Someone I knew casually from high school contacted me on Facebook recently. She looked at my profile and sent me a message, "Looks like you're performing. What kind of stuff?" I had to actually think for a moment about how to answer it. That very subject has been on my mind a lot lately. What am I musically? How do I describe myself? I sing jazz songs, but I'm definitely not a jazz singer. I have been told that what I do is unique. I'm glad for that, but I'm having trouble telling others what to expect. This was the answer I gave her. However, I'll definitely have to come up with a shorter answer. And I didn't even really describe the style of music!

My answer: "Lots of stuff, actually. I made a good dent toward public visibility in the local market over the past 2 years by performing classic standards (like Sinatra, Dean Martin, Louie Prima songs, etc) at Cafe Destare and the Monument Grill, but by doing them in a very different way than their originators. I didn't do it on purpose, but it was a very good entry, it turns out. I do things VERY different than most people who tackle this kind of material, apparently. I didn't really try to do it that way. I didn't really know any of these songs before, so I didn't have any limitations as far as style goes. And then I started introducing my original music into my sets - those got a terrific response. Often now, people tell me after my sets "I love hearing the standards, but your original music is even better." I find that very encouraging. Time will tell, but it's my hope that I can become a deliberate export of the Fitchburg area and be known nationally for that. Someone who was mentored and developed by his hometown to be a national product that gives back to his community."


I wish I had added that I like pretty much every style of music and they all find their way into my interpretations of the songs. So my sets are a mixture of jazz, gospel, rock, funk, folk, blues, musical theatre, and even country. Rarely do I sing any one song in purely one form. Usually, a song will have a combination of styles. It's not on purpose, it's more about how I want to interpret the lyrics.

I'm also not very musically educated. I played clarinet in high school and I sang in choirs and choruses all my life, so I can read and write music. But I don't know very many chords and I cannot often come up with my own chord structures for my original music. I hear chords in my head when I write music, but in order to get them on paper, I have to sit at the piano for hours and hours listening to each chord in my head, one at a time, separating each of the notes in my mind and then searching for them on the keyboard. I have done that for a few songs, but I don't love the process. I much prefer to collaborate with one of my band. A few of them are really good at hearing a melody and knowing good chord progressions for what I'm doing. Plus they actually have music educations! I am only doing what comes naturally to me at any given moment and have no idea of the music theory or style history behind my choices. The only reason I know that I style music after gospel, blues, jazz, rock, funk, folk, etc., is because people tell me I do. Isn't that terrible?

I feel like I should know more about this stuff actually. I feel like I should be going out to nightclubs and hearing other singers and see what they're doing. But I really don't like clubs at all. Its' very rare that I ever go out for a drink. I'm as much of a homebody as I can manage. I also rarely listen to music. My radio is all talk stations. I love NPR and WTKK, both. (One soothes me and one infuriates me; I'll let you decide which one.).

So where exactly does the music come from and what kind is it? Who the heck knows!