Quick story...cool news!

Okay...so I have to share my funny and very cool story for today. I'm at my students' house today teaching them. They have a band and they're quite good. They were picked up by a producer by the name of Cris Judd. (Jennifer Lopez's ex hubby that was a backup dancer to her. Yes, as in THE JLo.) Cris and his partner Darren are the two producers that have been working on my kids' album. (Cris is, if I understand correctly, choreographing for Bette Midler here on the Strip?) They sound great because of Darren. Darren is a musical genius that can take a pretty good song and make it totally marketable AND artistic. He's brilliant. Darren's wife Rosalie is a fabulous singer. She is Phillipino and has the coolest funk rock sound. My students have been going on and on about her demo cd and I was hoping to hear it someday. She sings backup on my students' album. I've heard so much about her and was excited to find out that she and Darren were both coming over while I was teaching the kids today.

Rewind...the first time I met Darren the first thing he said to me was NOT "Hi, I'm Darren, nice to meet you." It was "Are you the vocal coach? Can I have a word with you in the other room?" And he then asked me 500 questions about why the lead vocalist has so many issues. I think I adequately convinced him it was because the cute kid would NOT listen to me and do what I've been trying to get him to do forever. We spoke the same language though, and his worries about me as a teacher were calmed pretty quickly I hoped. I hoped he realized it was NOT me. He even sat through me teaching my student a lesson. I never saw him again after that, but since I was still teaching the boys I assumed he liked me enough to not fire me. LOL.

SOOOO....apparently he sat my student down and told him to listen to me, and he HAS BEEN! It's been a miracle. The kid has totally blossomed in just two months. He can rock out now and FINALLY listens to me. HALLELUJAH! His album sounds great. There is still TONS and TONS of room for improvement, but at least he's listening to me now!!!!

Okay...so back to today...Darren and his wife Rosalie come over. It was my first time meeting Rosalie. They are totally cool and laid back and easy to be around. Not pretentious or anything like that. But of course I'm still nervous, just 'cause. I'm silly. I told her I'd love to hear her demo, since I really like her stuff on my kids' cd. I'm nervous he's going to say something else about my student to me by the end of the lesson. And sure enough, as we're all leaving, he asks if he can walk me out. So I'm gearing up to talk all about my student with him...etc...when they ask me to get in their car...they want to show me something. Okay.... so I do. They wanted to show me Rosalie's demo. Okay...naturally...I did just say I'd love to hear it. So he plays about six tracks from it...HOLY CRAP she's amazing and her music is SO COOL! It's like funky rock...better than No Doubt/Gwen Stefani/Fergie, etc. I immediately wanted to buy the cd so I could dance to it. I LOVED Darren's music and her voice. They make a great pair. So I started talking to her about her voice. (I was amazed I was brave enough to do so) We're on the same page. Suddenly Darren turns to me and says "How much do you charge for voice lessons? Wanna teach Rosalie once a week?" HUH!?!??! My jaw dropped and of course it didn't show. I totally played cool and was like "sure...that would be fun." HELLO!?!? These guys know tons of people...you'd think they'd know a ton of voice teachers. But apparently he really likes me?!?!? And I'm cheap, compared to top name guys.

So...I'm going to teach her at Cris Judd's recording studio downtown on the Strip so they can record the lessons for her. And Darren SAID he'd recommend me to his other clients...we'll see if he follows through on that. But still, just the fact the whole thing came up took me by surprise. It was very cool. The cooler thing is that I TOTALLY have confidence in myself as a voice teacher. I know I can help her. I've had every bad habit in the book myself and now how to fix them. (Mostly...still a work in progress.) But at least I know HOW. I'm really excited to get to work with such a great voice. And she's really cool. She really has a future ahead of her too...her demo is sooo great. I can't wait to get a copy. So I've been really excited all day. I hope it all works out.

Oh ya...AND to top off an already great day I just got asked to join the board at Signature Productions! They are a theater company here in Vegas that does musicals and straight plays...I've done "Into the Woods" with them, and hopefully will get to be able to do "Beauty and the Beast" with them again in the fall. I have a lot of friends on the board, with Sandra and Steve being the main ones. I love them! So it'll be a BLAST to get to work with them and the other members. I'm excited to be a part of the board. Fun adventures ahead! :D

Wanted to share my fun story for the day. :) I'm sure hardly anyone will read it, 'cause people usually just go to blogs for picts, but if you did. Cool! :)