Music Artist - Gothic Psych Folk / Alternative Rock
Friends, Romans, countrymen,
I want YOU to be involved with my music. I am about to upload the first creation to my Patreon page – my song ‘rosemary’. You can help me (and ‘rosemary’) by listening to my pre-final mix and making comments/suggestions below. Like Antony sez, “lend me your ears!”
Thank you!
John
I love Dan Wilson’s songs.
“Who’s that?” Why, he’s one of my generation’s greatest songwriters. “Really, never heard of him.” Well, I don’t blame you. Neither had I until recently. However, when I listened to his music and lyrics and became aware of his contribution to popular music, I realized Dan Wilson deserves to be well-known and acclaimed not only by music industry insiders.
Dan was in a band called Trip Shakespeare in the 1980s and then the power trio Semisonic in the 1990s. “Who’s that?” Well, I still don’t blame you. Both bands were doomed by shifting commercial music trends. Trip Shakespeare was making the scene in the late 1980s. Very poetic, poppy and, well, trippy – as per the neo-psychedelic alternative rock of that time (e.g. Rain Parade, The Church). When Nirvana’s punk/grunge rage exploded onto the music scene in 1991, Trip Shakespeare and other arty, cheerful bands were vaporized.
You probably don’t know who Semisonic is either, but I know with 99% certainty you are familiar with their music. Ever hear a little ditty called “Closing Time“? Well, if you haven’t, everyone else who was around in 1998 has, over and over. It was a massive chart-topping hit. Unfortunately for Semisonic, their record label didn’t know what to do with them as the music industry and MTV were enticing consumers with the harder, angrier rap-rock sound of bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit. Semisonic had more great songs, but without support from the record label they didn’t get much airplay, and the band was eventually dropped.
But that’s not the end of the story.
Dan Wilson is an utterly brilliant songwriter. Besides the aforementioned number one smash hit (for which he was nominated for a Grammy in 1999), Dan has co-written number one hits for Adele and Dierks Bentley. He’s won Grammy Awards, in 2012 for Adele’s “Someone Like You” (which he not only co-wrote, but also produced and played the piano part), and in 2007 for the Dixie Chicks’ “Not Ready to Make Nice”. He’s co-written numerous songs for artists including Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Carole King, Jason Mraz, Pink, and Weezer, to name a few.
Even so, I’ll wager you’ve never heard of Dan Wilson, and that’s why I wrote this. Now you have.
I discovered Dan (and rediscovered Semisonic) thanks to the book So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star: How I Machine-Gunned a Roomful Of Record Executives and Other True Tales from a Drummer’s Life
by Semisonic drummer Jacob Slichter. An incredibly entertaining book, it tells the story of the rise and fall of Semisonic from the sensitive drummer’s journals. The book is a primer on the music industry and is a must-read for aspiring music artists.
It also exposes what an exceptional human being Dan Wilson is. He comes off as kind, thoughtful, and generous, with no evidence of ego. Not what you’d expect from a rock star. I was surprised to learn that “Closing Time“, which was written off by many (including me) as a dumb drinking and hook-up anthem with a dash of dime-store philosophy, was actually written by Dan about childbirth and becoming a father. He’s one of those songwriters who has the ability to smuggle deep, personal meaning inside an apparently meaningless (but very catchy) tune. He can also write devastatingly honest songs.
Like his songwriting collaborations, Dan Wilson’s’s solo works are fantastic. His latest album, Love Without Fear, comes out April 2014, and I can’t stop playing the single “A Song Can Be About Anything”. It’s one of those songs that works magically, like love. At first you think she’s interesting and pretty, and then you can’t get her out of your head.
No, it’s not edgy, hard and laced with EDM. It’s raw, intelligent, sensitive, sad, and beautiful.
It’s just another perfectly crafted pop-rock song by Dan Wilson.
One of my bands is The Glowing Garden, an experimental art-rock threesome. Recently our lead singer Glen moved to San Francisco, and we’re on hiatus until high-speed rail is running.
