KaraoKe Corner - Nwkaraokeguide.net

4
September 2009 - www.nwkaraokeguide.net
KaraoKe Krooner A Mystery Writer
Never Sung Before?
F
irst off, I’m addicted to Karaoke.
All you singers already
know what I’m talking
about. If you have to be addicted
to anything, karaoke
is not a bad thing. In fact,
I think it’s a GRRRREAT thing. Having
gone to Toastmasters trying to gain
confidence at the microphone, which
was not very successful, I am proud to
say I can now hold a microphone in my
hand, sing a song in front of a crowd and
not fall apart. Talk about a wonderful
confidence builder!
I love to tell people if they are
night
Wheel of
forTune
karaoke
One Eyed Jack’s
ROADHOUSE
14019 HWy. 99, LyNNWooD (425)743-5570
voted seattle’s best karaoke bar
Best Drink Specials Around • 7 Nights A Week!
Newly
Remodeled!
industry
WeT
T-shirT
liVe
music
Texas
hold ‘em
“No Rake”
(Again)
UFC® #103 - SEPT 19
FRANKLIN vS BELFORT ON OUR 6’ BIg SCREEN!
new!
regulars at the many karaoke shows
but still haven’t built up the courage
to sing, they are already addicted and
it’s just a matter of time before they’ll
get up there and try. So they might as
well take the leap and do it now and
not wait the three years it took me
before I got the nerve to try it.
My true litmus test is if you can
sing “Happy Birthday.” If you really
truly don’t ever even sing this
well known song with just family and
friends, then maybe karaoke is not for
you. Otherwise, it starts with just one
song, like one from your high school
days where you actually know all the
words and sing it in the shower or whenever
you feel like bursting into song.
If you are truly gutless, for the
first time, go up with a friend and
more or less pretend you’re singing. I
have met countless numbers of singers
who were told by their parents or
children, they should never sing. Yet
today, after getting up time after time,
they are awesome singers. It’s true,
practice makes perfect.
When you walk up to the stage
for the first time, here’s what you can
expect. No matter if there is just one
or two people in the room when you
submitted the song and the singers
were kind of average, the room with
fill up with a crowd and your name will
be called after a professional sounding
singer just finishes their performance.
That’s Murphy’s Law coming to try to
Watch for LIVE MUSIC with INHALE (Santa Cruz)
If you like 311 or Sublime, you’ll LOVE theses guys!
www.mysPace.com/oneeyedJacksroadhouse
sundays Featuring Free Pool, Karaoke
$3 U-Call-It Drinks For Hospitality Industry Workers
Showing Class 12/13 Mast or Health Cards
Tuesdays w/DJ Tom from 9:30pm
Sing A Song For A Chance To Spin The Prize Wheel
$2.50 Domestic Drafts, All Bomber Drinks $4
fridays w/DJ Tom
Thursday & sunday w/Chachee
Nightly Drink Specials
fridays 11:30pm Start
$150 IN WEEKLY PRIZES!
$1.50 Miller Hi-Life Pints, $3 Vodka Redbulls All Night
saTurdays
Call For Band Line Up (Karaoke August 22 & 29)
$3.50 Smirnoff Vodka Bombs (Any Flavor)
saTurdays
(3pm) $10 Buy In • (6pm) $15 Buy In “Bounty”
and noW sundays! (6pm) $15 Buy In
www.myspace.com/oneeyedjacksroadhouse - www.facebook.com/oneeyedjacksroadhouse
deter from your goal. Just tell Murphy
to back off. You’re trying to have a new
personal growth experience.
Even if it’s a cold night, you’re
going to feel 20 degrees hotter instantaneously.
You’ll have a death grip on
the microphone. Nervous? Definitely!
I sometimes murmur on my way up
to the stage “earplugs, five dollars”
to anyone on the way up to the stage.
That way, if I bomb, I can always say,
“should have bought those earplugs”
on the way back to my chair.
