Empower Your Voice

What does it mean to be a creative? Are you a problem solving creative or a detail-focused artist? How does your preference effect your life, love, and career? This episode introduces the idea and gives you creative ways to work within your personality and skill set.

In the episode Nancy mentioned Todd Henry, author of Herding Tigers and host of the Accidental Creative podcast.

Use The Singer's Practice Plan, Log, and Journal to keep you practice and your LIFE in focus! Find it on Amazon.com or singersplanner.com

Thanks to Ken Feisel of Ken Feisel Design for the cover art.

Episode 39 of Every Sing Podcast with Nancy Bos

A Career in Singing - You know you want it. How do you get it? What is standing in the way of you pursuing a career, or a combination of careers, related to your deep passion for singing and music? Is it fear? Is it not being sure what your dream is? No matter what the reason, you have only one life. Give it your best shot - no regrets! But be smart. Plan ahead and focus your skills to reach your desired target. In this episode Nancy explores ways to defeat fear, how to frame your career path, and steps to take to reach the final destination. Nancy references her book, The Teen Girl's Singing Guide. She also references the Inner Game of Tennis by Tim Gallway Sally Palmer's Six Word Lessons for Exceptional Music Lessons and a story about defeating fear by Pema Chodron from When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times Join the Every Sing podcast group on Facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/1711090705861666/ Every Sing on Twitter: @Every_Sing_Pod Nancy's website: NancyBos.net Support this podcast through a small monthly donation and receive great rewards at https://www.patreon.com/everysing Podcast Cover Art by Ken Feisel at kenfeiseldesign.com

Eric Verlinde is one of those musicians whom everyone wants to work with. In fact, I heard about him from so many people that I really wondered what his magic touch was. Now I know - and you'll hear it too. Eric is, without a doubt, a brilliant pianist. But on top of that he is humble, kind, generous, and so full of wisdom. I've never had a conversation on Every Sing that gave so many take-away lessons. Here are my top 6 takeaways:

• Eric's advice to singers: really know the music and know the theory.
• You have to ask yourself, "What is the music asking of me?"
• Hard work can beat out being a child prodigy.
• Know your niche - don't try to be everything to everyone but do stretch yourself.
• It is ok to start small, even on a paddle wheel tour boat through the rolling hills of eastern Washington.
• Be a good musician whether other people know it or not.

Eric's bio tells us he has composed more than 200 pieces of music in many different genres, including jazz, gospel, funk, electronic, neoclassical, latin-jazz, rock and R&B, He has published 5 of his own recordings and performed on more than 25 other recordings. He has played all over the world, in such places as Paris, Berlin, London, Boston, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Hawaii. Like all of my guests, Eric did not get a dime for giving us his time. Even coming to the Den of Technology to talk to me before heading to the restaurant to play. If you are so inclined, go to his website, ericverlinde.com, to buy his music or to YouTube to subscribe to his channel. -------------------- Eric's Youtube Channel Eric's Website Buy the Firewalker CD and his other CDs on CDBaby Upcoming CDs: with EntreMundos Quarteto and Adrianna Giordano (Adrianna was on Every Sing for episode 10). and another with LaVon Hardison. The closing song is from Firewalker, "Bopticos" Join the Every Sing podcast group on Facebook Every Sing on Twitter: @Every_Sing_Pod Nancy's website Support this podcast through a small monthly donation and receive great rewards at Patreon Podcast Cover Art by Ken Feisel

In this conversation with Kate Baker, jazz singer, we discuss her musical roots, the importance of music theory (especially chord recognition) for jazz singers, and some great stories from her journey. Kate does an amazing job balancing a recording and performing career with a teaching several voice students. She is based in NYC.

http://www.katebakerjazz.com Twitter: @katebakerjazz Facebook: @katebakermusic Join the Every Sing podcast group on Facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/1711090705861666/ Every Sing on Twitter: @Every_Sing_Pod Nancy's website: NancyBos.net Support this podcast through a small monthly donation and receive great rewards at https://www.patreon.com/everysing Podcast Cover Art by Ken Feisel at kenfeiseldesign.com

