it went better, we avoided all the difficulties, and this audience was perfectly satisfied with obvious well known stuff. "Hey Jude", "What a Friend We Have in Jesus", "What a Wonderful World", "I don't want to wait in vain for your love". all played on acoustic guitar, Nord Electro and very quiet sensitive drum kit.

The question I'm left with is,.. if you spend an evening playing really simple stuff, are you less of a musician or less entertaining, or less satisfied, . I have answers!

less of a musician?
Definitely not. If you play cleverly, then you've proven it, and will get cheap cheers. Ellis told his son Winton (Marsalis) that if he kept doing circular breathing in every solo, then he'd get applause, but that would be all he'd get. And beyond that,.. it actually turns out that playing something simple and making it sound great - that's a real feat. As they say about Mozart, "Too easy for children, too hard for grown-ups". The barrier to overcome is approaching a simple piece with the same vision and determination you would a piece of Tippett or Bach. Let's not mention Children's music and worship at this point.

less entertaining?
This depends on what you're hoping for. Generally it's musicians that will enjoy virtuosity. And most people are not musicians. Most people are hoping for an emotional response. I have found it is invariably after a passionate rendition of a simple song that people come up to me moist eyed with thanks.

less satisfying?
It depends what you want. There has to be a balance. If you are not enjoying what you do, then your audience will eventually see through you. However, for me, I am equally happy playing something that took a lot of practice, or alternatively jamming for a good dance groove, or doing the three chord trick for "People Get Ready", even "You Send Me".

Talk is Cheap

"Talk is Cheap" is Steve's other blog that is not about singing, Our Dad, and music.

Is It Healthy?

Is it healthy to want to be on stage? I have often wondered. I was shy as a child, and the fundamental approach to relating to others does not change much as you grow older. Being on stage was initially frightening, and it was an achievement to perform satisfactorily. Later on you get used to it, and then you wonder why you like doing it and others don't seem bothered. I wonder if people get on stage because they have developed their talent, or perhaps they have developed their talent because they wanted to get on stage?

Whatever the route, whatever the cause, there you are in front of everyone, and now you are the centre of attention. Well, perhaps you are completely ignored, because you have not yet completly finished developing your talent yet,... But let's assume it's all going well. Nice style, maybe funny, maybe scary, maybe macho, but whatever it is that works, it's working and everyone is watching.

For me the question is, "Then what?" What's the message? What's the point? If it's just about being there, then it's just about ego. But if it becomes a vehicle through which you deliver a message, then maybe there's a purpose other than to be admired. And if the purpose is to uplift of convey some value to your audience, then we have the possibility of something more generous going on.

I think that you can start out by going through with it just to overcome the challenge and natural inherent shyness of youth. But once we are corrupted by and addicted to the attention, there is a chance to become bored by it, and begin a more mature approach that is more audience-centred and less self centered.

How to organise an evolving band

Here is a tip for young musicians; the band line-up can change quickly as you develop your style and skills, so,.. never ask anyone to "join a band"! Ask people to do a session, or play a gig. When you have a permanent "band" you'll know! Meanwhile, just let those changes happen without questions, answers or excuses.