Bill Small’s Blog

Singing in the Studio Day 1

My first day of singing in the studio for the new record was rough. The human voice is such an interesting thing. There are times when I can sing anything. (or at least it feels that way) And then times when singing feels like peddling a beach cruiser up mount everest.

When I’ve coached singers I talk about things like drinking water and getting plenty of sleep, but I’m realizing that for me as I age, I need to keep the muscle active. Sometimes not singing for awhile can be a good rest, but let it go on too long and the muscle loses strength.

We had a short day that first day of singing. I got one song done, but totally ran out of gas on the next one. I couldn’t even get some of the notes out. I felt beat up afterwards.

Then I was off to a gig at Schriner College in Kerrville with Walt and Johnny. That’s always a good thing and I remember this particular show as being very fun when we did it last year. They do an open mic before and after the main set and as I heard the poetry and songs of the students that night I started to settle down a bit.

We played a good set. We hadn’t done the three acoustic guitars set in awhile, but it felt good. Walt asked me to sing something from the new record. You can imagine that after my less than satisfying studio experience that day I was apprehensive. But, hey it’s a gig. So I performed “Next Time”. John and Walt sang along beautifully and I was redeemed.

So, while I didn’t enjoy getting kind of stuck in the studio it did help me refocus. I’m a singer. All I need to do is act like one.

Hey I found the Schriner College performance on youtube. Here you go: