Hi! My name is Sandra, and I love karaoke! I don’t think I have ever really told anyone this story, but here we go! It all started when…
When I was a young girl, I was obsessed with singing. I sang everywhere I could and my best friend and I even started a “singing group”, even though she couldn’t hold a tune to save her life. We were in Grade 5 at the time, and I remember us putting on a show for our moms, who were having coffee one day. I think also, I loved singing to TLC and Susan Aglukark (I still have both of those cd’s actually!)
I also sang with my ex-step sister at my step-aunts wedding in Newfoundland the summer of 1999. When I was in Grade 11, before we moved to New Brunswick ( I was in Grade 12 when that happened) I actually rehearsed for a girls singing group in Sherwood Park. I no longer remember their group name, but they did disband shortly after. They wanted to sing Brittany Spears, Baby One More Time, which I did, but my personal choice which I also sang was by Natalie Imbruglia, “Left of the Middle”, which was probably the wrong choice. LOL.
Fast forward to 2011 and I was dating this guy who happened to be a karaoke host at a small north end pub. He finally convinced me to sing a song, which was a duet with him. It was by Alison Kraus and Brad Paisley, “Whiskey Lullaby”. So, first, he already wasn't very familiar with the song. Second, I had never touched a karaoke mike before this moment, and didn’t realize how loud you had to sing. I was used to singing quietly, and not with my diaphragm. Needless to say, my first attempt was horrifying and made me run to the bathroom in tears, and I didn’t go back to karaoke for at least a month.
In the meantime, I practiced at home as much I could. I sang all the songs that I thought sounded good for my voice. Then, when I went back, I tried again. I don’t remember what song I sang the next time, but I know that it helped me gain confidence in myself, especially to sing in front of people.
As time went along, I tried new songs and discovered which ones fit my voice and which ones didn’t. Sometime I listened to people’s comments, and sometime I was my own judge. One thing I know, is I can actually carry a tune. I understand that a lot of people just do karaoke for fun, but my husband and I take it a bit more serious than that, and we really try to always improve how we sound. Also, I understand that unless you are actually tone deaf, anyone can sing. It’s just a matter of taking lessons. Some people have a natural talent and can reproduce notes exactly as they hear them, and some people need a little help.
When karaoke was gone for this past year, my husband and I were both devastated. Recently before that, I was pregnant with my daughter and couldn’t go out as often as I wanted because I was always so tired. So unfortunately, I feel like I missed two years of karaoke instead of just one. During that time period, we did purchase a home karaoke machine and we started practicing again at home, much to our neighbours consternation. LOL. Unless you had a professional system, a few years ago, the song choices weren’t that great on home systems. Today, we have quite a few songs to choose from, and some of them are quite current.
Sometimes my husband and I joke about trying out for America’s Got Talent or the Voice. It is a nice dream, but I am already living one of my dreams; being able to stay at home to enjoy my family and spend time with them, AND also being a content creator and creative business owner. I feel like you can accomplish your goals and spend time on your hobbies, always at the expense of something else.
Thanks for listening to my story!
Sandra 💕
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