ep3 Tamara Beatty sees your voice

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Okay, top 3 moments I was fullyand publicly blindsided by
emotions.
Not a ranking order, more so acumulative top 3, so here we go.
First entry, 2001, the U2Elevation Tour in Calgary,
Alberta.
The epic, arpeggiated guitarintro to Where the Streets Have

(00:20):
No Name has given way to thethunderous entry of the entire
band, and Bono is sprintingaround a hollow heart shaped
ramp, which expands deep intothe floor audience.
Shouting the purest ecstaticprofession of modern worship in
the most irreligious setting andI, a lifetime church goer, only

(00:42):
a year removed from leaving thechurch, had a tearful and
emotional connection to Bono andhis spirit, my most unlikely new
worship leader.
Second entry.
June 2012, in a park in Toronto,Ontario.
Only three months past thebreakup and final performance of
my band.

(01:03):
I was fragile.
I was a bit guarded, but I was asurprised guest with everyone
else to the exchanging of vowsbetween two diehard fans of
Canadian music and CBC radiothree, an important staple in my
life and my band's success.
And my appreciation turned tohumble tears as Kathy started

(01:25):
her vows to Russ with the line.
If"This Is It".
A clear reference to my band'sbig song on Radio 3, before
continuing to sprinkle her vowswith popular lyrics in a
beautiful exchange of love.
And finally, the third entry,and perhaps most surprising, a
small backroom bar on WhyteAvenue in Edmonton, Alberta,

(01:47):
Alberta.
In 2016, where a couple dozenyoung aspiring young singers had
signed up for a workshop fornext level vocals with a voice
coach from the popular TV show,The Voice.
But no one, least of all, myselfwas prepared for the way Tamara
Beatty could transform a youngvolunteer from brave, but

(02:08):
faltering to shining and emotingand belting out notes.
She clearly never thought shecould embody.
It was spontaneous, organic.
and deeply moving to witness thepurest version of a young heart
being given new life.
Tamara Beatty has been a voicecoach consultant on NBC's The

(02:29):
Voice for over 20 seasons.
As well as other similar showslike Fox's The Masked Singer,
Fox's I Can See Your Voice, andmost recently Apple TV's My Kind
of Country.
She has impacted hundreds ofsingers through workshops and
lessons, worked with majorrecording artists for vocal
arranging and emergency toursupport, and developed her own

(02:53):
coaching platform calledVoiceFit to help reach more
singers through an app availablein 2025.
This is Almost Famous Enough.
My name is Glen Erickson.
Thank you, as always, forspending your time with us.
This is Tamara Beatty.

Glen Erickson (03:30):
it's great.
It's great.

Tamara (03:31):
Awesome.

I mean, first and foremost tomorrow, we already
said, like, it's great to seeyou.
It's been a really long

Tamara (03:37):
It's been a really long time,

Yeah, I can't remember the last I mean, this
isn't technically face to face,but I can't even remember
exactly the last face to face.
So I mean,

Tamara (03:48):
many years.

is you haven't changed a bit,

Tamara (03:51):
Well, I don't know, but I appreciate that.
I would say the same about you.

you look like, like, we've known each other 10
years now.
And you look Exactly how Iexpected from meeting

Tamara (04:01):
well, that's great.
Maybe we shouldn't meet inperson just in case that's not
so,

don't, don't ruin it.

Tamara (04:07):
yeah, right.

That's completely, that's completely
fair.
So where are you sitting rightnow?

Tamara (04:12):
I am sitting in my little place in a loft in
upstate New York.

Okay.
And for a Canadian boy like me,who doesn't pay enough
attention, when someone saysupstate New York, what does that
actually mean compared to NewYork?
New York.
Okay.

Tamara (04:31):
New York, really, because I guess, you know,
there's New York city, by theway, I'm really bad at
geography, but I think I gotthis one.
So we've got New York city downsouth basically.
And that's like Manhattan, theboroughs, all those sorts of
things.
And then.
North is upstate and we're evenmore north central New York.
So it's about two and a halfhours to Canada.

(04:54):
So it's not too far south fromthe border.

Okay.
So thank you so much by the wayfor joining me and for doing
this with me like so II alreadysaid like I met you 10 years ago
you know through a function uhan event thing where obviously
you were showing up to be avoice coach and since that time
I have said at many times inmany different places.

(05:19):
I think everybody have a momentwith Tamara Beattie

Tamara (05:23):
Oh, thank you.

Uh, no, I sincerely mean it.
I think that, what you do and,the impact you have and all of
that, I've just seen it.
in lots of different situationsand I think it's amazing and
I've always liked that everyartist should have an
opportunity in particular meetyou spend time with you, uh, I
mean, I don't have I don't havepersonal experience with a bunch

(05:45):
of other voice or performancecoaches So, you know, maybe
you're sitting there saying wellGlen's only seen one There's
like lots of good ones outthere, but I feel like I and
others that I know have you knowstruck at rich and hit gold by,
you being the first, uh, vocaland performance coaches that
kind of really their way intoour life.

(06:07):
So, um, there's like so manythings I could talk to you about
a, because we haven't talked ina really long

Tamara (06:14):
Yeah.

many things we could talk about, be like, just
the way.
That I feel like there's a lotof value in telling stories,
which is why I'm doing this,could probably go a lot of
directions.
So I just want, you know, Idon't have some like particular
set put that I'm going to try toget out of it, which even when
we were exchanging questions,uh, outside of this, uh, you

(06:38):
know, I appreciate your level ofpreparation, so let me let me
start here with this.
So, even in trying to thinkabout what your title was, I
most often just think of you asa voice and performance coach.
And I and I've known for that.
I think you.
know, you got this long, prettylong and impressive list of like

(07:01):
credits and things that you'veworked for or been a part of.
And, I think what makes it thehardest for me and maybe others
is, that the fact that you'reassociated with it.
Television show called TheVoice, which then means not to
use the word voice coach becauseit's sort of redundant

Tamara (07:19):
right?

and the branding versus what you do and that they
call the people on the show acoach.
So both of those words all of asudden feel like off limits and
change it, but at your core whoyou are outside of that part of
what you do for portions of theyear.
Is that still how you defineyourself when you go out, if you
do speaking engagements, whenyou do workshops or lessons or

(07:42):
any of that kind of stuff?
Is it still voice andperformance coach or has that
evolved?

