My Vocal Journey: The Evolution of Noisy Neighbors

WARNING: THIS ONE IS A LITTLE LONG.

Bill and I met at a karaoke show I was hosting. He was looking for a singer to play acoustic with. We talked about songs we like and we set up a day for me to come over and jam. Our first day, we learned about 15 songs. Our first open mic was at Rick's Music Cafe. Rick loved us so much, he booked us to play for a night. The acoustic duo, Brewtal Honesty.

About 3 years later, we got a call from a guy that wanted to put a band together. So we decided to give it a try. The band, No Harm Done, lasted about 3 months and we played one gig. Bill and I continued to play acoustic for a little while after that but it all sort of slowed down when his son was born.

After a while, I started looking for other things to do. I saw an ad looking for a singer, so I responded. I went for my audition and was told I was in. This band would become Last Call. We played a couple of gigs at a bowling alley the drummer owned. The band broke up due to families and work obligations.

The rhythm guitar player from Last Call, Steve, and I became good friends. We decided that we wanted to form our own band. I called Bill and brought him in also. This was the beginning of what came to be Noisy Neighbors. We also went through 1694698435 lineup changes early on. Some of them were so brief, I don't remember all their names. The people that I consider the founding members are: Bill, Craig, Don, Steve and myself. These are the people that played the first big gig at Club Soda in June, 2008.

Our musical style at the time was spanning over the decades beginning in the 50's and up through the current music. We were a pretty solid band. Bill was a great guitar player and Craig had killer harmonies. It was good and I was happy to have something that was my own. Theeennnn...we started having issues. First, Steve decided that it was too much of commitment. Then, Don was playing with another band and trying to split his time. We were having to use a fill-in drummer for him (Todd). We finally decided that Don needed to be let go and Todd joined our band. Less than a month after joining, Todd decided to go back to his old band. Enter Garrett. After about two months, Todd came back to us.

Things were going well for us. We were gaining more attention. We were playing pretty regularly. However, Craig got a job in Columbus and started commuting every weekend to our gigs. It was difficult on him. Plus, it was hard to learn new songs. Craig decided it was time for him to quit the band. We were sad to lose the great harmonies he was able to provide, but we moved on. We auditioned a few guys and we ended up with Bert. Bert was chosen because his personality really seemed to fit with ours.

A few months go by and Bill decides his time is up. We panic...more specifically I panic. Bill has been with me since the beginning. How can I continue without Bill? We started looking for a replacement. We decided on Doug. Doug has played with Bert for years. More importantly, he fits in with us. He shares the same vision of what we should be. Maybe I can continue, maybe it won't be so bad without Bill.

We now arrive at the current lineup of Noisy Neighbors. With the latest lineup, came a change in musical style. Our style now is current pop music with a rock edge. We like our pop a little less bubble gum and little more metal. It's dirty. It's fun. It's in your face.

I love what we are doing now. I feel that it is exactly what I always wanted. We are doing what we do and we are doing it well. People are taking notice. It's nice to see people you don't know recommending you as a band to see. It's nice to get recognized in public as the singer for Noisy Neighbors. It's nice to be told how much "you rock." It's also nice to hear about how awesome my drummer is and how much fun they think my two guitar guys are. I love these guys like they are my brothers. I look out for them and they look out for me. Our spouses even all hang out and get along. This is the way it was supposed to be and I couldn't be happier that my vocal journey led me here. I can't wait to see where it takes us next!

My Vocal Journey: Karaoke

The first time I ever sang karaoke was my senior year After Prom Party. I sang "One Moment in Time" by Whitney Houston. I loved it. When I was 21, I started going to a local bar for karaoke every Tuesday. My husband at the time would play pool and I would sing. I usually picked the big ballad-type songs. Some of the songs I was known for early on were, "Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion and "Broken Wing" by Martina McBride. People liked to hear me sing. People would request songs here and there. I sang "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan one night so I could have a recording of it for my Granny.

Side story: My Granny loved to hear me sing. She was my biggest fan. Every year for her birthday and Christmas, she didn't want me to buy a gift. She wanted me to give her a tape of me singing. I'd always ask her what songs she wanted to hear. "Angel" was one of the songs.

Back to our regularly scheduled program:
So, I'm singing "Angel" and when I finish a lady walks up to me and compliments me. She then asks me if I would be willing to sing it at her father's funeral. He had just passed that day. I was floored. I had never been asked to sing a funeral. I really hadn't been to many funerals either. How was that supposed to work?!? I told her I would do it. She gave me the details. She offered to pay me. I told her she didn't need to. I went to the funeral and sang my one song. She thanked me profusely, hugged me several times and insisted I take $100. I remember how weird it felt to take her money. But at the same time I was really excited. I JUST GOT PAID TO SING!

