Jeff turns on his wayback machine
When I was a teenager, I didn't have a terribly good voice. Oh, I carried a tune well enough to earn the praise of Rabbis at my Bar Mitzvah and performing a few blessings at the ark afterwards, but I think a Rabbi is just happy when their students aren't off-key.
As I reached my late-teens though, things started to change. I was more than able to carry a tune... in fact, during grad year I was part of a cover band (Peer Pressure) during the Winter Carnival, and won the lead role in the school musical that year.
When I went to CEGEP (the name in Quebec for a college)I began my stint as a busker - a street musician. With my partner Sam on guitar, me playing the oh-so complex instrument the tambourine, we sang to the masses, with me singing the harmonies. My throat is still sore from singing the Art Garfunkel harmony to Sounds of Silence so often...
Thing is, I still hadn't really hit a mature stride to my voice. I hit the high harmonies well, but my throat was still straining to hit it. It wasn't until after university in 1990 that my voice really grew.
My singing pinacle came in 1995, singing in a Gospel choir for an Adult Education program. I was part of the tenor section; actually, I ended up being the tenor section as no one else really made the effort to sing for it.
At our last rehearsal, I was the only member of the tenors who showed up. After a run-through, the musical director joked that he couldn't hear the tenors... he'd been asking me to sing a bit lower for awhile to not overpower the section; I told him that for this I'd have no more holding back. Result: someone sitting in the balcony of our practice hall could hear me over the entire group!
I was entrusted with one of the solo parts for one of the songs. At first, I was very nervous; one thing I still lacked was soul. I spent ages listening to singers like Steve Windwood and Sam and Dave until I had it, and sure enough, come performance time, I did. I really kicked the jams out for the show.
I don't have that singing voice anymore. MS stole my breath strength over time. Still, the way I look at things, I had my chance to shine in the spotlight, so I don't really complain. Still, it doesn't stop me from critiquing other singers, like the guys in Making the Band!