Tamara (07:46):
I think I would still say voice and performance coach,
or vocal and performance coach.
I guess at the heart of it, likethere's so many different types
of vocal coaches.
There are people who they vocalarrange and they're really
amazing at that.
Other people work more with, Iguess people who are interested
in with choirs and things likethat, so we've got that.

(08:07):
sort of lane, um, people who dosay weekly lessons and they see
somebody all the time andthey're helping with
development.
And for me, I've kind of landed,you know, a long time ago now,
but in the lane of industry.
Voice coach, basically.
So just working with people inthe industry, whether they're on
tour or they're on televisionshows, or they're doing

(08:30):
something kind of, that puts alittle extra demand either on
the body or the voice or themind, and that's sort of the way
that I.
Look at it because there are somany different types of coaches,
but yes, I would say voice andperformance coach.

Well, that's a great point and I want to
earmark that because I thinkwhat I want to get to is sort of
how you landed where you landedand then what that means and I
think talking about what theother things are is really sort
of great to frame that and andin the way that people would
know or understand what or howcoaching happens and where it
happens.
So to jump all the way back toyour kid growing up in Canada

(09:08):
Calgary and obviously you Youwere exposed to music and you
latched on at a pretty youngage, right?
And you're, I mean, a lot of us,you hear this story all the
time, right?
I began singing when I was oldenough to make a sound or
something like that.
So we, a lot of people have thatin their history and you latched
on and you started developing itat a pretty young age, but.

(09:30):
A lot of people that path is atypical path towards i'm trying
to be some version of a singerAnd it very quickly became a
vocal coach for you, and i'mreally interesting interested in
the young age in which thathappened and sort of where those
first opportunities To even dothat and how that happens for a
young person and a young personin canada, right?

(09:52):
Not terribly close or connected

Tamara (09:55):
No,

the industry to

Tamara (09:56):
small town.
Yeah.

very far from the industry, too so

Tamara (10:01):
Yes,

could you sort of like paint a little picture
about how that developed foryou?

Tamara (10:06):
sure.
So when I was younger, I don'tthink I ever immediately said
I'm going to be a singer or I'mgoing to be a coach.
I was just sort of.
Doing life and that involvedmostly sports.
I would say when I was youngerfor fun, I loved sports.
So it kind of started off thereand it wasn't until I think I

(10:28):
was in grade four where my dad,he thought that I made too many
mouth sounds.
Like I would try and make carsounds and, you know, make all
sorts of sounds of any type.
And then they said, well, wouldyou like to take singing
lessons?
And I was like.
Sure.
I never even knew about it.
I never even heard about it.
I hadn't thought of myself as asinger or anything like that.

(10:50):
So I took a bus, you know, fromthe school I was at to another
little town that had an evensmaller town than I was from,
and I just took this weeklylesson and my teacher was.
Really just cool.
She was just this really nicelady who did lessons in her home
and she was just veryencouraging for me.

(11:11):
And it was her who, when I was16, she said that it was time
for me to start teaching.
So that was actually reallycool.
It wasn't like I had this idea.
She came to me with,

So was she thinking you should start
teaching in your home too andnot necessarily telling you to
go be an international coach?
Or what, what was the, I, I'mbeing a little tongue in cheek,
but what was sort of the, thething that she saw and that, you
know, that you've sort of fromthat?
Hmm.

Tamara (11:44):
I don't know what she saw.
I have seen her like, I don'tknow, probably 12 years ago.
I got, I got to see her again.

Hmm.

Tamara (11:52):
it was, I had like this little event that they were
honoring me for something and,um, I invited her cause I was
thinking, you know, she's reallythe one who, I don't know, maybe
I would have still become that,but I.
Really value that she did seesomething in me that could
amount to being a coach.
And I just took it and ranbasically.

(12:12):
So I started up my little kindof coaching business from my
home.
I had no idea about theindustry.
I still, you know, it's not likeI was trying to be a pop singer,
even when I was younger.
I was doing Italian arias andall sorts of different
languages.
And I just really enjoyed that.
And I just look, you know,forward to the recitals that she

(12:32):
held all the time.
That was basically.
It, I was very into sports.
So sports was my main thinggrowing up.
Um, I ended up kind of trainingwith a few different coaches and
that was sort of my main focus.
But singing along the way wassomething that, you know, I went
to weekly and I just loved.

And what, what was the sports, what were you
pursuing?

Tamara (12:56):
So it was really track and field was the main one.
I mean, I did volleyball, but Iwould say track and field was
where I kind of got the farthestand felt like it was like my.
my sport.
So I did like a 400 hurdles.
Uh, I did the 400, but I wasn'tas good at the 400.
I more excelled at the hurdlesand triple jump.

(13:16):
Those are kind of my big events.

And so if you like, you said you sort of
excelled, like excelled to thelevel where you're getting
personal coaching.

Tamara (13:26):
Well, yeah.
So basically like in Canada,there's your little teams and
then you go to these meets andthen you can qualify for
different things.
And so, you know, I qualifiedfor nationals and then for
worlds and I was kind of just inthat little.
world

Yeah.

Tamara (13:44):
going to track meets all of the time.

And there's a lot of coaching built in for that.
I just ask, cause I know likethis is a big part of how you've
constructed kind of the way you.
Teach

Tamara (13:54):
I think it's the biggest

Yeah,

Tamara (13:56):
impact that I've had in order to bring over to my voice
coaching.
Like, I think I would have beena coach no matter what

yeah.