ES036 A Romanian Soprano Finding Her Way in the US

Dr. Raluca Marinescu, is a Romanian-American operatic soprano, voice teacher, and pianist working on the Eastside of Seattle. She has been featured in concerts, recitals and opera productions across Europe and in the US, both as a pianist and as a soprano. She teaches at the Chopin Academy of Music in Issaquah, WA, is education manager for the Seattle Art Song Society, and is involved with the Romanian American Chamber Concerts and Arts organization. In the conversation, Raluca referenced singer Maria Tănase. You can learn more about Maria at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_T%C4%83nase The music performed in this episode: The first is Mussorgsky Field Marshal fro. Songs and Dances of Death with the wonderful pianist Ross Salvosa. The second one is a Romanian art song I performed last year called Water flower written by Tiberiu Brediceanu, with Oana Tomai playing the piano If you'd like to get in touch with Raluca, visit her page ralucamarinescu.com. On her page you'll find news about a summer Teen Opera/Musical Theater Camp she is running for a week in June. http://www.chopinacademy.com/faculty/dr-raluca-marinescu-voice/ Thanks for joining me, remember to leave a review. Join the Every Sing podcast group on Facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/1711090705861666/ Every Sing on Twitter: @Every_Sing_Pod Nancy's website: NancyBos.net Support this podcast through a small monthly donation and receive great rewards at https://www.patreon.com/everysing Podcast Cover Art by Ken Feisel at kenfeiseldesign.com

Jill Rae Lawson is director of the Giving Hearts Choir in Wisconsin. givingheartschoir.org

The choir supports singers in the early stages memory loss, and their caregivers, to come out and sing and do something normal that still gives back. The non-profit and gives credit for its existence to Giving Voice Initiative, which inspires and equips choruses that bring joy, well-being, purpose, and community understanding to people with Alzheimer's and their care partners.

Healing and pain; creating healing or pain through our music choices and environments.

The guests are two singers from my studio. They came down the Den of Technology to talk about how singing can bring healing and perhaps happiness. James Booth, student at Seattle Central College, and Allison Wilner Martin, in her gap year after high school and working for a law firm.

Singing, the most personal of all vocal expression, has always been tied to pain. Singing can help with healing or it can cause more pain. A singer cannot lie - a singer must believe what they are singing, at least for that moment, or we will know and realize they are a fraud.

And our actions, as people building our lives around singing, have this same power - to make the most personal of all vocal expressions an instrument of pain or an instrument of healing. This is so commonly understood that I hardly think I need to give examples, but for the sake of context I'll give a few. And I'll try to make them not too personal, because I don't want to cause pain here - I want to bring awareness to the power we hold as musicians.

About that power, the ancient greeks totally understood. In Greek mythology, Nine Muses were the nine daughters of Zeus .The individual muses have had various names and incarnations over the centuries and their very name, Muse, is the source of our English word, Music.

According to the website owlcation.com The Muses are minor goddesses of the Greek pantheon. They are the personification of literary arts, music, visual arts and science. We all have that spark of a Muse within us to aid in our creative endeavors.

The muses all have different jobs in music. Here are a few of them:

Polyhymnia is the protector of divine hymns. She created geometry and grammar. She wears a veil as she looks up to the Heavens. Melpomene is the protector of the Tragedies. She created rhetoric speech and the melodies of tragedy. She holds a theatrical tragedy mask. Euterpe is the protector of song and poetry of death, love, and war. She created several musical instruments and inspires beautiful music. She holds a flute with her other instruments surrounding her. Erato is the protector of lyrical and love poetry. She holds a lyre and love arrows with a bow. Clio is the protector of history and the guitar, the heroic arts. Clio holds a clarion in her right arm and a book in her left hand.

Calliope is the superior Muse. She inspired Homer as he wrote The Iliad and The Odyssey. She accompanied kings and princes to help them impose justice and serenity. Calliope is the protector of poetic works, the rhetoric arts, music and writing. Calliope holds laurels in one hand and two Homeric poems in the other.

Since then, since the muses, have leaders and academics understood the power? You be they have. Think of the tribal, bringing-together power of national anthems and battle songs.

Think of the songs used for forced labor, like those covered in Negro Work Songs and Calls. By Botkin and Lomax-1943 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx_OOivYYo8. It makes my stomach turn.

