Spring in my Step

Happy Birthday to La Mama!

Last month I went to Dayton, Ohio to celebrate my Mom’s 97^th birthday. She’s a contrarian curmudgeon, full of energy and she drove me nuts as always. Whenever I start to get impatient with her, I remember her courage in leaving the only home she knew, a poor farm community in Louisiana, and taking me on a long bus ride to Detroit so that she could find work and make a better future for me.

If she hadn’t have been so stubborn and so brave, my whole life would have been very different. So here’s a shout-out to my one-and-only, crazy, difficult, courageous and irreplaceable Mom!

Stages: Stories & Song

I’ve just completed the script for my 90-minute, one man show, “Stages: Stories & Song.” Using spoken word, song and dance, it traces my life’s journey from being a barefoot boy in the Pineywoods of North Louisiana to my career as a concert, musical theater, and opera singer and beyond. It’s very much a work in progress, but it’s coming together nicely and I’m excited!

Where I’ll See You This Summer

This summer I have a busy schedule:

July 10-16, I teach Voice and Vocal Health at Summer Acoustic Music Week (SAMW)  on the banks of beautiful Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. This year’s line-up is amazing and I look forward to meeting up with old friends and hearing amazing music by the likes of Sparky and Rhonda Rucker and Kate Campbell.

July 30^th  – August 6: Legacy International’s Global Youth Village in Bedford, VA

August 7-13 – I teach Finding Your Voice at Vocal Week at the Augusta Heritage Center, Davis & Elkins, WV

August 15-16 – Workshop with the Pittsburgh Threshold Choir

August 19-31 ― I Return to Ohio to visit “La Mama” and other relatives. While there I’ll be doing repeat Workshops with The World House Choir,  students at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, and with men and women in correctional institutions in Southwest Ohio.