Tamara (14:06):
thing I was coaching.
I do think I would have been acoach and I just love the coach
experience.
I love being coached.
I value that very much.
I love the trusted relationshipyou have with somebody where you
can say, okay, I trust you.
Tell me what to do.
And you can trust that they'renot only going to give you the
things to do, but also try andgive the, give it to you in a

(14:27):
way which feeds your motivationand doesn't deter you.
And so it's like that strategybehind it and, you know, helping
somebody have a really strongmindset.
Cause a lot of coaching at anindustry level is, you know,
Really, mostly requires having,you know, the people that you
work with be able to withstand alot of demands, even mental and

(14:52):
physical demands, not justsinging demands.
So that is kind of where I feellike the heart of my coaching
comes from is literally mysports coaching.

And did you did you put that together when you
started to see that at thatlevel?
Or had you started to makeconnections way earlier in your
own development of your coachingstyle?

Tamara (15:13):
I did not realize it was kind of the main thing that
propelled, I guess, was themotor behind my coaching until I
started working on The Voice.
Because I realized that whenyou're working on the show, it's
like this perfect blend of voicecoaching, like actually helping
somebody sing, but also thiskind of high performance

(15:36):
competition, being able to, youknow, bring out their best,
elicit their best performance,you know, before.
A very big opportunity and themindset that comes with that and
all the strategy.
So I was like, Oh, wow.
Like I love this.
I was thinking about how can Iperiodize people's voices to
peak at a certain time, becausethat's how my training was.

(15:57):
I always made sure that peoplecould peak at the moment they
needed to peak.
So I started being reallystrategic about, you know,
giving people exercises and thework that I would do with them
to help them.
peak on the day of their bigperformance, essentially.

So, going to ask sort of the ignorant question
that I think maybe a lot ofpeople listening would ask, it
doesn't seem like you quoteunquote, go to school for a
career as a vocal coach.
there's a lot of them.
And if you were to like andGoogle who the top voice coaches
in the industry are right likeyou'd get a pretty long list of

(16:37):
a lot of people, and some whoare maybe well known names for
something, but all have likegone through this thing so.
And is everybody developingtheir own method and style in a,
in a silo or how does having acareer as long as yours, right?
And sort of having a shouldershoulder with all these peers,

(16:58):
how is everybody developing acareer as a vocal coach and your
own style and techniques and allof that?

Tamara (17:04):
Oh, that's a great question.
No one has ever asked me that.
Definitely.
There hasn't been programs forbecoming a vocal coach.
I'm, I'm sure that there arelike programs are definitely
things for like vocal pedagogyto understand, like courses
where you're understanding thepedagogy, the anatomy and all
those sorts of things.
And then there's these sidecourses that people have put on,

(17:26):
um, to help with like vocalrehabilitation.
Rehabilitation restoration andthings like that.
Um, but a lot of it isExperience based and then
sometimes you get thrown in asituation and then you kind of
go from there.
But essentially to me There'sthe coaching element and then
there's the content.
So the being a good coach isThat's my most important thing

(17:50):
that I care about is beingsomebody who can listen and
collaborate And try and dothings For the best benefit of
whoever I'm working with.
It's one thing to see somebodyand go, okay, they need this,
this, this, and this, and I'mgoing to tell them all those
things that they need.
And then, you know, looking atthe situation and going, well.

(18:12):
What's the one thing that wecould do that will take them to
where they need to go?
And I try and do that so thatpeople aren't overwhelmed and
that we've got a real clear kindof path forward and that people
See gains right away.
So to me, it's like the coachingand so I didn't like learn
anywhere It was just I think waspart of my upbringing and I have

(18:32):
like a whole family of educatorsI did do a degree in education.
Although I just Feel like it wassomething in me maybe from a
young age, but the contentitself, you know, there's lots
of places you can getinformation, but I think it's,
it's most important when you'reusing that.
And so people can develop theirown methods, but I think a lot

(18:53):
of people just.
Get told something and then theyregurgitate it.
And there's nothing wrong withthat, but I think it's very
important to have thatexperience and to work with a
lot of different types ofvoices.
So you know what things work fordifferent people and what things
do not.

Yeah, Okay.

Tamara (19:13):
Did I answer that?

yeah, you want to answer it beautifully.
Of course.
That's great.
Like I, I recognize that there'sa lot of ambiguity to that
anyhow, right?
I like I fully understand that.
Uh, I think that there's somany, uh, aspects in this
vertical of pursuing a life inmusic, whether it be as the
artist itself, or you end upsomewhat adjacent in the

(19:36):
industry of most people allrelate to.
There was nowhere to go toschool for this, right?
Like my friends who are reallygreat promoters.
They were in bands for a while,

Tamara (19:49):
Right.

see how the business runs and then when they
stopped being in a band butdidn't want to be out of music,
that's the thing that made senseto them and they started to
apply what they knew.
So it's everything feels on thejob.
So I totally get that.
And I think there's just acuriosity about how the on the
job part develops for you,right?
That's a little bit different.

Tamara (20:11):
Yeah, I mean, I started when I was 16, like I said, and
I had my own little studio and Ikind of learned like that.
And then when I was, I think itwas 18 or 19, I ended up in, in
Maui actually, cause my sisterlived there and, uh, Trying to
make this story short, I wouldsay that I had this book from a

(20:32):
voice coach that my dad hadpurchased for me and somebody in
Maui was, you know, saying thatthey were teaching this method.
And so I ended up going to themand long story short, I ended up
finding myself to the mainteacher, um, who is Seth Riggs,
actually.
Um,

He's on

Tamara (20:49):
so.

you Google people,

Tamara (20:52):
Yes, if you Google people and so are a lot of
people who tout themselves asthe best.
They're there, they're there,they're there too, but that
doesn't mean that they're notawesome.
But, um, yeah, and so he isobviously a very influential
kind of a, a coach and, youknow, I definitely have enjoyed
watching him coach and, um,trying to be delicate here

(21:17):
because it's, you know, what'sreally weird about vocal
coaching is it's a verycompetitive type of a world,
which is so, so odd.
It's a lot of coaches mightfeel, Oh, I have all the answers
and your answers are wrong orwhatever.
But

hmm.

