In this case, I’m talking about the AHR Expo 2012 coming up Monday through Wednesday for Taco, Inc. at McCormick Place. Now you might think that’s a strange place for an a cappella quartet to sing, but it’s a great time and a great gig. We get to interact with people all day, sing for them, talk to them and just be fun and a bit goofy and we get to stretch too. We re-lyric a song and we dress in themed costumes and work the booth. We meet and greet and talk with people and then we sing for them, which is usually a surprise to the people. And the most unexpected thing is, it’s really intimate. Every performance is new and different and in the moment. It can’t be any other way, in a cavernous convention hall. The point of focus is ever changing and it’s a fun challenge to keep that focus.

What will we be dressed like this year, you ask? Well, I’ll try and get some pictures and maybe a tweet or two while at the convention. and if I don’t get any while at the convention, I’ll post some after the convention.

Better yet, if you find yourself at the convention, come and take a picture with us, we’ll be at  Taco, Inc. booth, booth 5400 and hard to miss.

Here’s a video of what last year’s Expo was like. And this year promises to be just as fun.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Oh, one last thing.  I don’t really have an Aunt Addy and I don’t know anyone who has, so I’ve never sung in her drawing room. Just wanted to let you know.

Pros and Con(vention)s originally appeared on 4-AM on 20 January 2012.

Pros and Con(vention)s originally appeared on With A Voice Like This on 20 January 2012. Tweet This

I don’t think I’ll take the entire month of January off, but It will at least be the next couple of weeks before the show is back. I hope to do some writing for this site and the others for which I write.  (That’s right, I said “for which”, I can write goodly, you know.)

I’ll let you know when the show’s coming back, it may be a quick “Hey you! The show’s back in 15 minutes” or it could be more. Hopefully more than that, but I’ve lived with me a long time now, I know how I am.

Talk to you in a couple of weeks or so, until then, “Bye for now.”

On Haitus originally appeared on With A Voice Like This on 3 January 2012. Tweet This

This is not the Medical Doctor you're looking for.

I am NOT a Medical Doctor.

Who I am is a professional singer with a Masters Degree in Vocal Pedagogy (Teaching Voice) and over 25 years of professional performance experience.

Having said that, I’m currently in my busiest time of year as a singer. Which means that I’m pushing myself as hard as possible. And that means I’m concentrating on taking care of myself and my voice to make sure that I perform to the best of my ability.

That includes a lot of things that I have learned over the years through training and experience that I can pass on as tips to you. So I’m starting this series – Keeping Vocally Fit.  I’ll try to keep them short and I can’t guarantee a set schedule for posting them, but they’ll be here.

These tips aren’t meant to take the place of advice from a Medical Professional, if you need to see a medical doctor, see one!

 Photo Credit: The Local Tourist

Keeping Vocally Fit – preface originally appeared on With A Voice Like This on 6 December 2011. Tweet This

And we love that. We love the time of year and we love the music too.

That doesn’t mean we stop making music. Far from it. We understand that there are many events and parties that aren’t holiday related. You know we’re there for those whenever and wherever they may be. And we’ll even do a holiday song or two when they’re wanted/requested by popular demand.

It just means that in December you’re less likely to see something like this in your Twitter stream:

From Eric Clapton to Queen - love @jimntim!

August 21, 2011 12:51 pm via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite

@theresalc

Theresa L Carter

Just keep watching, these will start popping up again very soon and we’ll be having a great time doing what we do best. Singing for you.

Happy Holidays from Jim & Tim.

 Photo Credit: mikecogh

Why don’t we see Jim & Tim this holiday? originally appeared on Jim & Tim on December 1, 2011.

Why don’t we see Jim & Tim this holiday? originally appeared on With A Voice Like This on 1 December 2011. Tweet This

For the Holiday season, 4-AM returns to our roots with The Merry Maskers Carolers singing holiday carols and having a great time getting into the spirit.

Well, last Saturday, November 12th,  at Woodfield Mall was the earliest I’ve ever caroled. But it was all a part of the 12 Days of Arthur Christmas, a new holiday film from Sony Pictures and we were caroling and having pictures taken with anyone who asked. There were Arthur Christmas activity books for the first 100 kids to visit Santa in the Ice Palace, a speed wrapping contest and prize wheel in the Grand Court of the mall. Oh, I almost forgot the cookie decorating there as well. I think they may have been tipped off ahead of time, because I didn’t get to decorate any cookies…Which is probably better for everyone all around, now that I think about it.

It was a great time. There were lots of smiles and wide eyed kids, replete with cookie frosting all over their faces, pictures taken, flying wrapping paper and people singing along. I guess it’s never too early for Christmas.

But here’s a not so secret ‘Secret’.

