My handlebar mustache was out of control. It had reached Pistol Pete levels, and honestly, I couldn’t be more proud. With my Hndlebars Moustache Wax (hndlebarsmoustachewax.com, if you’re interested) and comb, I styled that baby so fine, even Wyatt Earp would have been jealous. After six months of hard work, I had built the cookie duster of my dreams, just in time for my debut as Sid in La Fanciulla del West with the Nashville Opera. With a couple years experience of chorus roles, and with a little bit of luck, I had landed a small named part in Puccini’s American cowboy opera. The stage had always been a part of my life, but the operatic world was still relatively new. Nevertheless, here I was, three years after I first started lessons, singing on stage of the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, alongside some of the best voices in the business, with a giant greasy mustache. Occasionally throughout the production, I’d take a step back and think, “What the heck am I doing here?! Is this actually what I’m doing with my life? Opera?!”
This surreal experience happens fairly often these days. I’ve since relaxed my operatic muscles, but still do a variety of other things besides piano…because cross-training creates clarity. Let me explain in a few different parts.
First, creativity comes from inspiration. The soaring melodies of Puccini’s Fanciulla (which inspired Phantom of the Opera), or the dark, dramatic music of Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci took me to a different world than the Top 40 music I’d hear in the car all day. I wasn’t writing operas, but I was definitely inspired to make my music as beautiful and gripping as those melodies. I’ve also written some of my most interesting lyrics after visiting the art museum downtown. Anything creative you do comes from something you’ve read, seen, or heard before, so finding new art to inspire your conscious and unconscious mind will only give more depth to what you do.
Second, I love finding parallels in art, in the expression of human nature and emotion, as well as parallels in the crafts themselves. One example: one of my songwriting teachers, Tom Douglas, spent most of the semester quoting religiously from Stephen Sondheim’s book about songcraft. (I found it hilarious that an award-winning country songwriter was teaching us principles based in a completely different art form, musical theater…but there was still a lot of interesting crossover.) Another example: learning the discipline, focus, and patience of practicing piano has bled over into how I approach everything I do. However, growing up as a classical pianist, I spent a lot of solitary hours focused on playing the right notes. The best actors and musicians tell stories in different ways, but both know how to connect with an audience. Through my acting and singing, I’ve connected long-unused dots when it comes to bringing the humanity back to my own playing and writing. Everything I do ripples into everything else I do, even with areas like social media marketing, working out, and relationships.
Lastly, you find your sweet spot only when you push your limits. As a musician in Nashville, you learn pretty fast that you aren’t the best at anything…there's always someone better. My feeling was: I need to try to be the best at everything…otherwise, how would I know if that's what I was meant to do? So while some people just wrote songs or practiced guitar six hours a day, I was running around doing operas and musicals, starting silly bands with accordions and keytars, and buying a sailboat on Craigslist (but that’s a whole other blog). Looking back, I’m glad I did, because all of it brought into focus what I love to do and what I’m good at. I pushed my abilities to the limit, tried as many flavors of ice cream as I could, and now can home in on who I am at my core. Plus, my favorite flavor is coffee.
So be inspired, find parallels, and push your limits, “all in the service of clarity,” as Sondheim would say. Bring your life into focus!
Ross
Upcoming events:
June 12, acoustic set at the 5 Star gastropub, State Social House on Sunset. Free.
June 26, full band show at the vibey Room 5 Lounge on La Brea. Double birthday party with Rayvon Owen! $10.
This surreal experience happens fairly often these days. I’ve since relaxed my operatic muscles, but still do a variety of other things besides piano…because cross-training creates clarity. Let me explain in a few different parts.
First, creativity comes from inspiration. The soaring melodies of Puccini’s Fanciulla (which inspired Phantom of the Opera), or the dark, dramatic music of Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci took me to a different world than the Top 40 music I’d hear in the car all day. I wasn’t writing operas, but I was definitely inspired to make my music as beautiful and gripping as those melodies. I’ve also written some of my most interesting lyrics after visiting the art museum downtown. Anything creative you do comes from something you’ve read, seen, or heard before, so finding new art to inspire your conscious and unconscious mind will only give more depth to what you do.
Second, I love finding parallels in art, in the expression of human nature and emotion, as well as parallels in the crafts themselves. One example: one of my songwriting teachers, Tom Douglas, spent most of the semester quoting religiously from Stephen Sondheim’s book about songcraft. (I found it hilarious that an award-winning country songwriter was teaching us principles based in a completely different art form, musical theater…but there was still a lot of interesting crossover.) Another example: learning the discipline, focus, and patience of practicing piano has bled over into how I approach everything I do. However, growing up as a classical pianist, I spent a lot of solitary hours focused on playing the right notes. The best actors and musicians tell stories in different ways, but both know how to connect with an audience. Through my acting and singing, I’ve connected long-unused dots when it comes to bringing the humanity back to my own playing and writing. Everything I do ripples into everything else I do, even with areas like social media marketing, working out, and relationships.
Lastly, you find your sweet spot only when you push your limits. As a musician in Nashville, you learn pretty fast that you aren’t the best at anything…there's always someone better. My feeling was: I need to try to be the best at everything…otherwise, how would I know if that's what I was meant to do? So while some people just wrote songs or practiced guitar six hours a day, I was running around doing operas and musicals, starting silly bands with accordions and keytars, and buying a sailboat on Craigslist (but that’s a whole other blog). Looking back, I’m glad I did, because all of it brought into focus what I love to do and what I’m good at. I pushed my abilities to the limit, tried as many flavors of ice cream as I could, and now can home in on who I am at my core. Plus, my favorite flavor is coffee.
So be inspired, find parallels, and push your limits, “all in the service of clarity,” as Sondheim would say. Bring your life into focus!
Ross
Upcoming events:
June 12, acoustic set at the 5 Star gastropub, State Social House on Sunset. Free.
June 26, full band show at the vibey Room 5 Lounge on La Brea. Double birthday party with Rayvon Owen! $10.