Tamara (21:34):
the truth is it's the artist who has all the answers
and.
To me, a good coaching is, iswhen you can unlock the answers
within the artist right there.
So it's really not about havingall of the answers and
descending those answers uponpeople.
It's just.
About like looking and listeningand going, ah, this is what we

(21:56):
can do.
And sure, there's methods and,um, tactics to go about it, but
to me, they are not The supremefocus and no particular method
has ever been a supreme focus tome.
In fact, I've tried very hardnot to get too involved in too
many methods because I, I wantto really know what I think

(22:17):
inside

so when I said at the beginning, like I would love
for everybody and I've alwaysfelt like I think every artist
should be able to have time withyou.
It comes from the fact that Igot to watch you firsthand in a
number of circumstances, right?
And I got to watch you in thatweird peak performance project
bootcamp, which I know, uh,people listening won't
understand, but we had adevelopment program the focal

(22:42):
point of this program was like abootcamp.
It wasn't a bootcamp because itwas the most beautiful camp in

Tamara (22:48):
It was awesome.

this lake.
It was the most gorgeous placein, in interior BC.
Um, and it was wonderful, but itwas full of isolation.
There was bad wifi and peoplewere, you know, long hours in
the day going throughdevelopment classes, sessions,
workshops, singing, writing,performing, the whole

Tamara (23:07):
Mm-hmm

and, um, for some strange reason, the original
organizers had set up when everyartist that got into this thing
would do their performance ontheir night, like three or four
at night, like American Idol,like Simon Cowell them

Tamara (23:25):
I know.

panel and you got introduced to this to be part of
this panel, which felt like sonow I know you and I'm like,
that's so counter to yourpersonality to be put up there
as if you're going to critiquethese people you don't even know
after three songs.

Tamara (23:39):
You know what was so weird?
Can I just say something?

yeah.

Tamara (23:42):
You know, it was so weird to me is.
Um, you know, we started seeingall of these people go, um, and
then we would speak after and Irealized after and in their, you
know, expressions that they didnot know that was happening or
expect it to happen.
And that's when I was like, Ohman, because I've had that
happen to me before where you'redoing something and then all of

(24:03):
a sudden someone critiques youlike out of the blue and you're
like, what, what's going on?
Like, and so I'm very,

what was, what was happening, right?

Tamara (24:12):
exactly.
So like, I was watching thatgoing, Oh my gosh.
So I tried myself to, you know,I had been in those shoes and
it's, you don't want to bedefensive to the information
coming towards you.
Like you want to be able toreceive it.
Um, but anyways, I thought thatwas just like, just like a
little funny little side thathappened.

(24:33):
I was like, Oh no.

I can expand this side.
I mean, backstory for anyonelistening even further than what
we already said.
So there's this, the radiostations created, they created
this program, a developmentprogram, but it was slash
contest because it was driven byradio funded money that they had
to contribute when they opened anew station in Canada over a
seven year period.
And someone had this great idea.

(24:55):
To work with them to create adevelopment program for artists.
So, so what satisfies radio ishaving a contest with a big
prize at the end, cause it'seasier to sell that on the air
and the other half of the money,we were able to fashion a
development program for artists.
So very few high, highlycompetitive to get in odds, then
of being able to win a lot ofmoney.

(25:17):
And I've already interviewedJared of the Royal foundry.

Tamara (25:20):
Ah, yeah, totally.

got shredded their first year and then came
back wonderfully and won the

Tamara (25:26):
And one, yeah.

K the second time.
But, so this performance, yeah,they did.
And so, okay.
So the funny backstory to me,even about this Simon Cowling
moment, uh, cause you were on apanel with Ryan Guldemond of
Mother, Mother,

Tamara (25:42):
Yes,

else from the industry, I think someone from
Warner or Universal

Tamara (25:46):
was four of us at the beginning.
And Yes.

some industry people, but so the funny part to
me, I'm going to give you, Ican't remember if I told you the
story, but here's my funnyperspective 2014.
This is when I met you, right?

Tamara (26:00):
Yeah.

meet, we meet in the airport at Kelowna where
we're getting picked up to getdriven into interior British
Columbia

Tamara (26:07):
Oh, right.
'cause we were in the van,

And I only knew who you were as somebody because
I was a person I was on theboard that ran the whole thing
right

Tamara (26:16):
right?

also doing sessions on social media
training so, but we're in thevan I arrive in Kelowna we get
picked up.
I don't remember even who wasdriving who picked us up but
needless to say, here's thefunny thing so it's going to
speak

Tamara (26:30):
no.
What is it?

Well, it's gonna, no, it's going to embarrass me
because, uh, I mean, it speaksto very typical sexism in the
industry without even thinkingabout it.
way we put labels or expectationon some people.
So the funny, but it's humorous.
I can laugh at myself now.
you were dressed so, like youwere so normal is the

Tamara (26:55):
I was gonna say, I don't think, yeah,

You were wearing like, Shorts and a t shirt with
no bright, flashy colors.
Your hair was probably pulledup.
Like you looked like you, youknow, you could have been a mom
or you could have been a, youknow, a kindergarten teacher.
You could have been like allkinds of

Tamara (27:12):
sure.

You could have been an office worker.
You could have, you could havebeen just look like you were
just on your off day is what itreally looked like.
Right.
So very unbecoming.
Um, and then.
We had to stop and I only bringup how you look, sorry, not to
be like a rude, but plays intothe story of how easily we
create assumptions orexpectations when we see people.

