From mid-July to mid-August, I was on tour for the release of my latest album, Zion. I had the privilege of visiting Atlanta, New York City, Los Angeles, the Bay Area of California, and a few other great cities including my hometown of Charlotte, NC.
The tour was success in a lot of ways, and challenging in other ways, as tours usually are. Some shows were very well attended, like Los Angeles, where I thought we would have the most trouble bringing people out. Other shows weren’t as well attended where I thought we had a better chance of having a good turnout. People don’t come out to things for all kinds of reasons, but that’s not what I want to talk about right now.
What I want to talk about is something I’m sharing publicly for the first time.
Flashback
About a year ago, I had booked myself a show in Charlotte at a jazz club. It was after about a year of not gigging due to the lockdowns, and I was itching to play just as I knew people were itching to come to a show. I had done some practicing beforehand, but overall, the way I prepared for this show was the way I usually prepare for shows; go over a couple of things with myself, send materials to the musicians/singers, then come together and do the show.
There was one huge problem, however.
I had not led worship in church, nor performed on stage in a year.
My voice was not in the shape it was once in, and that’s a huge deal considering it is not the best singing voice already. I more consider myself a musician who can sing than a singer, and because of that, my voice always has to be a tip top shape even more so than signers, because at it’s very best, it’s adequate. Of course, I’m speaking purely musically. I’ve been told it has character and its own distinct traits, which I appreciate, but speaking just from a musical standpoint, my background singers are SINGERS. They can “saaang” as we put it. They help me behind the scenes with my dynamics, control, breathing, etc.
So I was out of practice, and kind of took for granted the 16 years I spent playing, singing, and leading at my church back in my old hometown of Stockton, CA. I thought I could just get up there and everything would click and we would be find.
The music did. My singers did. My voice… did not.
I had no endurance. By about halfway through my set, by voice exhausted and frustrated with me as I tried to push out high notes with all my might frustrated by hearing the cracks come through almost every time I would attempt.
After the show, I was received warmly by old and new friends who saw me that night, but underneath my smiles and ‘thank you’ to everyone, I knew it wasn’t not my best show by far.
To top it all off, hearing from the owners some days later that they felt the vocals were ‘very weak’ and that they do not see me being a fit at their place was a dagger to the heart. I knew my vocals were weak that night, but to hear it from someone else cemented it in a way for me. In my 14 years of performing live music, I’ve probably played hundreds of shows. I’ve only had two interactions like this, and the other story is for another day. This hurt, but was the wakeup call I needed to get back to where I needed to be.
Back to Now
All that to say the #ZionTour was not like that at all. Every time I prepare for a show, I think about the one that went south, and it pushes me to operate in excellence and not cut corners. This tour, one of the most frequent compliments I received was on my voice. When I was playing with a large group and had my three backup singers with me, and when I was playing just a small trio with me as the only singer, my voice was among the most notable aspects of our sets. That wasn’t happenstance. Failure really is an amazing teacher, and I am grateful for it.
Along with that, the tour was beautiful all around. New ideas, partnerships, and songs have come from it, and I look forward to what the future holds. A a part of the tour, we spent two full days in an amazing recording studio in Oakland, CA. Got some new stuff cooking. More will be shared in the coming months.
In the meantime, I’ll see you in Harlem for my birthday concert. ❤️