Songs have been used as weapons - Saul Williams in his NPR post Songs As Weapons, talks about Fela Kuti his music was his message as he defiantly proclaimed that "music is the weapon of the future." One of his songs was written in direct response to the loss of his mother, who died of complications after the Nigerian Army raided his compound. Fela Kuti marched his mother's coffin to the Head of State, placing it on his doorstep, while his band played this processional.

The Star Spangled Banner The Essential Jimi Hendrix is well understood as a protest song meant to shoot a spear into the heart of the United States, for excellent reason. The country was a MESS. For this song, Hendrix guitar does the singing.

Songs have been used to spurn a former lover. They have been used to wound someone who has wounded the singer. Singing has been used to point out a pain that has been caused with the intention of causing another pain. Have you heard Sound of Silence as interpreted by Disturbed? That is the very definition of pain. And in that vein, there are entire genres of popular music devoted to pain.

Singing is very, very effective at causing pain.

In a recent episodes of Every Sing, it has come to light that the world around singing is also a vehicle for pain. Among other powerful examples from people I have interviewed for this show, Sheila Houlahan, in episode 29, talked about two deep singing induced injuries. First was the evil competition brought out in her undergrad experience. People using music to justify their terrible intentions. Second was the pain caused by ignorance - an opera company who created disrespectful charactures of the Indian culture in their production - the equivalent to Sheila of black-face performances.

Ya know, my heart is racing while I talk to you about this. This so deep, so personal, and so important. The idea that singing has been used to cause pain in people I love, like Sheila, makes me sick.

But there is more pain being caused every day around singing. Just today I heard a young man in a singing contest who's every song was full of anger and pain. His songs were from the musicals Jeckly and Hide, Assassins, Oliver! and Oklahoma. What pain is in this young man that he has to relish in evil for every song he sings!

And what pain are we potentially causing when we pick venues for our events; does the venue hosting you welcome everyone in your group? People with physical handicaps, moral objections, or other cultural differences? Is your event being held in a place where your LGBTQ singers might be preached against? Do your singers feel safe, not from others wielding guns, but from the words that can do so much damage and haunt them in the night? What pain was caused, historically, when black singers had to use the back door to enter a venue where they were entertaining a white audience? What confusion is happening for your muslim or atheist singers when you book a church as your performance venue? And what pain is being caused to the singers who are forced to step foot on an alt-right campus for a singing celebration for the sake of their teachers.

And what about the Grammy's - run by the Recording Academy of which I am a member. They seem to have learned nothing from the MeToo movement, Recording Academy President Neil Portnow almost immediately made things worse after this year's male dominated Grammys. He responded by urging women to "step up."

In response to him, recording artist Pink posted on Twitter. "Women in music don't need to 'step up' – women have been stepping since the beginning of time," "Stepping up, and also stepping aside. Women owned music this year. They've been killing it. And every year before this."

So where does this leave us - you and me. Look closely - hold yourself accountable to the highest standard. Be vigilant. Be unrelenting. Err on the side of love. In the words of Cara Transtrom, see and understand better so that you can do better.

"We are all artists and music connects us as spiritual beings, transcending all this crap the world would use to divide us." Patti Haak Barrow

Grammy award winning vocalist from Macklemore's Thriftshop, Michael "The Wanz" Wansley, is a great story teller with a great message. Join us for a conversation about touring with Macklemore, and hear the huge take away lessons The Wanz shares. You can find Wanz on Facebook and social media @teewanz or his website: www.wanzmusic.com The songs you heard in this episode are When If Not Now and Get Lucky. When If Not Now What's this world comin' to? Can't get my mind around it. All the things we go through, Ev'ryday another crisis. Wonder where I fit in Where's my place among the people When will we begin To save us from evil Do we wake up just to stand alone One is such a lonely number We should give up being on our own And start fighting together We won't always agree On the best way to advance us But as long as we breathe We won't run out of chances Divided we lose Will we let our spirit burn out If not us then who Why not here, why not now Join the Every Sing podcast group on Facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/1711090705861666/ Every Sing on Twitter: @Every_Sing_Pod Nancy's website: NancyBos.net Support this podcast through a small monthly donation and receive great rewards at https://www.patreon.com/everysing Podcast Cover Art by Ken Feisel at kenfeiseldesign.com

