Summertime: The Career Of A True American Idol & A Capricorn Vocal Icon
By Brad Kronen

This American Idol possessed a vocal foundation which was crafted by talent, discipline, tenacity, and Capricorn elbow grease.

There are 3 words that separate the toddlers from the grown ups in the realm of the human voice: “The National Anthem”.

You can either sing it or you can’t.

You can either make entire crowds look upwards to the flag with teary eyed awe or have everyone looking down with tears in their eyes from the vocal train wreck that never should have been put in front of a microphone in the first place.

The National Anthem is one of my favorite tools to gauge how much experience a singer has, as well as if they are a vessel of voice in their own right or a conglomeration made by a corporate record company.

This is NOT a song to be performed, especially in front of others, regardless if you sing a mean karaoke, do a great Gospel rendition of it in the shower that sounds stellar every time, or if you feel like being spontaneous and announce to your friends you want to “see where it goes”.

The National Anthem leaves the singer vibrantly alive or barely breathing. You are completely naked vocally and are left utterly alone during its entire duration. If you begin to show signs of trouble, there is no one there to save you from vocally drowning. There may be throngs of people all around while singing this piece, but there is nothing anyone can do if in the middle of it, your voice simply can’t go on.

Nor can you have your manager go over it again in the recording studio and clean up the multitudes of pitch problems or total absence of high, but just as importantly and just as often, low notes.

The National Anthem transcends musical genres, style categorization and popular fads. It doesn’t matter what kind of music you do, its only requirement is a solid voice with an even more solid foundation of vocal technique. Continue reading →