(27:35):
And especially in this industrytowards women, which is
obviously completely unfair.
Um, then we stop on the waycause you had to get straws, but
a particular kind of straw ofthese very small, like coffee

Tamara (27:49):
All the singers know about straws and semi occlusion
now, but back then they did it.
I

they didn't.
And so we had to find this veryparticular in this industrial
part of Kelowna and get thesestraws

Tamara (28:01):
forgot if what that,

just remember like it wasn't a problem, but
I'm like, this is kind of weird.
And then get to Kelowna, we getto the camp and, you know,
normal things happen and supperand all this kind of stuff.
And then we come back and it'sfirst night of performances.
And then you come back andyou've gotten dressed for the
occasion, you've done your hair,all this kind of stuff, you come

(28:23):
back, you're a dynamic, veryoutgoing and charismatic, very
attractive person, you came backand just changed the temperature
of the room, um, at first in thewrong way.
I'm, I'm saying this to like, atmy own shame and everyone
else's, which is like, Oh, nowshe looked, you know what I

(28:44):
mean?
Like, did we, she looks likesomething else than what we

Tamara (28:48):
oh,

thought

Tamara (28:49):
this was all new to me.

I know that's why I'm telling you I'm being
transparent about it, eventhough it makes me look like an
ass, but, it happened and thensomeone saying, I don't know if
you remember he did.
He was a solo artist.

Tamara (29:02):
Yes I do.

and then you stood up and you started.
in a very kind of a direct waystart talking about to his
performance more than his vocaland you were naming the loop
station that he was using andthe particular nuances of it and
so you had this technicalexpertise immediately you spoke
intelligently to how it moveinto his ability to perform and

(29:28):
not get distracted with his,what he was doing, which was
taking away from his vocal andyou were interpreting what you
thought he was trying to do, butmissing.
Anyhow, you, you spoke withsuch, uh, an incredible
intelligence, confidence,experience.
I think it was that it's abeautiful moment because it made
people like me all of a suddenbe like, Oh, I'm such a typical

(29:52):
idiot in

Tamara (29:54):
Hmm.

of somebody who has every right to be here.
It has nothing to do with howshe looks.
It has nothing to do with any ofthat kind of stuff.
It has everything to do with thefact that.
You have something unique andspecial to offer and you just
stepped up stood up to amicrophone in real time as you
just described on your ownperspective realized how weird

(30:18):
and awkward this stupid thingwas and that it was happening
from the person on stage, butyou delivered it and it was so
impactful to so many people.
That's my sidebar to that wholestory about you.
So it, I'm sure you've probablyencountered that a lot in the
industry, different places ortime to time.

(30:38):
Um, but yeah, I, I always was soimpressed.
So those moments for me, Tamara,as well as I've seen you do
workshops, right?
They, they would bring youthrough and do workshops and
artists were invited to theseworkshops like live in a.
In a back room of a bar andpeople would have to step up and
volunteer to sing and then youwould live coach with

Tamara (31:00):
That's my favorite.
Yeah.

Yeah, the long and McQuaid ones.
So the reason I bring all ofthis up.
Is to say what I've seen you inthese different rooms with
people, either performance or,or vocal coaching, and you had
tipped on previously, you know,just this sense that you would
have about things or you'd pickup on, and I'm wondering how

(31:23):
much you've reflected or thoughtabout your own personal
empathetic skill.
Is that what you draw things outof people?
Because what I've seen that's sospecial about you is that it's
not technique, you were talkingabout technique and things
before, but what you'vedeveloped, because there's no
school for it, Is this abilityto see something beyond just

(31:47):
what someone's technically I'mjust, how did that come about
for you?
Where did you start to tap in?
When did you first seevalidation and these results
come out that were somethingspecial?

Tamara (32:01):
Well, I don't know that I had any particular moment, um,
but I can say that being seen,feeling like someone has seen me
is the most wonderful,heartwarming, special thing.
And that's probably the mostimportant thing for me when I'm

(32:23):
working with someone is thatthey are feeling seen and we go
from there.
That's where we start.
Because if we can start there,then we can always.
Get to the next level togetherreally well, um, I know when I
was younger, I.
When I was 16, I had one of mylittle clients, she's just a

(32:45):
young girl and I got to do aTEDx talk.
I have a whole story about thatwhole thing, but I'll put that
on the side and say that I toldthis story in there, which was,
you know, I had this young girland I felt like she.
And it wasn't singing strong.
And so I used all the techniquesthat I knew, you know, how to

(33:07):
project more and articulate andall those sorts of things.
Um, but I remember feeling likethere was something blocking
her, like something muting hervoice.
And I found out later that, uh,her father had been abusing her
and I had in my, even I was only16, I remember thinking, I'm

(33:30):
going to help this.
Girl know and find her voice.
And my mom kind of mentionedthat to me.
She said, you know, you know,help her find her voice.
And I learned that it was reallynot anything to do with
technique, although those thingsare very helpful.
It was.
Something else behind there.

(33:50):
And so I guess, I guess fromthat point, I, I knew that the
voice was a window intosomething so much more, and that
window has always interested meand I've always felt like it was
a sacred window and it'ssomething that when I'm working
with somebody, I feel likethey're allowing me, whether
they know it or not, to seesomething inside of them and

(34:13):
that.
space, um, I guess is the spacewe're talking about.
And it's, to me, it's thissacred space.
So I did notice that like a longtime ago, but you know, it's not
like every session is like thisdeep thing, but it's, it's more
like knowing that we're allhuman, we're all people, we all

(34:35):
want to be living a life that wewant to live.
And I feel like.
As singers, when someone comesto me to sing, I'm helping them
live kind of a passion throughin their life.
And that gives me thatopportunity to use that window,
whether that's a deep moment ora fun moment or something, but

(34:58):
it's, you know, to, to get inand really help this person do
and be something in life andstep up and be themselves more
potently.
Like I love, that's what I love.

