After a long weekend I am finding myself with just a bit of time to write before bed. Laying here in bed my lovely wife thinks this blog should be about “Why do men have nipples…?”. While that is a very interesting question that the world probably does hinge upon, sadly this blog is not about men and nipples. Sorry.
NBC’s The Voice and season 4 and “Industry Referrals”. That is what this blog is about.
The happening as it was. I was at lunch on Tuesday Oct. 30th when the call came in. I was at home enjoying a little bit of time with my wife during the lunch hour and catching up on the time that never seems to be present when we need it to be. Calling was Mr. Rob Sharp who helped me record/mix/produce my solo record “Going Somewhere…?” The call went to voicemail and I didn’t even think to check it because I know that Rob wouldn’t call me with anything really pressing.
Returning to the office after lunch I took the laptop out of hibernation and perused my email to see what had happened in my little world during my hour long absence. There it was. An email two or three down from Rob Sharp at The Playroom Studio…
“Heya Mark…Rob here. I hope you don’t mind but I might have given your contact information to a fellow who is a Talent Producer for the show “The Voice”. He said that he really, really likes your voice and backstory.
Let me know if he contacts you, or if anything comes of it. If so then rock on!
Cheers, Rob…”
WOW…Ummm suuurrreeee. I sat there and thought “OK, whatever”. But then it hit me…the voicemail he left! Checking the recently left voicemail repeated exactly what the email had said. That Rob had spoken with a contact of his who was looking for people to audition for the spring edition of The Voice which will technically be season 4.
Sitting there for just a slight moment I thought COOL! Though within moments the harsh facts of reality, or what we spin reality to be, came crashing in and I thought let’s be honest here. This mystery fellow, this Peter Cohen of NBC’s The Voice will listen to the links that Rob gave him and be like…meh…and move along to one of the 1000′s of more talented vocalists in the area. And with that…in less than 2 minutes…I was back to work toiling away under a cloud of self doubt, not pity, just chilly and realistic doubt.
Then it happened…He emailed me. At 4:51pm I got an email from the chance I had so quickly thought would speed past me. Here is a bit of what it said:
“Hi Mark,
Rob from the Playroom suggested I contact you. He speaks very highly of you. He sent me a link to some of your music and you sound great! I work for the show The Voice. We will be in Seattle in December holding private auditions for the next season of the show. I’d like to offer you the opportunity and I’ve scheduled you to audition for The Voice in Seattle on December 16th at 12:45pm. This audition is by invite-only and not open to the general public…”
And there it wass…my new possible reality.
While nothing could come of this chance…I find it an absolute honor that in this world of amazing people, amazing voices, and amazing talent Rob would think enough of me to even speak my name as a suggestion. I find it an even more incredible honor to have been contacted by Peter. So much so that I looked around my office after reading the email for the 5th time and thinking “come awwwwnnnn…am I getting PUNK’ed here…?” Thinking over and over again, did he really listen to my voice, he must not have…? For we are all our own worst critics.
Let the doubt roll in. Let it ebb and flow, acting as an overwhelming tidal wave. Let it drown any chance for joy, darkening what could be a bright moment. That is what I can do best. For all it took was the 6th read of the email for me to clamp down hard…suck in the bitter taste of what ifs, to squeeze hard on the handbrake of life and try to bring the shit show to a stop before it even begins moving. It is just a fucking email…seriously.
But that is what The Grind can do. It can dig you so deep into a trench that you don’t even see the light, the possibility, the maybe. All you can see is the mortgage, the car payment, the “what will my job say”, the will my family support me, and the “what about the trip for work I have planned”. Before you can even consider the theoretical outcomes of the dream, you have convinced yourself that it would actually become a pressure filled nightmare…so why even dream. Get back to work douche…that is what you are destined to do. Work.
It took me a couple of days to really get over the fact that I got that email. I didn’t even mention it to my wife. I actually almost thought of deleting it…for that is what I do. I shut down with denial to the fact that I might possibly be able to do something really cool. I don’t think I am worth it…and I forcibly let it pass me by. By choice. But on Thursday night I decided to share the email with my wife and see what her thoughts were. She thought it best that I give it a shot.
My wife thinks that I am a big dreamer and that the only way to have amazing things happen is to dream amazingly big. Guess I had better start dreaming.
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