Vocal Week – Day 2a

Well, the fact of the matter is this:

Both Erica and I are fighting vocal issues. Two weeks ago, I lost my voice entirely while on the trip with the High School choir. I actually cannot remember the last time I so completely lost my ability to sing. It was a little disconcerting, actually. Singing is something that’s come so naturally and easily to me all these years. It’s taken me these two weeks to get back to about 85%.

Erica, on the other hand, got bitten by some bug last week. Our kids both were fighting something, and lucky mommy, she got passed their hand me downs. We had a gig this past weekend at a large church in the area, and we were actually performing one of our songs (Hi Calvary folk, if you’re reading this!) She had to completely re-tool her entire take on the vocal due to the fact that she had to make it work in a breathier, less connected tone.

She totally made it work, but for the studio, it’s been hard. Yesterday, I did most of the singing, letting her rest, and both of us began a round of prescription cortisone in an attempt to calm the vocal inflammation that is at the root of any and all hoarseness. She can sing, for example all the BGVs (Background Vocals) on the print of Love Brought You Here were sung yesterday, but as for any heavy lifting, she’s not there yet.

So, the good news is that we’re just now 24 hours into the cortisone regiment, and that’s normally how long it takes for the effects to set in. I’m finishing a lead vocal on a song called The Tempest and we’re gonna try and get Erica crankin’ on a lead vocal starting in the afternoon.

She’s making steady progress back to her normal self. Every time she says something, I hear the connection returning. C’mon steroids!

If you’re a praying type, we’d appreciate it. We have this week set aside, and if we can’t sing… well, then we can’t work. We’re not against some sort of deadline, save the ones we put on ourselves, but still…

More later. We’ll post another tune tonight.