Natural Born Singer

My passion for singing was there before I even knew that it would be my life. Watching my father sing and play guitar at the same time, seemed like watching a super hero as a kid. I thought that it was like magic. My Dad was among the first people to really encourage me to learn and play. At the age of 8 my interest was often into toy motorcycles and cap guns, but I was still amazed to see my Pops get down on the guitar. On the other hand my older brother Travis was wholeheartedly absorbed by the guitar and it became his life passion. My brother became the most powerful influence of all for me to learn music.

When I was 8 years old I remember that I had written my first song. I wanted to show my sister Leandra my new song because I was so excited! I was a little shy because this was the first time I ever sung an original song that I wrote. She thought it was cute! This was the first recognition that I was given for my musical ability. So, thanks for the encouragement Sis! It did make a difference. I remember my other Sister Rhianda made me a chocolate cake that year. Now when I think back to being a kid I remember singing and eating cake, which isn’t really a bad deal if you ask me. ;)

I guess being a young kid around music all the time really helps to create a vision that life is supposed to be that way. It honestly feels right to sing or play instruments. It sure beats working a sucky 9 to 5 Job (booo that’s a joke). I mean who wants to grow up and work all the time instead of having fun and enjoying what you do. This became the concrete foundation for my entire outlook on life. I knew from such a young age that I wanted to get paid to do what I love; and that is to sing. This would undoubtedly become a lifelong venture.

When I was 12 years old my brother had a giant box to open for christmas. I have to admit I was a little jealous… although there was no need to be, because inside the box was a gift that would be for both of us! His gift was an acoustic guitar!!! I was still a little drummer boy at this time, but soon our music career would really start to take roots and grow. Travis and I would practice music for 8 to 10 hours a day! EVERY SINGLE DAY… that’s how you get good. I know the formula and what kind of dedication it takes to succeed. I guess later in life all the distractions take away from the simplicity of staying focused on one thing, however as a young kids my brother and I both had it down.

We would spend several hours learning chords and scales. Often I would sing while he played guitar! We took a different approach than most people. We decided to write only originals instead of learning cover songs. I am sure this helped our creativity in a lot of ways, but eventually you have to branch out and learn from other artists material. It changes everything when you learn from people who are excellent at their craft.

I always chose to learn from the most elite artists and try to imagine how they felt when they recorded their song. I would take walks or skate around the neighborhood late at night when people were sleeping and sing along to my favorite artists. This was like my secret escape. There was not too many people who knew that I wanted to take singing seriously, but I knew that I was a natural born singer and I kept pushing myself to get better. I will be heard one day.