A New Girl Singer in Town!

I really lucked out with my voice teacher, Jessica Marciel.
When I made the decision to move to Vegas, I realized that I needed to have some kind of plan, some way of focusing myself and my energies during my 6-month stint in Sin City. I made a list of goals for myself, and at the top of the list was: SING! It’s been a long time since I’ve thought of myself as a singer, and I have missed it dearly. At one point, singing came as naturally to me as breathing, but that is no longer the case. Even though I’ve spent a great deal of time training my voice as an actor, a disconnect grew between my singing and speaking voices. Yes, intellectually I understand that I’ve got one voice, but somehow I have managed to become a much stronger speaker and a much weaker singer. But I’m determined to sing! And so, while I was still in New York, I did some searching for a Vegas voice teacher. There were many options, and I didn’t really know how I could pick a teacher online, so I decided that I would contact a few and see if I could get a first appointment set up. Jessica responded to me immediately, seemed like a good match, and I decided to give her a shot. If we didn’t click after one lesson, I would look elsewhere. Well, I knew within a few minutes that I had found my teacher. I felt right at home with her, and she gave me confidence to believe that if I worked hard, I could get my voice back. Great!
What I never could have expected, or even hoped for, was that Jessica would do her best to try to get me known around town. At my lesson last Friday, she called her partner in her “big band” and said, “Hey, who do you use as a girl singer when I’m not available? Cause there’s a new girl singer in town that you need to meet. She’s pretty, mid-twenties (I didn’t feel a need to correct her on this) and very talented.” When she hung up the phone, she told me that they have a gig on October 5th and that I’m gonna sing a song with them. Wow! I was just excited for an introduction, but I get actual stage time!
Then on Monday night, Alex and I met Jessica at The Palms to see a band called Santa Fe and The Fat City Horns. The band is made up of guys who all play in the big shows around town (Jersey Boys, Phantom, Bette) and they come together every Monday night just to have fun. Jessica told me I had to come with her, not only because the band is amazing, but because I need to start networking (which is my biggest weakness in this business; I’m a total chicken-shit when it comes to meeting industry people). So we met her there after the end of the Jets-Chargers game (oh Brett Favre, how I love you, even with your high interception stat). Alex was excited to meet her, and right away they began debating politics (they both support Obama but have differing opinions on a number of topics). Then we went to The Lounge to get seats for the show, as it fills up early (there’s no cover charge, and lots of people are regulars). One by one, the band members began to show up from their gigs around town, and Jessica had me meeting all of them: “Hey, this is Meg, she’s a new singer in town and she’s really talented, you have to get to know her, she’s gonna be singing with my big band at Bugsy’s on the 5th, come check her out!” Most of these guys have known Jessica for years, and they were all so kind to me. “You just moved here? Welcome, it’s really great to meet you. How do you like it so far?” I’m so glad she was able to introduce me before the show, because I probably would have been too star-struck to speak to them afterwards. THESE GUYS ARE AMAZING MUSICIANS!! As the 6-piece horn section started blowing, I was blown away. Then the drums and percussion and keys and bass and guitar came in, then the singing layered on top…jaw-dropping goodness. Reminded me of a Maceo Parker show. Every person on that stage was a star in his own right, and together, they are unbelievable. Alex wasn’t sure he was gonna stick around, as the set began at 10:45 and he was exhausted from his long weekend at work. But once they got started, he was wide awake. He even pulled me up to dance! And dance we did, while the band rocked on. Over the course of the almost 2-hour set, they called a number of guests up onstage: members of Tower of Power; Earth, Wind & Fire; Spirogyra; and others. Seriously, an amazing show. And afterwards, the guys were mixing and mingling, and the ones I had met asked me how I liked the show, talked to me about needing to get a MySpace page set-up so I could network…
Between my audition experience Monday afternoon and my networking experience Monday night, I had a kick-ass day meeting some down-to-earth Vegas artists. For the first time since I arrived, I felt truly happy to be here. I don’t know where I’ll be going in this town, but all of a sudden, I am really excited about the journey. DIVA LAS VEGAS!!