When I said that I went every Tuesday to karaoke. I meant EVERY TUESDAY! The only times I missed were the week before and after my daughter was born...that's it! Up until now, I had sang everything in a pretty choir-type voice. That's what I had always known, so that's what I did. After a few years, I realized that they didn't really sound like that on the radio, so I wanted to change it. It all started with one song, "Sin Wagon." There was a gal that was a regular at karaoke. She sang this song one night and I fell in love with it. It's by the Dixie Chicks. I had the CD for months already but never really gave it a good listen. One day, I sat down in my living room and I was determined to learn it and sing it right. And I did. This was when I found "my" voice. Gritty, dirty and powerful.

"Sin Wagon" became MY song. People would ask me to do it every week. Even people that don't like country music! After finding my voice, I had a brand new confidence! I could tackle almost anything now.
I started entering karaoke contests. Some I won, some I placed top three. The majority of contests were popularity based. So while, I may not have won the contest, I no doubt had their attention.

Tune back in for the final installment of My Vocal Journey: The Evolution of Noisy Neighbors!

My Vocal Journey: The Formative Years

I started choir in 7th grade. Ms. McGee was my teacher. She always commented on my perfect posture in class. I was regarded as one of the better singers here too. She would make us hold out notes and tell us they needed to sound "rich, like a hot fudge sundae." It's something I think about when I'm singing still to this day. I continued in choir in 8th grade with Mr. Carr. I was allowed a few solo lines in songs.

My freshman year of high school, I was in Women's Chorus with Mrs. Mackey. Who would become known as Ma Mackey as I went on to Concert Choir, Honors Choir and Rebelaires (the show choir). I spent at least two hours a day in her class. Add to that evening performances for Rebelaires and then also the musicals that she directed. She was my second mother. I was frequently chosen for solos. I also sang the National Anthem for several basketball games and sang at a few pep rallies too. This is where I really started to stand out from the others. I wasn't popular by any means, but people knew me because I could sing. 

I contemplated going into music for a career. I had always hoped that I would be singing along to the muzak in a store and some big name record exec would sign me right then. Of course, that didn't happen. 

Stay tuned for the next blog where I talk about my karaoke days and where that lead. 

My Vocal Journey: The Beginning

For as long as I can remember, music has been one of the most important things in my life. Even before I can remember, my parents tell me that I loved music. I was a big fan of Blondie, Pat Benatar and the song "My Sharona."

My mom said she used to sing in choir contests. My Granny wrote bluegrass songs for Bob White and the Candy Mountain Boys.

My dad always played a little guitar and keyboard. My Grandpa was a well recognized Basso Sexto player in Tejano music. When Papa died, my aunt told us the story of when Papa had to dress up like a cowboy. He had some people show up at his door and and ask him if he could play with them for a show. The act was Hank Williams. Papa dressed like a cowboy and played the show.

I don't know when I started singing. I only know when I realized I was good at it. When I was about 6 years old, my babysitter was bored and told me to sing a song to her. I sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." She lit up. She told me it was really good. Then we ran down the street to her house so I could sing for her mom. When I was done singing, she gave me $0.75. It was that moment that I realized I could sing and it's what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

I was always singing around the house. My sisters didn't seem to appreciate it much. My parents bought me a microphone with a speaker for Christmas. I loved that thing and probably held it right to my sister's ear just to make her mad. I was in all the school plays. For our Christmas play, I was cast as "Wanda the Witch" and had a solo. I was pretty stellar. That then opened the door for to be in the Libbey High school production of "The King and I" when I was in 6th grade.

Stay tuned for the rest of my journey. I figured it's probably best to split it up and not write a novel in one sitting.

Hello Blogworld!

I haven't been here for quite some time. Life is changing again. Still married, still happy. Got a new job and loving it. I'm no longer chained to a desk and can pee whenever I want to. I seem to have a little more free time while at work, so why not get into a little blogging.

I don't have a certain theme that I will be carrying here. I'm not quite sure what I will be doing at all. Perhaps I will vent about traffic sometimes, or stupid people in general. I am hoping to share some of my favorite songs with you and the reasons I love those songs. (sort of like Nick Hornby did in the book "Songbook" but my songs will be better than his.)

Plus, it will give me a chance to maybe follow some more blogs. I currently follow Coming Unstitched (my best friend and future personal stylist should I ever become famous) and Clumps of Mascara (mostly because I'm a mascara junkie and she tries all of them!) You should follow them too!

So...welcome and enjoy. Feel free to read previous posts about the night my husband and I met and some drunken escapades.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

*wipes the dust off*

Hey out there. I'm still here. I figured I would put a little update type of post up here since I have started following a few blogs.

