OK, I'm not a big crier, but I would be lying if I didn't say that I haven't cried more than once about having to cancel our weekend of gigs. We have been looking forward to playing for Festival In The Park in Charlotte, NC for such a long time. Every year when they put the banner up in downtown advertising for the festival, we both become a little resentful because it's one more year that we didn't have ourselves together enough to schedule for the event. Well, we were determined to get on the schedule in 2009, so much so, that we were actually booked to play 3 different times. We've been stalled in our music career for so long, and it feels like we need to make up for so much lost time. It ended up that we got our wish to be a part of the festival this year, but we had one GIGANTIC problem. I was too sick to show up.
I could tell that I was starting to get sick last weekend when we went to Carrboro for the music festival, but I was hoping that it would all stay in my head. I've learned how to sing with head and nasal congestion, so that won't stop me from doing a show. However, once it moves into my chest, I'm a goner. Coughing is a singer's worst nightmare. Every time we cough, the vocal cords slap together violently, and over a prolonged period, it causes swelling and hoarseness. Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do about it. Our lungs don't like to have stuff in them, and they try to expel any foreign body (ie/bacteria, food, mucous, etc...). My lungs don't care that I have to sing. They are going to expel, by coughing, to save my life. It's self-preservation in it's finest form.
Now, if I was a guitar player, I could pick up another guitar for a gig if mine suddenly broke. I may not be happy about it, and It wouldn't sound the exact same as my other one. But, the point is, the audience wouldn't know that there was a problem. With singers, our instrument IS our voice (our body), and when there's a problem, there's no running out and getting a new one. Most serious singers I know are germaphobes due to this fact.
Needless to say, when I lost my voice completely on Thursday, I knew there was no way that my vocal cord swelling was going to go down by our gig time on Friday. But, now comes the good part. Over the past year, we have met an incredible group of artists and supporters of the arts here in Charlotte. We have spent the past couple of years being hermits because we needed to spend our free time writing for the CD. We decided to become "plugged in" to our local scene exactly one year ago, and what a great year it's been. As soon as I knew that I wasn't going to be able to perform, John jumped on the phone, talked to a couple of people, and that was it. As easy as that, we had friends that helped us out, and took our place performing. It's bad when you have to cancel a gig because it puts the venue owner, or in this case the event director, in a bad position. But, what's worse is if you do not find a replacement for yourself. Even though people told us that they were coming to see us, I know that people enjoyed the acts that performed in our place. Big thanks to Ang Medlin and Tom Williams who covered our spots on the Theater Stage, and to Kevin Marshall who took our place in the NSAI songwriter's round on the Folk Society Stage. We really appreciate Steve Simpson for helping us coordinate our replacement for the NSAI showcase.
We will work hard in 2010, and hope to be asked back to the Festival In The Park next year. Thanks for all of the well wishes for both of us. It was pretty inevitable that John would get sick too. We hope that everyone is in good health and is enjoying some beautiful, festival weather wherever you may be. It has been GORGEOUS in Charlotte, NC this week!
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