Hellllllllllllllllloooooooooooooooo!

Dudes!!

I’ve been dropping hints about this since I started writing these blogs. It was blatant in my Script Consulting Post. Yup…

BUT BUT BUT first let me tell you three short stories…

When I was three years old? My grandma put a tape recorder in front of me. I burst into John Denver’s Country Roads. Yes. I struggled with the word “Shenandoah.” That’s a big word for a three year old. But fuck it!! My enthusiasm made up for that!!

I’ve shared some of my other stories around country music in my blog post about Two Steppin’ and Punk Music.

And moving onto 2024 when I was living very deep in South Central Los Angeles… I was a job coach for a young woman. She wants to sing like Mariah Carey. She would practice Mariah’s whistle. Heck. We were standing outside of the infamous drug store where my tires got slashed among other fun adventures that I share about later. She was singing at the top of her lungs. Some random dude came up and invited her to a P. Diddy Party. She blew off his ass. I saw her to be so brave singing like that. She even rapped in our EasterSeals Disability Film Challenge Film: BIPOLAR BUDDIES VERSUS BUDDIES WITH BIPOLAR.

An interesting note about the infamous drug store that cockroaches in the bathroom along with them expecting us to use that same bathroom when the lock was broken out? They piped in music. I thought all the country on it was odd cuz we were deep in South Central Los Angeles. But they likely had a company wide play list cuz they’re too cheap to localize it. This is where I first heard Shamboozey and Jelly Roll. A different song that stuck to my bones is Nothing More from Alternate Routes. I’d listen to these songs on repeat with my Spotify subscription until I found Go Country 105 FM. This is a Los Angeles country station. I still use their app.

As I was looking for a country station when I driving south on the 110 South in South Central, “The Gambler” from Kenny Rogers came on. I sang every word despite not having heard the song for probably more than 30+ years.

Yup. Dudes!?! I knew that I should fucking do something with country music. This is hysterical as fuck to me cuz I’ve long had a love/hate relationship with country and a real fondness for LOUD GUITARS…

EXCEPT?

I have a twang when I sing. Dudes!! A TWANG. Like seriously. How the fuck could that work if I were to try to sing something Rise Above from Black Flag with a TWANG!?!

WAIT!?! There’s more… As I’ve been doing more and more of my breathwork??????? I’ve gone from being more of an alto to more of a soprano, Yup. Like how the fuck would it sound with a soprano Twang singing “California Uber Alles” from the Dead Kennedies… A nod to Jello and the crew since he just had a stroke. Forget trying to do anything from the Bad Brains. Crunchy commercial shit like Green Day Or recently with Rise Against or AWOLnation or UpChuck.

I digress.

Well? It’s also funny as fuck that country music turned out to be my happy place. Like seriously funny. On a more serious note? I need to learn how to wear lipstick without getting it on my teeth. Tips anyone?

What am I doing about this desire? I found a soprano warm up video that I would play when I drive to pick up the girl in South Central cuz I couldn’t afford singing lessons. The video length was perfect for the drive. Here’s the video from KHansen Music.

After my income stabilized in mid-2025, I started taking singing lessons from Dr. Lynell Kruckeberg via Google Meets cuz she’s based in Red Lodge. We’ll be meeting up in person once a month starting in April until the snow falls again in winter. She’s fucking amazing!!!!! I adore her. We’ve mostly been working with Patsy Cline songs. She’s got an incredible voice with lyrics that make her sound like an unhinged stalker in today’s world. Love it!!

Now onto the fuck it part: My stupid cold should be over this week. So? My fancy pants will start to sing A CAPPELLA at the local open mics for musicians. Sure. There’s a good chance my ass may suck at first. Dude. That’s some scary shit like just me and my voice. BUT? I’ll start with covers for my security blanket. My fancy pants will do that for a year.

I’ll also be performing in other ways too. More about all that later. Yes. I’m still keeping with the filmmaking and writing. Cuz all my creativity feeds into all my other creativity.

The other decision that I made that day singing with Kenny? I’ll be moving to Nashville. It’s different from my Los Angeles move in that I’ll be far more prepared when I go. Yup. I was going to go this year, Fuck it. I’ll slow down to be able to show up with a body of work rather than only the potential for one like I did with Los Angeles. That’s come how my ass went to Montana first: It’s a quiet place to get my shit together while hanging with family.

As always: Have a glamorous day for fun!!

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