The last post I have here in 2008 has me giddy about a boy CS. CS turned into Chad, who turned into my fiance 6 months later and turned into my husband May 29, 2010. We are doing very well and still don't hate each other. :)

My daughter is doing well. Growing into quite a lovely young lady. She's 11, funny and beautiful. She's my mini-me and I love it.

The band is doing very well. We had some major gigs this past year. We're hoping for bigger and better things in the upcoming year. Check us out www.nnband.com

La la la...

Still lots of talking with CS. Things are going swimmingly.

Monday: We met up at Doc Watson's. We had some drinks. I kissed him (yes, I initiated it.) We talked a lot. We laughed a lot. We're getting married tomorrow. Life is beautiful.

Tuesday: I didn't get to see him. But we talked for a few hours again. We talked music. We agreed on some. That was nice.

I'm hoping to see him tonight. He wants to see Jeff Stewart. Jeff just happens to be a good friend of mine and my favorite person for live music (besides myself of course!)

So...lately I feel like a brand new person. Right when Troy left, my heat was out. Stupid furnace had to be replaced. That was done on Saturday this week. Now...I found this to be a pain in the ass because I just wanted to get the house situated after Troy left. However, it really turned out to be a blessing. It allowed me to not dwell on Troy leaving. Instead, I went and stayed at Jenny's house. It made me kinda get to like Dan (her husband) a little better. It allowed them to have a taste of parenthood. Most importantly, it allowed me to spend time with one of my best friends at a time when I really needed her (whether I knew it or not.)

So by the time it was done on Saturday, I was happy to be home. I was happy to start putting together my new entertainment center. I was happy to be warm in my house. I was happy to start my new life.

I played on Saturday. I got on stage with a drink in my hand. I proceeded to drink a few more and a few shots. I was pretty blitzed but I was having a blast. I felt kinda like my old self, but better too. I was on stage, I was dancing, I was kicking ass and taking names.

I also got a couple phone numbers from cute boys.

Cute boy JS: PLAYA! But super cute. With super dimples. He would just be a for fun kinda guy.
Cute boy CS: Very cute. Very nice. I actually noticed him first at a gig a month or so ago. I kept asking my guitar player about him. Turns out he didn't know him but he knew a guy he was with. He found out his name and stuff. And CS, happened to be interested in me a little too. CS and I did some talking at the gig Saturday. Then went to breakfast with my friends. Then talked outside for two hours. When we finally decided that we should leave (at 6:30), he gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. How cute?! Then we texted a little on Sunday. And talked Sunday night for five hours. (I'm pretty sure I haven't talked on the phone that long since I was in high school.) Anyway, he's a pretty good guy. I'm looking forward to seeing him again. I'm so new to this stuff again, it's just weird. But it's nice to feel liked. It's been a while for that. Even if Troy did just move out a week ago.

Almost free

The boyfriend leaves on Saturday. I will not be present to watch him leave. It's hard but I think I'm going to be just fine. I'm going out with my girls tonight, this makes me happy. I'm playing acoustic at Ottawa Tavern tomorrow, this also makes me happy.

My best friend, Sarah, is moving in on the 20th. This makes me very happy. We're going to have dance parties in our living room and we're going to get drunk and play Mall Madness. I know..you're jealous!

Rather important information

I'm almost single. My boyfriend, Troy, of nearly 4 1/2 years is moving out within the next month or so. I'm sad but I will be ok. We have grown apart over the years. Some of my nuances finally got to be too much for him. I have cried, I have been a little angry but mostly I know that I will be ok. This has been coming on for a few months now.

Part of me is even a little excited. I'm going to show that I'm a big girl and take care of myself again. I can celebrate holidays again and not feel guilty about them.

I will miss him a lot. He has been my best friend and sometimes only friend.

It is now time for Gina. Gina is doing her band thing and doing it well. Gina is spending more time with her daughter.

I'm sorry....so sorry

First, I did not realize that there had been comments on my blog. I'm an idiot. I will allow you to spank me and I will try not to like it.


Now..on with the show.


At work, I have a group of friends. They all seem to love when I tell stories. Probably because I usually write the same way I speak. I guess that's exciting. So...I had got in the habit of writing what we called "Dear Diarys." I usually write them after a night of being out. Weekend editionsa get a little long but I am a little detailed. So I have decided to start posting them here as well.

Here is the Friday Night edition.

Dear Diary,

Friday night was insane. I left work, picked up Alexandria, stopped at Dots, bought a new shirt, went home and got ready and dropped off Alexandria at a slumber party. This made me about 45 minutes late to meet my friend Ceci. We were going to Fusion Bistro where Ashley was with Heather for dinner.

