Full Voice

The one thing that was never discussed in voice lessons was the importance of diet. We worked on breathing exercises, phonation (ah, those dipthongs), proper posture, vibrato, vocal resonation, and I even learned a little Italian and German along the way. All important, to be sure. But, yet, not a word about diet.

I'm a picky eater (my wife, parents, and the Liberty guys shout "Amen!" in chorus) and as a result find it difficult to appreciate many healthy foods due to my persnickety taste buds. I've heard the old wives tale that your taste buds change every few years. While I'm sure they are, it has yet to affect my eating habits. Trust me, every year I try to eat salad again and end up gagging on the lettuce. I try to eat new foods, playing mental games with myself, trying to convince the brain that I really like it. Sometimes I force myself to acquire a taste for something, most times not.

I know that I often eat food that's probably not good for this finely toned body. I'm trying to do better, but it's hard. I have a strong affinity for spicy foods: Mexican, Cajun, hot wings. In the past, I've imbibed to my heart's content. It never really did anything to me (if you discount all the treks to the room down the hall). That is, until the last 2 years. I'm now noticing that if I eat pepperoni, it's going to hurt me later in the day (or night). Hot wings take more than a day for the recovery process. It's painful.

Last year was the toughest for me from a vocal standpoint. I started the year by getting a cold on my trip to Ohio and Indiana in December, 2006. Thank you, family! I never quite got over it. We started our traveling in January and it was non-stop singing until the end of March. There were times that I was barely squeaking out my notes. There were a few concerts that I went out to the bus after we were done singing just to avoid over-talking. Those of you who know me, know that this just killed me. I was in a never-ending funk. I went to the doctor at least four times during the first three months of 2007 and they prescribed every type of drug you could think of for voice problems, but it never made a lasting impact. In March or early April I went to see an ear, nose, and throat specialist. He stuck the little camera up into my nose, down my nasal passage, and took a look around. After about 3 minutes of looking at the images on his computer, he asked me if I had ever suffered from heartburn. My initial reply was "nnnguhhgaaoo" (the camera was still stuck up my nose). Once he pulled it out, I told him that occasionally I would have a mild case of discomfort, but nothing serious. He said that my nasal passages were very irritated and that it appeared that I had some strange allergens (or something like that) in my system. He prescribed Prilosec and some heavy-duty stuff for allergies.

It should have sunk in that heartburn could be causing my vocal issues, but it didn't. The next few months weren't much better. I would have a good night on Friday, decent night on Saturday, but by Sunday I was a vocal mess. Vocal fatigue was becoming an issue, due to my tendency to over sing as a means of compensation for my problems. While we were at National Quartet Convention last September, Daniel Riley announced from the stage that Steve Ladd, their tenor, was on complete voice rest (except for singing). I later found out that it was due to heartburn. It still didn't sink in. I was trying everything from combining Advil with Claritin D to whatever else I could think of. Nothing worked. My voice was getting worse. Royce began making comments about the need for me to see a voice teacher to start singing right and correct some of the bad habits I was beginning to develop (once again, caused by over singing). Every once in a while I hit some depression periods, but I went about as low as I've ever gone in November. I was seriously considering giving up singing. I was so frustrated!

In the middle of November, Legacy Five was in town and I went over to their concert. Frank Seamans (their tenor) and I have developed a pretty good friendship over the last couple of years and in my talking to him after the concert I mentioned the vocal struggles I had been having. Well, it immediately got his attention. Unbeknownst to me, Frank had gone through some significant vocal problems during his time with Legacy Five. I knew that he had struggled initially, but I wasn't aware how bad it really was. He suffered with the same depression that I was combating. It was during that time that he resigned from Legacy Five. Scott Fowler wouldn't accept his resignation, though, and told him that he was willing to do whatever it took to help him recover. Frank began to share with me some of the steps he had to take to get his voice back. Man, it was like a breath of fresh air. At the restaurant later that night he filled me in on several techniques I could use to regain the use of my voice. After we had walked out of the restaurant and were getting ready to leave, Frank hung back and said, "Listen, Keith, I know what you're going through and I know you're frustrated. But, don't quit. I just want you to know I'll be praying for you." He doesn't know it, but God put those words in his mouth for me that night. For the first time all year, I felt like God could help my conquer this giant.

In December, I started analyzing what I was doing that could possibly harm my voice. I quit taking all my medicine. It was actually drying my voice out too much and harming my vocal cords. I then quit eating spicy foods in the afternoon and evening and on the weekends (well, except for the hot wings I had over at Marc and Talisha's). I started taking one Prilosec tablet every evening. I initiated a consistent exercise regiment. Then, and I'm sure this was a major component, I had 2 weeks and half off, no singing.

This January it was totally different. I felt like my voice was back to normal. I can almost feel it getting stronger. I now actually enjoy Sunday mornings. I'm keeping up with my habits that I established in December. I'll admit that I could exercise more, but I'm working on it. I'm still trying to avoid eating too many spicy foods. Ham is now my pizza topping of choice. I rarely suffer from heartburn symptoms. Every once in a while I'll have a vocal night that's more difficult than usual, but those are few and far between. I'm enjoying singing again.

God is good. Thanks to good friends, prayer, and some common sense I'm able to give 100% each concert. If I ever teach voice again, diet is going to be on of those items that I throw in the mix with "Caro Mio Ben".

O be careful little mouth what you eat!