Well, I mean, because I've seen you literally
do this and I remember onedistinctly here in Edmonton,
actually, again, it was one ofthese workshops.
I think you were brought in andsponsored and different artists
had to come in to watch butvolunteer to go up.
this is so improvisational.
And this is where I think any ofus, like, if any of us love

(35:34):
acting, you get floored.
When you go to improv and seethat skill that somebody can in
a moment, right, just puttogether so many things and read
the room and the people are withand then have this output.
So that's what, what I thinkfelt so magical, but I, I'm not
trying to have hyperbole here,Tamara, like.

(35:56):
Almost every time I've seen youdo this, I've felt emotional
that that someone can connect sodeeply to that, know, and so
what I'm curious about for you,because it's more than just the
voice, but at the same time, itis the voice.
So what what are you looking forin these, frankly,

(36:18):
improvisational moments withsomebody that you're working
with?
You have to be looking for a keyor an anchor or some thing or
way in to understand or see thatthing that's deeper.
What are the signs for you?

Tamara (36:32):
Well, that's a great question.
Am I looking for something?
I'm not intentionally lookingfor something.
I think I'm,

angle, but

Tamara (36:40):
I'm really listening.
I think that's definitely, I'mreally like, I'm listening with
my eyes and my ears and my, itkind of sounds weird, but my
energy just sort of.
Watching and feeling and, uh,receiving, and then you get, you
just pick up things that, um,you know, that are very special

(37:04):
about somebody or that if theycould turn the volume up on.
And it's usually not the thingsthat they think it's, we get
told what we're great at often.
Like someone says, Oh, you're sogood at that.
I love it when you hit the highnotes.
And then that person develops anidentity around, I sing high
notes and then we start goingdown that route and there's
nothing wrong with that, but itcan really cast a shadow over

(37:26):
all these other little nuancesand things and cause us not to
connect.
And so if we can kind of setthat aside and just focus in on
one thing, and it doesn't evenhave to be a singing thing.
Sometimes it really, reallybrings out somebody's magic and
that really excites me, Ibelieve we all have like
something magical in us, and ifwe just.

(37:48):
Can allow the parts to cometogether, that magic can, can
really pop.
So I don't know that I'm lookingfor any particular signs.
I, to me, I'm just, just beingreally present and really
listening, I guess.

well, that makes a lot of sense.
And to be honest, it's even moreimpressive because you're doing
it the sake of not beingdistracted by being in a room
full of onlookers and people.
And no, I mean, I've done lotsof public speaking stuff.
So the ability to be so presentand listen, you know what I
mean?
With an audience, but be sofocused in on the person that

(38:27):
you're doing that with is alsoseems, like just a pretty unique
skill.
So, so all of this lands you inLA.
And that's where like a prettyyoung still in your career.
You make a connection with thetv show right to start doing
that version of of coaching andthat's obviously I'm making an

(38:48):
assumption but I'm hoping I'mright that that's what really
has changed a lot of thetrajectory of how things have
played out for you in yourcareer.
I'm wondering so how do you makethat connection through
somebody?
and what does What does thatlook like?
How does that change things foryou and what you thought maybe
your plan or your future was atthat time?

Tamara (39:10):
Well, I didn't have any.
Plans or aims to do anythingparticular.
I just had sort of woke up everyday, like I did when I was
training.
I just had something I wanted todo, a plan, a determination.
And then I just woke up and didit, I guess.

hmm.

Tamara (39:25):
And it's the same thing with music and coaching.
I just kind of followed thebreadcrumbs like, Oh, there's
this breadcrumb.
That seems fun.
And I just kept going and Ididn't have any strategy towards
it at all.
And then, you know, I just wouldgo to events.
It's all about people really.

hmm.

Tamara (39:41):
You know, people see you sing and, or, you know, you
start, I, I volunteer to do somework for some university
professors and, um, help maketheir course materials and
people, Oh, you, you can makecourse materials.
It's kind of like that.
Maybe I was underestimated anddidn't even realize, like, I
guess being underestimated to meis, is very valuable.

(40:04):
I'm not trying to beunderestimated or overestimated,
but I have learned that it's,

I'm

Tamara (40:10):
it's,

that statement.

Tamara (40:11):
it's valuable because you know, you have no pressure
upon you and you just can followand do what you want to do and
know what you need to do.
And That's, that's that.
So I, I hadn't really everconsidered that somebody,
underestimated me or whatever.
I just like, it wasn't even likea concern in my head.

(40:34):
I was just doing my thing, notworried about, I can really say
that.
I really was not.
Right now with social media, Ifeel like it's very, very
difficult to do somethingwithout the intention of showing
it or sharing it at some point.
Right.
That's one like confrontation Ihave with social media that I
haven't been able to come topeace with because my whole kind

(40:58):
of upbringing

performative

Tamara (41:00):
that, well, I'm sure it's not, but.
I would say that I started tofeel pressure when I think about
social media, like I have to dosomething or show up somewhere
and take a picture when normallyI would just enjoy the event or
just enjoy people, you know, Ireally am not interested in
telling everybody what I'mdoing.
Right.

(41:21):
So this kind of mindset and, um,action was, I think what got me.
Wherever I got, you know, and Ijust went along and I met
people.
I didn't have an aim to getsomething from them.
I just made friends.
And it was through a friendactually, who I'd made at an
event who, um, ended up being ina position to be asked, you

(41:43):
know, can you think of any vocalcoaches?
And I got.
Mentioned and apparently I gotmentioned somewhere else and
that's how that connectionhappened when I went to The
Voice and I literally got aphone call out of the blue.
I was very shocked about it.
Um, but yeah, it did change thetrajectory mostly I think
because obviously the platform,but I think because it made me

(42:07):
realize what I loved.
So much.
And that was that melding of artperformance, high performance,
kind of put my two worlds of mytwo loves.
Actually, my three loves love,like I was always interested in
education.

(42:27):
I was always interested in sportand I was always interested in
music.
So it's like my three loves sortof came together with this
particular platform.

