This art of singing, what's it all about?

This art of singing, what's it all about? It has meant different things to me over the last 30 years or so. In the very beginning, it was just fun mimicking my favorite singers in the mirror with a hairbrush in my hand pretending it was my microphone. It soon became an obsession, and I'm sure my folks thought I was nuts! I sang in my room for hours on end for YEARS trying to sound like my heroes. I sang everything. The Rolling Stones, KISS, Deep Purple, Humble Pie...I loved everything that rocked.

At 15 years old, it became my sole reason to live, my destiny. I joined a working cover band and lied about my age so I could play in the bars. Now it was a JOB. People started relying on me to sing 4 sets a night. It was hard I suppose, but at that time all I knew was that it was FUN, and someone was paying to hear me sing, something I would've done for free. How cool is that?

Then I got a lucky break when I was 23 years old and joined The Atlanta Rhythm Section. This was one of my favorite bands, and I was scared to death. I wasn't playing clubs anymore. I was playing in front of very large crowds. I also had a lot to live up to. They had millions of fans that loved the bands records, and the voice that was on those records. Talk about pressure! Vocalist RONNIE HAMMOND (R.I.P) had a magnificent, warm tone to his voice. He was a real crooner, and had a very smooth delivery. Somehow I prevailed and had a great experience for awhile as the singer for ARS. It was one of the greatest learning experiences of my life.

Up to that point, I never had vocal lessons. Not one. Everything I knew up to that point was self-taught...trial by fire. I didn't get serious about learning about the voice until other singers started asking me how I did this, and how I did that and wanted to give me money to show them. I thought it might be a good idea to start figuring out SCIENTIFICALLY how. So over the last 10 years I have been learning the how and why's. It finally all came together for me when I met TVS founder ROBERT LUNTE. His knowledge of the voice is amazing. As an associate instructor of TVS his method is the method that I teach.

At TVS we teach you all of the how's and why's of the voice, and singing. If you want to know more about TVS you can go to our websites...we'd love to have you train with us!

The point of this entry is only this...If you want to sing, REALLY sing, you have to be PASSIONATE about it. All of the technical things about singing are extremely important, but it's all just a means to an end. That end is to FREELY express yourself in a musical way using your voice. The rest is all mental, spiritual, etc... the ART. Where you take it from there is totally up to you.

Keep Singing! \m/\m/

SHAUN