If there is a stage, pay attention
to getting up there without making
a fool of yourself. The first (and only
time) I went to the Seattle Dance Club,
I tripped walking into the room on the
corner of the dance floor. Tripping and
falling isn’t something I usually do but
I wasn’t watching where I was going
and falling into a dance club with
professional dancers’ all eyes was excruciatingly
embarrassing. You don’t
want that! Ideally, position yourself
so you can read the words yet not put
your back to the crowd majority. It’s a
bit rude to turn your back on everyone
but hey, if that’s what you need to do
to transition into being a singer versus
a wanna-be, go for it.
With the microphone in your hand
and up to your mouth, make a quiet
click, say “test,” or something to check
the microphone. The wireless ones
running on batteries need to get their
batteries changed quite frequently. I
usually just do a little finger tap.
And here is the most important
thing I can share with you. Even
though you are a karaoke virgin (as
they love to call you), hold that mike
up to your mouth when you sing. A
timid singer holding the mike too far
away cannot hear themselves so you
think you sound terrible, the audience
can’t hear you and you’re going to feel
like a failure. If you can actually hear
yourself, you’re going to do a better job.
As you sing, if you are having a hard
time doing that, move around a bit
until you find the sweet spot in front
of a speaker.
If you are one of those people
whom I greatly admire and can actually
sing AND dance, or even move or
gesture while singing, you are ahead
of all of us who can’t. Having a great
voice is only a part of getting up and
performing. One act I’ll always remember
is a young girl singing “Working at
the Car Wash” who worked the whole
room dancing around and flirting with
everyone. Her singing wasn’t top-notch
but she was VERY entertaining.
There are really two reasons I
was able to finally get up and sing.
There was one singer who had soooo
much enthusiasm and obviously was
enjoying herself, it was contagious. I
almost got up with her and her friend
doing a duet to make it three part
harmony but I was still too gutless,
drinks and all. And the other, one
singer whom I love dearly today got
up week after week with a voice that
is quite indescribable. The message I
kept telling myself is “if SHE can do
it, I can do it.”
Yes, I had been singing along in
my seat to all the songs my partner
had been singing the three years prior
to my becoming an actual singer. It
took me forever to start. Today, I love
to work the crowd. If I see someone
singing along at their table, I find a
One Eyed
Jacks Update
Been VERY busy! Decided to
do a minor remodel that started
out as a 24-hour project and is now
on day five.
We moved the DJ booth across
from the bar (near the front door),
added an 80” projection TV and adjusted
the other big screen from a
5’ to a 6’ screen. We added a couple
more TV’s, so now you can see all
your favorite sporting events from
anywhere in the building!
Speaking of sporting events,
we’ll be showing UFC pay per view
fights here too! We also have some
great shows lined up, including
live music with Inhale (from Santa
Cruz). If you like 311 and/or Sublime,
you’ll LOVE these guys.
See One Eyed Jack’s ad in this
issue for more and log onto www.
myspace.com/oneeyedjacksroadhouse
for dates and times.
book, a song slip, a pencil and bring it
over to them and say something corny
like “we came here to hear YOU sing.”
If they say they are awful, I ask if they
think people are going to ask for their
money back. It’s Karaoke, a free-forall.
The scene from “My Best Friend’s
Wedding” when Cameron Diaz got up
and did a pretty poor job on the song
is inspiring. It’s about letting loose,
having some good clean fun, finding
a song that the crowd loves, bringing
back long-lost memories when an old
tune comes up, and putting a song into
your heart. Singing is the best stress
reliever I know.
Future Topics:
Gotta get my fix; What you drink affects
your voice; Wrong words; Harmony;
Who Am I?; Money back; Hosts
adding “junk” to your voice; Ghost
writer – guess who?; Special occasion
songs; Record yourself to develop your
ear; Tips for hosts; Choosing songs;
Rotation – duets; Length of songs;
Decades of music; Sharing the books,
saving slips.
Email us at Editor@themedallion.
net with specific topics you believe
need to be explored – we’ll explore it
together!