Grammy award winning vocalist from Macklemore's Thriftshop, Michael "The Wanz" Wansley, tells the great stories of his path to becoming the hook singer for Thriftshop. You can find Wanz on Facebook and social media @teewanz or his website: wanzmusic.com The songs you heard in this episode are When If Not Now and Get Lucky. When If Not Now What's this world comin' to? Can't get my mind around it. All the things we go through, Ev'ryday another crisis. Wonder where I fit in Where's my place among the people When will we begin To save us from evil Do we wake up just to stand alone One is such a lonely number We should give up being on our own And start fighting together We won't always agree On the best way to advance us But as long as we breathe We won't run out of chances Divided we lose Will we let our spirit burn out If not us then who Why not here, why not now Join the Every Sing podcast group on Facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/1711090705861666/ Every Sing on Twitter: @Every_Sing_Pod Nancy's website: NancyBos.net Support this podcast through a small monthly donation and receive great rewards at https://www.patreon.com/everysing Podcast Cover Art by Ken Feisel at kenfeiseldesign.com

In Every Sing I talk to people who devote their lives to singers and singing, from the performers themselves to anyone who works behind the scenes in singing related fields. In Every Sing, we explore a wide variety of career options and passions. If you are looking for a way to make a career around singing, or to find inspiration for your own journey, you will find it here. If you are new to this podcast, check out the back episodes. You'll find interviews with famous singers, giants in the field of voice science and voice pedagogy, a peak performance coach, audio engineer, event producer and more. And today's episode is a lot different than others. Today I am going solo talking about lessons learned from the amazing people I've gotten to talk with in the first 30 episodes of Every Sing, combined with my own perspective on careers around singing. First I want to give a shout out to my listeners around the world! You probably guessed I'm in the US - or maybe I've made it obvious that I'm in Seattle. There are hundreds of listeners in the Us and there are dozens of listeners in Canada. But I want to give shout out to the listeners in the places I didn't expect; Chile, Peru, Ghana, South Africa, Ireland, Sweden, Bulgaria, Austria, the UAE, Iran!, China, Bangladesh, Cambodia, South Korea, Plus there's more I'm not naming! and New Zeland. New Zeland! You have an especially strong presence! Thanks for finding me! If you have Facebook in your country, please connect with me there through Every Sing Podcast. If not, email me at [email protected] Finally, before I get started on this episode, there is one listener I want to call out - who ever is listening in Hunedoara, Romania, I'm excited! I will be in Sibiu, Romania in September and I would LOVE to connect. If anyone else wants to connect - especially if you want me to travel to your place - I'm all ears! I love to travel, to share my passion for this field, and I'm a really human who loves to connect with other real humans! Alright, lets get started on this topic. I want to talk to you about singing, singing related careers, and a mindset for singers. Coming from a place of being a singer who's personality type does not fit the goals and requirements of living the life of a performer Coming from a place of teaching hundreds of people who loved to sing and didn't know where their place is in singing Coming from a place of watching a gen eration of my students go from hopeful, would-be professional singers as teen agers, to sometimes completely disparate careers, and sometimes professional careers. Coming from a place of a podcaster who is talking to other singers about their careers. About singing, the first question is, what's the point - why do we sing and what do we expect will happen when we sing. About singing related careers - this is where my curiosity is leading me these days. For this section, I reference my book, The Teen Girl's Singing Guide, available on Amazon. And finally, a mindset for singers I want to share so fun news - I was accepted as a member of the recording academy today. That's the group that hosts the Grammy's. But even more than that, they support education, especially careers for musicians. So you can imagine, I'm pretty excited about how I can contribute to the work they are doing. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm always available to talk about issues that come up in the podcast. You can find me on Linked In, Twitter, and reluctantly, on Instagram. Facebook is a great place for us to talk - look for the Every Sing podcast. Join the Every Sing podcast group on Facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/1711090705861666/ Every Sing on Twitter: @Every_Sing_Pod Nancy's website: NancyBos.net Support this podcast through a small monthly donation and receive great rewards at https://www.patreon.com/everysing Podcast Cover Art by Ken Feisel at kenfeiseldesign.com