Blessed Beyond Belief

That this day has finally come.

Yes, I am finally being paid to sing.
WEEHEEE!

Someone used to say that "if you're good at something, don't ever do it for free".
I hardly consider myself good enough to be called good,
but I guess I'm okay?

At any rate, I am blessed beyond measure that someone likes my singing enough to pay me to do it.
On a weekly basis too!
Here's hoping this will be a platform to other gigs in the future.

So say hello to the Sunday singer of Bali-Bali Gardens.
I'm with a guitarist and a cajonist, both who are SO FLY.
We will be there every Sunday, from 7.30pm till about 10pm,
just serenading you diners and your Balinese food.
We hear that they are revamping their menu soon to add more yummy things.
More reason to come? I think so!

And, of course, if you happen to wanna grab the mic for a number or two,
be my guest.
I'd also be more than happy to sing a birthday song to anyone who's celebrating their birthday there.

Just, do come, have dinner, have dessert, have a drink, anything you want.
But do come. and maybe clap. hahah

<3

Officially Missing You (ft. Frances & Erica!)

Cuz this is the kinda thing that homies do when homies are home. :)

Check Frances out! She's extremely talented, and she's in music school too, so she's definitely gonna make it big one day. So honoured to be even doing a cover with her in my bedroom. She's awesomesauce, this girl.

And if you've been watching my videos, you'll probly already know Erica. But if you don't it's okay. She's part of Monochrome, which is a 3-piece made up of me, her and Oscar. Here's hoping you'll see more of her, and us together as time goes by! <3

Till then, enjoy the song, and like and subscribe on Youtube if you wanna. :)

Versatility? Uniqueness?

Age-old debate?
Or perhaps, an age-old discrepancy I myself have been dealing with.
Do I aim to be versatile, or do I just focus on a certain genre of music?

Many a time I've been asked, "so what songs dyu do exactly? Like, what kinda songs dyu perform?"

And I'd be like... "uh, anything?"
Cuz my repertoire (a limited one too) consists of songs that range from Complicated by Avril, to Don't Know Why by Norah Jones. Or some older school stuff, like Can't Help Falling in Love by Elvis. Oh dear me.

And then there's my playlist.
Which, at the moment, Stevie Wonder is taking anchor.
Or Abba.
Goodness gracious.

See that's perhaps one of those things about being a performer I need to learn.
Do I suit the audience, or do I get so good that my audience gravitates to me?

Maybe it's a balance of both.

Ah, but what am I rambling on and on about.
We shall wait for a time when I actually get to perform in front of an audience.

Cuz maybe experience is the best teacher.
So then, maybe we'll all find that balance, somehow.

Competition Finals!

Rod Steward - Have I Told You Lately.

It's ERICA ON THE GUITAR, but you cant see her cuz I'm huge like a mountain.
and Oscar on the cajon.

Cover: Jason Mraz ft. Colbie Caillat - Lucky

Oh, just a little something we did together the weekend.

An older song, but an all time favourite to listen to and sing together.
Enjoy! :)

Songs then, songs now...

Sometimes, listening to songs from a generation before is a great change.
Cuz instead of industrialised and repetitively sticky beats combined with atrocious lyrics,
songs from the past actually sing of real love, real romance.
Not the "can I get yoh numbah baybeh/ blow my whistle baybee, whistle baybee" shit,
but real, poignant, true-to-the-heart lyrics.

"and when all hope is gone I'm here,
no matter how far you are, I'm near"

And I guess that's the draw to old school stuff for me.
Music that's well-written, real, to the heart.
Very few artists have that today.

But I must admit, despite having oldies on my playlist,
I still have our conventional, day-to-day music.
Jason Mraz happens to be one of my favourites.
Though he's very widely-listened to,
but his fame is well-deserved.

"Maybe I annoy you with my choices,
but you annoy me sometimes too with your voice;
but that ain't enough for me to move out and move on,
I'm just gonna love you like the woman I love. "

So simple, yet so real.

I could go on, really.
But this blog post is not so much about making a point.
It's just about how I feel.

And I feeeeeeeeeeeeeel gooood, tadatadatadata
I knew that I would, tadatadatadata!

;)

A Song in Who's Heart?

Well hello. Why did Vern start another new blog? She's abandoned enough blogs already, hasn't she?

Yeah well. This blog is special.
It's made to document thoughts and musings specifically about singing, and also the gigs and other opportunities to sing I've been given. 

And also so people can get to know how a singer's heart sounds like.

Well, being a singer isn't easy.
Sure, you kinda count as a musician, but the nature of your instrument is different?
Why, you ask?

Simple. Because a musician's instrument is no other than him/herself.

And in order to play an instrument well, you need to learn how to respect the instrument.
If you're a guitarist, you need to learn how to tune your guitar, polish your guitar strings, make sure not to drop it, blablabla.

Equal care needs to be paid as a singer, but rather than something else, you pay that care to yourself.

One of the worst things that can possibly happen to a singer is to lose her voice.

Gawd, I can't even imagine what life will be if I didn't have a voice.

I'd probly die of depression. 

So yes. A singer needs, above all, to learn self-respect.

And it's something I myself need to learn as well.

Cuz out of a good heart flows a good song.