So how, what were the things about how you're
involved with these aspiringartists on that kind of a show
that, that's particularly likethe way you just described
resonated with, yeah, this iswhat I want to do.
This is what I love.

Tamara (42:51):
Well, it was, yeah, even more of the opportunity allowed
me to do workshops too, andwell, I shouldn't say it allowed
me to do them.
It's what I ended up realizing.
I was like, I wanted to doworkshops and it was actually, I
should, I should re say this,getting this opportunity on The
Voice.
Allowed me kind of anopportunity to see how much I

(43:13):
love this high performance, arteducation, sort of mixed in
together.
And on my off time, I wanted todo more with it.
So I ended up doing theseworkshops and I, I would say
that the workshops and theworking with people in an
improvisatory way, where it'sjust more like you get up on
stage, we.
feel each other out and we tryand, you know, get a big impact

(43:35):
in a very short period of timeis, is also what we're doing on
the show.
So it's that it's partially theshow, but it's mostly like just.
Knowing that, okay, we can do alittle bit of work at a really
big impact.
And I loved that, uh, style ofworking.
And there's, there's a few of usbehind the scenes and that's
what we're doing.
We're always just trying to, theartist really just put their

(43:59):
best foot forward, essentially.
So it involves vocal arrangementand, you know, all sorts of
different things.
We do have movement coaches andthings like that, that help, uh,
make sure that the people feelcomfortable on stage.
and just to work with an amazingteam, then a team at the voice
is top notch, the best of thebest.

And you're being like all throughout the team
they've put together or you meaneven just your vocal team
because there's given time.
Is it the same number of youthat are all doing the same sort
of role with with the artistback behind the scenes?

Tamara (44:36):
No, actually.
Well, there, we started off withfour of us and, uh, uh,
unfortunately our fourth or likeour, one of our coaches passed
away this last year.
Yeah.
Debra Bird and.
She was incredible.
So we've felt a real hole thislast couple of seasons, but
we've got Peter Paragolidis andTrelawney Rose, and she's the
head coach.

(44:56):
And, uh, she was the one whohad, you know, mentioned my
name.
So I always thank her verygreatly for.
For being there for me likethat.
Um, she's, she's wonderful andshe leads our vocal team and
it's this vocal team that is tome the best of the best.
I mean, I think that meaning weget along, we see eye to eye, we

(45:20):
really want the best for the,uh, performers.
So essentially.
We're there.
And then as the competition goeson, it always ends up, uh, you
know, with less coaches andTrelawney is there throughout
that whole thing.
So, yeah, so there's not thesame amount of people,

yeah, sorry.
The nature of the show, right.
Is I think this is alwaysinteresting to me.
So the first part of the chairturn, which is so specific, with
this wide range of artists atdifferent skill levels, and
you're trying to either vocalarrange and you're part of
helping their technique and allthese different aspects that
very specific purpose.
But then if they land on theshow, now it's really the comp

(46:04):
that's where the competitionreally.
Starts right of the higherperformance and, and it's a
show.
So there are also, I'm suretrying to build some version of
a trajectory, right?
That always feels like it'sgoing up,

Tamara (46:16):
yeah.
And like you say, there's justdifferent, like.
Kind of coaching were ondifferent aspects of the show.
And we don't necessarily have,it's not like our team now and
we go on and the, you know, thecelebrity coaches, they, they're
working with them and they're,they are coaching them.
And, you know, kind of, we dokind of behind the scenes stuff,

(46:36):
but the.
The blind audition is a bigmoment of high performance
because it's their first time onthat stage with that pressure
and going out It's very quiet.
Nobody's saying anything.
Nobody knows you yet.
You know, it's Most people tellus they black out, you know, so
you're kind of trying to helpthem in those moments before to

(46:58):
Measure their breathing and keeptheir, you know, either emotions
and state high or lower thatdown because of the nerves

Well, and that's interesting that you have
probably that first line ofcontact because those people
also right are just Theyliterally have just come from
their regular lives.
I know they love to tell onthese shows the backstory,
right?
And they will send a camera crewprobably and, and film some
backstory.
So they love to build that.
But the reality is that is wherethey just came from.

(47:29):
And now they're in Hollywood andnow they are on a TV set where
there's so many things going on.
And there's so many delays thatmight start happening and

Tamara (47:40):
Yeah,

There's that are distracting.
You thought you were ready, butthen it's not your time on show.
Like there's these variablesthat go along with it, just
being a television show, and Iassume you're like a first line
of trying to keep that personready or focused or how, you

Tamara (47:57):
yes

that,

Tamara (47:58):
Basically, as vocal coaches, that's what we feel
like our role is, you know, youget them ready and then, you
know, you're trying to help themdeliver.
It's like one thing to be readyand then to actually deliver and
execute that under, you know, alot of pressure is another
thing.
So like you say, there's lotsof.
Things going on, lots of lights,camera action, type of a

(48:20):
situation.
Sometimes a lot of waiting,sometimes not.
So to me, these are the detailsof the industry.
And that is, goes back to thatoriginal point that I had said
in the very beginning, I'd saythe difference between a certain
like singing coaching andsomebody who's working with,
let's say working singers.
And you're just dealing withthese aspects that you just

(48:42):
can't know or have the knowledgethat they're.
Yeah.
Even there and how to deal withthem if you're not in them.
And so that's what a platformlike this offers.
It's like, here you go.
Here's the situation.
Let's see if you deal with it.

Yeah,

Tamara (49:01):
and it's great.
20

show, because you're on a lot of shows, but
yeah, so in that show, we don'tsee you, right?
But that specific sort ofelement, uh, I think
historically got it.
really focused in on on theAmerican Idol version where have
their Hollywood week and youwould see them interact with

(49:27):
vocal coaches and you know thetwo in the morning tears where
they put them under thisincredible bootcampy pressure
and the story that often Getstied along with that.
It's like, this is the careeryou're, you're possibly stepping
into.
So this is in a lot of ways,preparing you for the pressures

(49:47):
and the, and all these kinds ofthings.
So they, they try to focus onthat.
So have you felt, I guess thisis a step back, bigger picture
question.
Cause how many seasons have younow been able to do with the
voice?
So it's a lot.