If you go to the 12 Days of Arthur Christmas Calendar and choose Chicago, IL from the drop down list and you look at the 11th Day of Arthur Christmas, you’ll see this:

O COME ALL YE CAROLERS
Trump International Hotel and Tower Chicago | River Walk
401 N. Wabash Ave. | Chicago, IL 60611 | 2:00PM-4:00PM
Spot the ARTHUR CHRISTMAS Carolers for your chance to learn a Christmas carol and receive a prize

…And I bet that if you look hard enough and long enough on the internet (are you done looking yet?), you just might be able to find a picture of the Carolers you’ll be looking for Tuesday.

Happy Holidays and Good Hunting from 4-AM!

Is it too early for Christmas? originally appeared on 4-AM on 15 November 2011.

Is it too early for Christmas? originally appeared on With A Voice Like This on 15 November 2011. Tweet This

Some call this “Lifestreaming”. I would agree, except it’s only my musical life I’m streaming here, plus it doesn’t include Facebook updates and only one of the Twitter feeds that I use.  At any rate, I’m a bit more streamlined now and that’s definitely a good thing for me. I hope you enjoy it as well.

I also added a plugin to all my sites that gives proper attribution to the feed, so I don’t hurt my SEO rankings. Always trying to stay one step ahead.

Let me know what you think.

Photo Credit: Kelp

I went and did it this time originally appeared on With A Voice Like This on 21 October 2011. Tweet This

Last night’s gig was a simple one. We were to perform at a cocktails and appetizers portion of the evening for the guests. Here’s a twist. We’re going to be singing waiters. Once again, nothing to out of the ordinary for us. So we’re told to wear black pants and a white shirt, we’ll be given the rest of the outfit when we get there.

Check. Our spin on it is that at some point during the evening, Flora will trip and drop her tray and I’ll say “Be careful. It’s so easy to fall. Be careful.” and then we’ll launch into the Linda Ronstadt song “It’s so Easy” and after that, we’ll do the gig and be done.

I head down to the gig and once I’m there, I’m given a matador jacket and a black bow tie (see picture). We’re all there and discussing how things are going to go when another curve comes our way. We’re going to actually serve  appetizers to the guests before we sing. That’s not standard on a singing gig and that’s when I find out I’m the only one of us with serving experience (I had been a singing server at a restaurant called Knickers years earlier and spent a summer at a conference grounds where I was a performer/server).

No big problem. Yes, it’s a skill, but we should all be able to handle it and come out relatively unscathed. And the appetizers are fairly easy to remember. We’ll be serving bacon wrapped scallops, mushroom tarts and shrimp cocktail. Good. Everything is going along fine, until I look over at the other staff and notice…They’re wearing gloves. I hesitate to ask, but I go ahead and say…

“Should we be wearing gloves?”

“Oh yes” comes the reply. “Let me get those for you.”

Everyone looks at me with a pleading “Why did you ask that?” look in their eyes. I don’t blame them. I’ve carried huge trays in my serving days and done it all on fingertip, but not with gloves…Or silver trays…With appetizers…And the other hand filled with a plate with napkins. The level of difficulty just went from a 4.0 to a 6.6.

We get our gloves and we get our appetizers (I got the shrimp cocktail, it was the heaviest and I was okay with that) and off we go.

We get out into the crowd and I’m feeling all right about the job I’m doing when I hear a thump behind me and think to myself “Is it time already?” And turn around. Nope, a small table had been knocked over and that’s when I see that the rest of the staff is out, but with no appetizers. They’re shadowing us to make sure everything goes smoothly and nothing major happens (other than what’s planned, of course).

We serve a few appetizers, then gather in the middle of  big group of guests and Flora does her faux trip and drops an empty tray and I rush over with my appetizers still in hand and deliver my line. But before I could finish, I could hear people whispering things like “What’s going on?” and other things because the service here is obviously impeccable and this would be really out of the ordinary. So by the time I’ve finished the setup phrase, we’ve got the attention of everyone around us and when we break into the song, people started laughing and smiling.

And that’s the way it went for the rest of the gig. The guests loved us and what we were doing and didn’t hesitate to let us know. What a great gig and a great time. But one of the best lines of the night came from one of the members of 4-AM (I don’t remember who it was), but they said in passing “Good thing we were supposed to be bumbling, that really worked for us”.

It’s so easy to fall originally appeared on 4-AM on 12 October 2011.

It’s so easy to fall originally appeared on With A Voice Like This on 12 October 2011. Tweet This

Here’s a short little ditty tonight about an article from Music Think Tank titled Musician’s Arsenal: Killer Apps, Tools & Sites - Visibli. If you’re not reading this blog, you should be.

I talk about this past Sunday and Jim & Tim playing at Elburn Days and its effect.

4-AM will be at the Buffalo Grove Days again this year.

