"HOW do you sing... like THAT?" I've been asked a few times.
I know they were asking more about the quality of freedom in my voice - rather than technical perfection.
Many of my favorite singers have "imperfect" or unusual qualities to their soulful voices: Nina Simone, Bjork, Tom Waits, Diamonda Galas, among others. What makes them so compelling? They have a certain creative freedom and brazen expression in their sound. They transmit the essence of a meaning and mood.
So many people yearn to sing - I mean REALLY sing - filled with passion & free from self-consciousness, self-criticism, and fear.
I came from a background of austere musical discipline since the age of 6. I was trained to seek perfection, but so-called perfection never came. I was suffered from self-consciousness and self-criticism. I became stifled and creatively barren. As a young woman, I quit music altogether for a while as practicing music had become too heart-breaking.
Then, I discovered the bhakti yoga of song and music. I discovered the realm of sacred and devotional music of many different traditions.
Devotion ate up my self-consciousness. There was simply no more room for it. I was no longer plagued by perfectionism. Music became sweet again!
I was blessed with the esoteric yogic teaching of the 4 Levels of Speech, and my voice literally and figuratively came from a much deeper place within.
People kept asking... So I created Serenading the Divine, a shamanic vocal teaching.
I hope to share the elements that helped set my voice free... We can ALL sing - if we want to.
