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You have such an expansive
range. How do you keep your voice in shape?
I'll tell you what: I never, ever talk a lot
before a performance. I drink a lot of water, and I never yell
at anyone that day! I do these funny vocal exercises. I don't
smoke or drink. I pretty much take care of it like a musician
would take of his instrument. That's my vocal box, and I value
it highly.
Have any record labels shown
an interest in signing you? Or would you prefer to keep putting
out your music yourself?
I'd love to get a label, but so far no labels
have called me! I've been doing this completely on my own, but
I've already sold over 1,000 CDs, and they're still selling.
And that's without traveling overseas since the CD came out.
I'm thinking about getting a distributor for my next CD.
What do you do to make a song
"your own" - especially one that people are used to
hearing other people sing, like "I'd Rather Go Blind,"
or Frank Sinatra's "That's Life," which is an especially
interesting song choice.
I believe all the songs I chose are good songs
to begin with, but I like to put myself into each song. I like
to sing a song the way a good artist paints a picture: Every
note should have its own signature. I always like to put some
kind of hook in there, but the thing that I really have
to have in every song is good articulation. Because you can hear
great hooks and a nice melody but not be able to figure out what
the person is singing.
I make a conscious effort to make sure that
any song I do is about something I can relate to. I want to know
that when I sing a song to someone, they're going to feel what
I'm feeling. I love "I'd Rather Go Blind" - anything
Etta James does, I love.
All my relatives tell me that my dad did "That's
Life" before Frank Sinatra did it. And I have a version
he did on CD, but I kept thinking, "Is this more a man's
song than a woman's? Is this something I should sing?" So
I went to the library to see whether any female artists had done
it, and I found out Aretha Franklin had, and her version is great.
So my recording is kind of a mixture of Tommy Tucker and Aretha.
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