Listen above or download by right clicking and saving.

172 – Visibli and Elburn Days originally appeared on With A Voice Like This on 23 August 2011. Tweet This

Jim & Tim at Elburn Days 2010

Hey, it’s this coming Sunday and if you’re not busy…

We had our rehearsal and a couple of weeks ago we determined the songs we were going to use for the day. Elburn Days is always a fun gig for us, we’ve been playing a for a few years now. It’s the site of the infamous seven and a half hour gig  a few years back and it’s been a favorite of mine ever since then.

I don’t think that we’ll be playing that long this year (you never can be sure, can you?), but we’ve got our set list all ready. Come out and join us, it’s a great place and it supports the Elburn Lions Club. A worthy cause and a great group of people.

Even if you’re thinking about coming out, do, you’ll have a great time and I just don’t think…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoMgRnygok8

Photo and Video Credit: Theresa Carter

Hey, what are you doing the 21st? originally appeared on Jim & Tim on August 18, 2011.

Hey, what are you doing the 21st? originally appeared on With A Voice Like This on 18 August 2011. Tweet This

We are also featured in an article titled Professional Quartet at Benefit for TownSquare Players online that talks about the benefit and our role in it.

You can check our calendar for all the details and if you’re free August 5th or 6th, come out and enjoy a night of songs from Musicals including 4-AM. We hope to see you there!

A kind word and a good cause originally appeared on 4-AM on 26 July 2011.

A kind word and a good cause originally appeared on With A Voice Like This on 26 July 2011. Tweet This

Literally. It was one of those weird, “I remember it well” dream moments. It was the song You’ll Think of Me by Keith Urban. The song starts “I woke up early this morning around four am, with the moon shining bright as headlights on the…” and that’s when I woke up singing the end of the phrase, the word

“…interstate”.

Okay, no more sleep for me. The first thing I do is check the clock, yep, it’s 4AM. And at that time of day, everything is full of subtext. Here’s my subtext from all of that:

• You’ll think of Me is a song that Jim & Tim does. I don’t sing lead on it, but its in both of our ranges, so either one of us can do  it (and have).
• Okay, not only does the song talk about waking up at 4 AM and I did exactly that, but I’m also a part of the group called 4-AM, which is short for 4 A cappella Musicians.
• 4-AM does a Keith Urban song But For the Grace Of God and I do sing lead on that one. I arranged it for the group.
• I woke up singing the end of the phrase I was dreaming about! How wild is that?

Now, here’s my takeaway. I’m going crazy…wait, I already knew that, so scratch that explanation.

It seems natural that I would dream about a song that I sing with one of the groups, so I guess that isn’t so surprising. It’s more that the song has ties to both of the groups I’m in and that it ties them together so well. Maybe the subconscious mind is paying attention, eh?  At any rate, more than anything else, it says to me I want to, maybe even need to sing more. I’m just not singing enough so that I end up waking up singing. And while that makes sense, it comes down to a question. How do I make that happen? Saying I want to sing more with Jim & Tim and 4-AM is the easy part, making it happen is something completely different.  And something I’m working on right now and trying things new and old.

I also think it’s something that’s going to happen as well. I think that’s what my subconscious is trying to tell me too. Stay tuned to see if my subconscious is right, I know I will.

One last thing. I’m half glad, half sorry that I don’t have a video of that. I know I’ll be hearing about for awhile as other people hear the story. Hey, if you’re going to hear voices in your head, they might as well be singing, right?

Photo Credit: cliff1066

I woke up singing originally appeared on With A Voice Like This on 20 July 2011. Tweet This

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoMgRnygok8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCJWpKD97-s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95d5vpanVYk

Just playing around originally appeared on Jim & Tim on July 4, 2011.

Just playing around originally appeared on With A Voice Like This on 4 July 2011. Tweet This

Now for that open door. I also just found out that Jim & Tim will be playing at Elburn Days this year. It’s at Lions Park in Elburn on August 21 and it’s one of my favorite gigs because of its history. We’ll have some fun and probably even play some songs you haven’t heard us play before. In the meantime, we’ll be looking to set up some more gigs in the area so you have a chance to hear us play. Because that’s what we love to do.

Photo by Steve Snodgrass

One door… originally appeared on Jim & Tim on June 25, 2011.

One door… originally appeared on With A Voice Like This on 25 June 2011. Tweet This

But wait, how can that be? Jim, are you some sort of Svengali that can transport himself through space and time in the blink of an eye? Hmmm, can you…Can you?!

While I’d like to say yes, the answer is no, I’m not. I have to get back the old fashioned way in this case, by driving. So you might ask yourself  ”How are Jim and Tim going to perform Friday night, if Jim’s halfway across the country?”. Well, it’s simple, really and it happens a lot in the music world. The role of Jim will be played by someone else Friday night. Ken Overbey will be filling in for me and I’m glad he is.