Glen has a great natural voice, a set of pipes that turns heads. I’d been in a nice comfort zone doing backup vocals and the occasional lead. When I began playing solo much more often, I soon realized that my singing voice needed some serious help.
My vocal challenges make sense. I started singing by emulating low, pitchy, emotional singers like Johnny Cash and Michael Stipe. If I went high, I emulated Kurt Cobain. A recipe for vocal chord disaster. I knew I was capable of a smooth higher voice – if not great, at least good and atmospheric like David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. Yet I also knew there were cracks in my voice and my pitch was far from perfect, so I kept my vocal style low and “mysterious.” I never worried about having a healthy, natural singing voice, as long as I sounded “cool.” In reality, my vocal delivery was far more weak than intriguing.
I set out to find a vocal coach. After some sticker-shock I decided to start with an online coaching program. It’d be affordable and should give me a good foundation before working with an in-person vocal coach. The fact that I’m a reclusive introvert made this decision easy.
I started with Aaron Anastasi’s Superior Singing Method. This is a great beginners’ program, and it’s organized to make the most of a limited time investment. A short video accompanies each of Aaron’s lessons, and the program is eight weeks of short exercise sessions. Aaron is cool and likable, and he responds to questions posted on his site. I went through his program twice. My voice improved and I became more confident (after doing the “nay, nay, nay” exercise for a week or so, you just stop caring what people think).
Looking to find another good program, I tried Brett Manning’s Singing Success. This is a pro series with great information, exercises and coaches. I found it a little too “slick” for my taste, with infomercial-style voices and music. And we get to hear Brett prove that he can sing in four octaves, at the same time! Please folks, I already bought it, stop selling it. It’s a sprawling, comprehensive course. I got through about half of it, and then got lost and decided to try something else. A scaled-down and simpler version would suit me better. I prefer daily routines (like Aaron’s) that are actually possible to do every day. Singers with plenty of spare time aspiring to become fluent in many conventional styles will love this. It’s overkill for me. I just want to sing my own style.
During all this time, I had watched a number of Roger Burnley’s free vocal coaching videos on YouTube, and every single one was helpful. I was like someone who bumps into an acquaintance every so often, but never realizes they are “The One” – until that fateful day. It hit me like a ton of bricks – what I was looking for was right in front of me: Roger Burnley’s Singing Made Simple program.
Roger is perfect. He’s not only a successful vocal coach who’s worked with some of the music industry’s top stars – he’s also my coach. Yesterday he coached me in-person over the phone. It’s no surprise that I wasn’t nervous talking to and singing for Roger for the first time. His personality is so endearing and engaging that I felt like we already knew each other from watching his coaching videos.
No, I didn’t have to sign up for some sort of “VIP Membership” add-on with extra monthly dues. Roger includes the coaching calls in the base price of his program.
Roger does not brush over the basics, or cover too much ground at one time. His lessons break down the fundamentals of freeing your voice. He explains exactly what the purpose of each exercise is, and how it trains your body to sing without tension. My OCD side loves knowing exactly what I’m working on and why, not wondering if I’m “doing it right”. I had some major breakthroughs in the first couple of weeks, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.
I realize now that vocal freedom is the goal. With a relaxed and healthy voice I can emulate whomever I wish, but more importantly, I’m finding my own unique, natural voice. A true voice is far more intriguing than a hidden one!
If you want to learn to sing, you can do it. You must find a place where you can sing every day without worrying about how you sound. This is so important because the key to becoming a good singer is allowing yourself to sound horrible and not let it scare you. You’ve heard it before: “You gotta fail a hundred times before you succeed, kid.” Well, the sound of “failing” while singing is scary. It has frightened many people into believing they just can’t sing.
You know this: the only way to truly fail is to give up, or not even try. Like Wayne Gretzky said: “You miss 100% of the shots you never take.” If you’re patient and practice every day (whichever program you choose) you’ll amaze yourself. Sooner than you think, you’ll have a great voice, and a great time singing.
Please let me know how your singing journey fares!
Thanks,
John