Those words from Baz Luhrmann's Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) (lyrics) have stuck with me since I first heard the spoken word/song mix. When I went to look up the lyrics for this post, imagine my surprise when I found that the next part of the lyrics was "sing" because that was what I was going to post about in the first place.
I auditioned for the worship minister at our new church on April 23rd which in itself was nerve wracking because I really haven't auditioned (or checked my vocal range) since high school. He told me I was a low alto and had a nice voice which is very nice to hear from an unbiased third party. Hearing feedback from your friends is sometimes like hearing your parents tell you that you're beautiful. You're never sure if they really mean it or if they're just telling you things to boost your self-esteem. He told me that I would need to audition with the gentleman in charge of worship at our location. That happened today.
I was already starting the day feeling intimated by the fact that I was fairly sure that the other ladies that sang on worship team all had majored in music in college with one just leaving to try her luck on Broadway and here I was trying to do this with some high school choir and some tips and tricks I had picked up since. I had been deemed a soprano in HS and only seriously trying to be an alto for the last couple of years. Up until now, I had been one of four to five on stage singing. If I didn't know the harmony, I could sing melody. I'm not the best of picking out an alto part but once I know the part I'm solid. I had been supplied with the songs on paper and CD and had been practicing like crazy all week. I felt as confident as I could going into today only to have everything fall apart. Due to circumstances beyond our control, we ended up with no bass player and no drummer which necessitated dropping one song and picking up another which if this had been at my old church would have been no problem because I was familiar with the band's repertoire of songs. The problem was that this church had a different repertoire, most of which I'd never heard before (I really need to spend some time with Hillsong and Passion), so picking an old faithful for them was me (learning/figuring out a harmony to) a whole new song less than an hour before service. Yikes!
I haven't heard any feedback from anyone regarding my audition today. Mike had to stay home because Ben has had a fever that has fluctuated all the way up to 104. My small group all works in the children's area so I couldn't get any feedback from them. So, I am waiting to hear back as to whether or not I will be asked to sing again. At this point, I would be psyched if they said yes and wouldn't be hurt if they said no. If no, I'll wait until I feel more comfortable with their old reliables and ask to try again.
May 14: I just got an email asking if I was available to sing again. Due to scheduling conflicts this won't happen until sometime in July. More time to practice. :)