By the time I got there, Ashley and Heather had eaten. Ceci had had two martinis. We sat there for a good 30 minutes after I got there and no one asked if I wanted a drink or anything. Eff that. Ashley was leaving anyway. And I'm not all that crazy about their menu selection, so Ceci and I decided to go to Basin St. Grille were Jeff was supposed to be playing. They have good food so it was no problem.

We walk in and there is no Jeff Stewart. He got canceled because of the economy. This made me sad. Perhaps that is why I felt the need to have 3 martinis while I was sitting there. I had stuffed calamari for dinner. It was pretty tasty. Ceci and I chatted and caught up. It was a great time. Ceci is someone that I love dearly and always forget to invite her out with me. But I really enjoy her company. She's very funny.

We parted ways, I headed to Club Soda. Catch 33 was playing and I had to talk to Michael about the booking that he gave us without telling us. (I love those!) So I walk in and I realize that I have a pretty good buzz going. I walk in and talk to the band boys because they hadn't started playing yet. I had a lovely conversation with Lyle and how irresistable we both are because we are Geminis. Lyle really gets into astrology. (Just so you know, I typed that as asstrology first and laughed.) I talked to Garrett a little and then I went to the bar to get a drink. My friend Brandon had just got there to meet up with me. He bought my drink and we sat and chatted a little. Then I wanted to smoke. And then it gets SUUUUUUUUUUUPER BLURRY from there. So blurry, that I had to be reminded of things I was saying and doing.

I will give them to you in bullet points because it's fun.

- The band bought about 20 shots and told people to come on stage and dance to have one. I went up and danced and had a shot.
- I left the stage and grabbed two more, I shared with Brandon.
- I pointed out that I was drunk while smoking.
- I said that I could hardly stand.
- I was hugging the pillar that was in front of my chair.
- "I love this pole."
- I love big black poles.
- "I'm sliding off my chair" (way better when you see Craig do it)
- I sent texts to people I know but they never actually go through.
- I sent texts to people I know and say "Oh hot dayum this is my jayum"
- I wasted my time texting stupid boys.
- I sent texts to people I don't know because I entered the wrong number. Said person might be a brother of a very good friend.
- I told people that I was drunk...a lot.
- I jumped out of my chair and said I had to dance.
- I was the only person on the dancefloor.
- I probably stumbled a lot.
- Kelly, the bartender, tried to give me and Brandon a shot for free. I told her I was done. She gave Brandon a shot and gave me a shot of Red Bull. She also gave me chips. That's love.
- BTW...I was done drinking before 12.

So kids, that's my fun night. Apparently, I was very amusing to watch. You really should hear Brandon and Craig talk about it. The good news is, I have four gigs booked there!

I just started this thing and I'm already neglecting it. Briefly, last weekend was AWESOME. Went out for karaoke on Thursday. Halloween fun on Friday, except for the part where my tires got slashed at a Steak and Shake. Gig on Saturday that no one showed up to but was fun anyway. Club Soda after the gig with Sarah. Lots of fun and an extra hour of partying.

This weekend the plan is to go to El Camino to celebrate the signing of divorce papers for my friend Ashley. Then to South End Grille to see the lovely Jeff Stewart. And a possible trip to the Distillery to see Generra Panterra, featuring Jim "The Junk" Filipiak.

It should be a good time.

Weekend Detail

Friday I went out with my girls. Ashley and Sarah have quickly become my BFFs. I can tell them anything and they understand me. And they aren't catty bitches either, which is extra nice. We went and played Name that Tune at O'Reilly's. That was a great time except when the dicked us on points because half the bar just happened to be on our team. Then Ashley and I invited the host boys out. They were cool and came out and bought us a shot, but then they left because they couldn't handle our awesomeness.

Saturday, my band played at Rivalry's in Temperance. The boyfriend came out so that was nice. The sister came out so that was also nice. The show went well. We got a lot of good feedback.

Sunday, went to breakfast for my sister's birthday. Then I went and got my new phone. It's a Samsung Rant and it was just released. And it's pretty and it's red! It makes me happy. Went to the grocery store. Went to band practice. Went home. Stayed up too late.

And that brings us today. I hate Monday days. But I love Monday nights. CHUCK AND HEROES!

Bloggity Blog

I'm new to this spot. I haven't been an avid blogger in a long time. But I'm gonna try because I like to think I'm interesting, even if no one else does. And work still lets me get to this site. Effing Web Nazis!

I start with some generalities about myself.

I'm a mom, a girlfriend, a singer and a customer service representative. I'm 31 years old. I'm too young to be 31 and too old be running around in bars (which is probably my favorite past time.) I'm a little ridiculous most of the time. I kinda just say what I think. Some people don't understand my thinking. Some people understand my thinking as if they live in my brain. I love almost everyone and usually tell you to your face that I do, even if I don't know you.

I think that's it. If I don't know you, nice to meet you. If I do know you, I missed you!