So please, make sure to go out and See Jim (Ken) & Tim at the Beacon Tap in the Beer Garden. And come up and say hi to me when you get there.

Who is that mysterious Jim? originally appeared on Jim & Tim on June 17, 2011.

Who is that mysterious Jim? originally appeared on With A Voice Like This on 17 June 2011. Tweet This

Welcome originally appeared on 4-AM on 10 May 2011.

Welcome originally appeared on With A Voice Like This on 10 May 2011. Tweet This

This show is a flight of fancy, based on a few things. First the article Obama Officially Backs Performance Radio Royalties… on Digital Music News, The White House White Paper on which the article is based, two podcast episodes 096 – Performance Rights Act part 1 and 097 – Performance Rights Act part 2 and my Op-Ed piece Performance Rights Act – my two cents on HR 848. I tell you, it was fun to talk about what I’d like to see happen, whether it does or not didn’t matter. It was fun to talk about.

At least most of it was. This show is a whimsical prelude to a more nuts and bolts look at the White House IP White Paper. I hope to bring that to you soon. Enjoy this show while you can and tell me what you’d like to see happen if/when these suggestions/directions are followed.

Show time [00:25:23]

Listen above or download by right clicking and saving.

159 – Dream a little IP with me originally appeared on With A Voice Like This on 25 March 2011. Tweet This

The news of Illinois considering news laws to loosen the smoking laws left me with a few words. Based on the article Bills to loosen smoking restrictions to be considered by Illinois House, I do more than just a bit of talking. I also incorrectly read a quote from the article itself when I made mention of “However, he said casinos in Indiana, Illinois and Missouri…” . I said Illinois, and the article read Iowa. Ah well, I didn’t notice until after the fact.

Hey, enjoy listening.

Show length [00:20:38]

Listen above or download by right clicking and saving.

158 – Smoke gets in your eyes and ears…And throat originally appeared on With A Voice Like This on 22 March 2011. Tweet This

I was reading the Techdirt article ‘Derivative Artwork Inspiring Derivative Artwork — But Will The Lawyers Ruin It?‘ About the work of Girl Talk and the surrounding copyright issues of mashups and their use of sampled music. Funny thing is, I didn’t find the article itself that compelling, but the analogy used comparing mashups made of sampled music and incorporating dance techniques just seemed to be on the mark. So I tried to come up with a more fitting analogy and I think I succeeded! Oh, and as a side note, I changed my mind on some of my positions on Sampled music, mashups and copyrights. I also gave my rebuttal of an opinion in the comment section of the Techdirt article.

Here’s the quick poll that a said I’d put in the post. Let me know what you think.

[00:21:01]

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157 – When is a song like a collage originally appeared on With A Voice Like This on 13 March 2011. Tweet This

Dear DeVar Creative:

We do not, unfortunately, have all of your names, but addressing you as the DeVars is no less the compliment.

Your show was simply smashing – creative in every way: choice of material, the presentation of it, and such excellent voices, all delivered so professionally with such rousing keyboard accompaniment.

We can truly say, with much pleasure and many thanks, your performance Saturday night was the best entertainment yet that we have had for our annual “A Night at the Opera House”.

Sincerely,
S. D. Anderson
For the Board of Directors
FRIENDS OF THE OPERA HOUSE

All I can really add to this is that we had a great time performing the show and the audience was very gracious. We were happy to do the show for everyone who came. And it feels really good to get a letter like this.

A smashing review originally appeared on 4-AM on 30 October 2010.

A smashing review originally appeared on With A Voice Like This on 30 October 2010. Tweet This

This episode is a tribute  to a friend and great musician who passed away recently, Mark Brink. David Kav and I talk about Mark and his impact on everyone around him and how we got to know him as a musician and a person.  I also play a couple of his songs (recorded live) at Uncommon Ground here in Chicago and a short excerpt from an arrangement of Mark’s. I’ll let you listen, rather than try to recap here.  Here are the links to things discussed in the tribute:

• Mark Brink’s Reverbnation page
• Mark Brink’s MySpace page
• David Kav’s written tribute

And last, as I promised in the show, here are the lyrics to the last song played on the show:

The Saddest Song That I Never Wrote (vocals by Crystal BowerSox)

The saddest song that I never wrote
I thought I’d write about you
But I didn’t need to find
the perfect rhyme or reason
for things that came true

So the Saddest Song That I Never Wrote
had no beginning,
but happily ends
For we both understood
what we loved and was good 
was the Loyalty
of True Friends

Words and Music ©2008 Mark Brink

Mark, you will be missed

[00:30:47]

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144 – A Tribute to Mark Brink originally appeared on With A Voice Like This on 31 August 2010. Tweet This