Two New Placements!

I recently had two new tracks of mine on The Young And The Restless.  These placements were particularly exciting because they were both tracks I sang lead vocals on.  I haven’t had a ton of tracks that I sing vocals on placed over the years.  I’ve had a lot more success with having other vocalists sing on my tracks and licensing instrumental music, so it was really exciting to see two new placements on my most recent ASCAP statement that both featured my lead vocals.

I’ve worked really hard over the last few years to improve my singing.  I would say it’s been the single biggest challenge I’ve faced as a songwriter/performer.  I started learning how to play guitar when I was twelve, but it wasn’t until I got into my twenties that I started, reluctantly, singing.  It took me a long time to feel comfortable as a vocalist.  

A lot of times I would end up singing on my recordings just because it was easier to sing my own tracks than to find someone else.  I was the lead singer in my first band in Chicago, URB, until we found our front man a few months later.  In my second band, Continuum, I shared lead vocal duties with our keyboard player.  Same thing in my third band.

So, over the years I’ve sang a lot.  But it’s always been something that I’ve sort of struggled with.  Singing never came naturally, like it seems to for some vocalists.  I’ve had to work really hard at it.

I’ve taken vocal lessons at different points over the years and those have been helpful.  There are definitely techniques, like learning how to breathe properly and doing different vocal exercises, that can greatly improve your vocals.  But like a lot of things, I feel like what’s helped the most, is just doing it, a lot.

Over the last couple years I’ve been singing every chance I get, both in the studio and in live situations.  I’ve been singing at gigs and also trying new songs at open mic nights.  Open mic nights are a great way to try new things and practice in a front of a crowd.  Over the last couple years I’ve been hitting open mic nights pretty regularly, to specifically practice singing in front of people.  It’s a great, no pressure way, to work on new material in front of a live crowd.  If you’re not great, it’s not like anyone paid to see you!  But of course, you should work on getting great so people will be willing to pay to see you?

I still have a lot of room to improve when it comes to my singing, but I’m making verifiable progress and for me half the fun of being a musician is the journey and the process.  It’s exciting to reach new heights and be able to look back and see how far you’ve come. 

All of this is to say, I placed two new vocal tracks.  I might not yet be a good enough singer for The Voice, but I’m good enough for The Young & The Restless, and for now at least, I’m happy with that!

I’m working on creating new podcasts, videos, etc…  I’m excited to see where our musical journey will take us in 2019!

In the meantime, check out the two tracks I placed recently.

This track, Headed Home, was used recently in one episode.

This track, Nobody Knows Us, was used in four episodes.