My Musical History

, , 0 Comments

Music is something that runs in my veins. One of my grandmothers sang in a choir that traveled the U.S. and then joined her church choir later in life and the other plays both the piano and accordion. My parents met in their high school band and my mother was part of a rock cover band for a while. I followed in my family’s footsteps and joined middle school choir where I was quite bored with the dated songs but my love of singing was nonetheless nurtured.

My freshman year of high school, I transferred schools early on in the year and was ready to start anew. A talent show was happening in a month and my new friend and I wanted to participate as a singing duo. We practiced singing along to a karaoke version of The Chicks’ Goodbye Earl, a song about a friend helping out a friend by killing her abusive husband. We even choreographed dance moves all while donning cowboy hats (mine was zebra print). Rehearsals went well.

On the day of the talent show, we were nervous but excited. We climbed up on that stage, hands trembling, and began to belt out our murderous song. However, unbeknownst to us, there was a teacher on the corner of the stage holding a giant cymbal. As we rounded the first verse, I could tell the crowd was not pleased. I gave my friend a quick sideways glance of concern. Before we had even made it to the first chorus, there were very audible boos echoing off the gymnasium walls and the cymbal wielding teacher in the corner stood up and began to dangle the cymbal from his hand. The boos amplified. We continued to sing, but he moved closer, and the boos got louder still. And then suddenly he was smacking the cymbal to loud cheers as our song was cut short and we were escorted off the stage.

Yeesh. So much to unpack here. Look at my eyes, the set of my mouth. I KNOW.

Sooooooo that’s when I stopped singing for a while. But I couldn’t keep the music in my veins quiet. I got a guitar and took Guitar 1 my senior year of high school, acquired a keyboard and drum after college and then one very ordinary day, I tried my hand at writing a song for my friend and her new baby. And, as they say, the rest is history.

Now I write, compose, record, and mix my own songs at home around the rest of my life as many multi-creatives do. To check out my music, go HERE.