AHQ’s last two albums are available for mp3 download at a great new site called Gladsongs.com.
They started a Youtube channel and asked about some promo material from us, so I gave them a video from several years ago when we sang at the Inspirations’ Singing in the Smokies.
My buddy Pete’s solo album (which I recorded) is also available there.
This got me thinking about days gone by when I used to was a singer. There is one rule you soon learn as a singer, and that is: “It’s always hot on stage.” Always. My future sister-in-law’s brother got married last Saturday, and my brother-in-law (her fiance) said how ferociously hot it was standing up front. I could have told him that from my seat way in the back.
It’s always smoking hot up front. A singer just has to get used to it. The only time I remember being cold when we sang (and there’s a chance I’m forgetting another time or two), was once at a graveside service in the winter. That’s wasn’t hot, that was freezing, and it was very hard to sing! Of course that wasn’t up on a stage either.
So over the years of traveling and singing, I did get used to it to a certain degree. That didn’t keep me from complaining, of course, but I got to where I could handle it pretty well. As an aside, we sang at a small church in Virginia one time and for the first few songs of the night I could hardly believe it. It was cool and wondrously comfortable on stage! Then I saw the guy go back to the thermostat, and that was the end of that. I talked to him later and he said he was getting complaints about it being so cold. Figures.
Anyway, so at the Singing in the Smokies ’04 (from which the above video was taken), this should have been no big deal, right? Oh my goodness, not a chance. Now this is an outdoor event, and it was so hot that day I couldn’t believe it. Of course we were buttoned up to our earlobes in our singin’ suits, and it was just about more than I could take.
Then we took the stage, and it was ten degrees hotter up there! The stage was lined with bright lights, they may have been heat lamps I’m pretty sure, and I don’t know when I’ve experienced such heat.
So just remember, if you ever become a singer, you have to deal with the heat onstage.
3 Responses
September 4th, 2008 at 6:04 am
Hey… you don’t know me from Adam, but our wives are familiar with each other. I’m married to Kris Shirk from the Goshen area. The reason I’m commenting here, is I work for a radio station in the Springfield Ohio area and we just started a Southern Gospel station on our HD2 Channel. If you get the chance, and you obviously have interest in the genre, could you give it a listen and let me know what you think? You can link to it here.
http://www.weec.org/radio/weec-hd2.wvx
I thought about just sending an email, but figured some of your readers might be interested as well. Sorry if this could be considered shameless self promotion, but I am genuinely interested in your opinion.
September 4th, 2008 at 10:06 am
“I did get used to it to a certain degree.”
And what degree would that be?
September 7th, 2008 at 12:23 am
Amen to that, senor. I think they were heat lamps, too.