The Sweetland Link

Seth McFarlane studied voice with my beloved and highly respected teacher, Lee Sweetland; the gentleman who, when I asked him for his blessing to teach his vocal technique to other people, said, "Well, Bill, you know everything we know.  Go ahead!"  Now, Lee and Sally, his wife and accompanist, didn't call it a technique and didn't really like it when other folks called it a technique; they preferred calling it a "natural, holistic approach" to singing -- which makes a lot of sense, but also takes more time to describe until someone responds with, "...so it's a 'technique?'" At which point, I would agree and then get down to the question of "why" a potential client wants or needs to study singing.  There are always going to be writers who attack the hosts of  the Academy Awards (excepting Billy Crystal's early years and also when Steve Martin solo hosted), but the most successful hosts have been scamps -- guys with loads of charm who can "get away with it."  Seth McFarlane fits that description for 2013 and beyond.  Plus, he sang great.      

The Electronic Age: It Doesn't Appear To Be Going Away Any Time Soon

"Back in the day" when I was first doing song and dance commercials (1979), performers needed to hire a phone service to catch every phone call on a 24 hour basis.  Personal answering machines were on the verge of hitting the marketplace, but not just yet.  We had to hire a "service" with a service number that took messages from our agents.  It was kind of a Flintstones approach with real live humans/dinosaurs supplying the "beep."  But what was interesting was that you'd have to call IN to your "service" several times a day to make sure you didn't miss any calls.  They didn't call you to leave a message that you had a message...that would have made them instantly irrelevant.  So, the game went on.  Daily.

No need to review the number of communications options we now have, but communication is now a skill to be cultivated.  Who knew that answering the phone and making a call would now serve as the cornerstone of our business as celebrities, entertainers, producers and content providers?  Funny thing is, we need to communicate WITH our fans or our base almost as often as we had to check in with our phone services 30 years ago.  If you're an entertainer to any degree and still avoiding Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, and any others that crop up in the next 15 minutes, it only means you really like being left alone.  And your art, your talent, is private.  And not for sale.