Tamara (50:04):
something.
Yeah, I have to add to that.

I thought.
Yeah, so that's a lot ofexperience seeing a lot of
people.
I'm very curious what you feellike some of the common threads
that you start because in anyjob, it's like when I've done
this long enough, you stop beingsurprised by some things you
start to be able to categorize.
Things just mentally, right?

(50:27):
So subconsciously, but I'mwondering when you see people
who are all in the same place ofaspiring careers, and they think
this is the door for it.
And you're seeing them in thatfront line of.
Probably facing the question isan athlete at practice when
they're in the dirt, right oflike, do I have what it takes so

(50:50):
what are the common, what aresome of the things you just feel
are that you've seen that arereally common that people share
those in those moments that andwhere they're coming from.

Tamara (51:01):
Yeah, it's interesting.
Well, definitely the element ofa television show is just.
Um, different than anything,even if you've been on tour,
we've had some people who've,you know, been really in, had
big careers in touring, but justthis film aspect is, is a little
bit different.
Right.
And there's, there's a wholebunch of behind the scenes
things that happen.
anybody who's an inspiringartist is, you know, trying to,

(51:25):
like I said, put their best footforward.
And some people have a reallystrong belief about what they
can do.
Other people get shaken by beingin a situation like that.
Um.
You know, some people who've gota lot of skill doubt themselves
and some people who don't haveas much, they might feel really
confident.
So it's like this whole mix andit's like that just in sessions

(51:49):
too when I'm working withpeople.
Um, so that's a real commonthing that I found just across,
across the board.
But in general, I think thatwhen they come there, they Have
been casted essentially rightthere already.
They've been cast.
I should say they are alreadythere for a particular reason
and so they're really justexcited to be around other

(52:12):
singers usually and Just try notto get knocked off your game.
That's it.
Just keep doing what you do.

So I think, yeah, I think what makes that show and
some other ones like it, thatversion of the competition
different than some of the otherones, like you've worked on The
Masked Singer and I Can See YourVoice.
And, um, sorry, I just forgotthe name of the country one, the
more recent.

Tamara (52:37):
Oh My Kind of Country the Apple

My kind of country show on Apple TV, that
traditional singing competitionwith this.
the dream is sort of thisunderlying, like, it's kind of
the pitch of a lot of theseshows, right?
And watching people on theirdream and An audience embracing

(52:59):
someone that becomes theirfavorite is a big part of I
think how these things areshaped right they want people to
connect with somebody who's like

Tamara (53:08):
Connection.
Yeah.

that's representing all of us who, who
are pouring their heart out andtaking a risk to have the thing
that they have always wanted andhope for so, I've had some
thoughts on this inconversations and I think your
behind the scenes perspective isinteresting to me then about,
you know, in the music industrythat gets looked down on, right?

(53:31):
The whole, I go win some bigcompetition, I get to skip about
five steps on the ladder tohaving a career where everybody
else has to go through somegrueling circuit, right?
To, to try to grow their careerand get noticed.
And, and.
As if it, but as if itinvalidates the authenticity of

(53:53):
whether that person should havea career or not, because they
skipped a bunch of steps if a TVshow helped them via exposure or
a contract or money or whateverit is.
And wondering what your thoughtsare about that, about how it
develops people and puts theminto the industry for careers.

(54:13):
What have you had thoughts aboutthat over your time?

Tamara (54:16):
Yeah, I mean Definitely a long time ago.
There was at least a clearladder like you were saying like
there's The steps, somebody is agatekeeper.
They're going to put out abetter ladder for you at some
point,

Yeah.

Tamara (54:33):
walk up a more golden plated ladder versus a bronze
ladder or something, but withTik TOK and social media and all
of these shows, uh, there are somany different avenues and the
ladder has become a web and thegatekeepers don't.
Have that straight ladder thatyou can climb as much as before

(54:57):
and as a whole.
So I think a lot of people are,could be considered skipping the
queue at this point, likesomebody who does really well on
Tik Tok may or may not havecaught the attention of a
gatekeeper in the past, but may,they might have this little
knack or ability to get peopleto watch.

(55:20):
Um, Whatever that they'reputting out.
So it's kind of like the gamehas changed and it's become a
web, I guess I would say.
So, you know, people are gonnaclimb any area of the web and I
think that those are all validand they're not for everybody,
not every aspect of all of thedifferent opportunities.

(55:43):
Are helpful for people.
I think they're not thenecessarily the best suited.
I think if some, you know, causeI think as singers, we often
think, what is the thing that'smaking me important?
It's my singing.
And we all know that there'smore to it.
There's like that just abilityto connect.

(56:04):
Some singers are not that greatsingers, but they connect so
well,

Yeah,

Tamara (56:09):
or they're really great musicians or they're very good
storytellers.
And so there's all these otheraspects.
And so sometimes like atelevision show can lean on some
of these other aspects a bitmore and give somebody a bit of
exposure with those aspects andallow them to.
Shine a little bit where otherpeople who do well on another

(56:30):
platform don't shine as well inthere So

yeah.

Tamara (56:33):
guess that's the way that I have sought

or some people have more perseverance.
I think this is one factor wedon't always see, right?
Like, I remember a lot of peoplebeing shocked when they found
out, I think, Kelly Clarkson,the first American Idol winner.
And then you find out she hadalready been in LA shopping her
demos for three years orsomething.
Like, I don't know the exacts ofthe story, but you know, it's

(56:57):
not like she was some Kentuckygirl that just showed up on this
show and got discovered the wayit kind of got sold to a lot of
people that perseverance is alsoone of those traits, you know,
that sometimes moreperseverance, um, With less
skill still ends up puts you inthe same place you get to the

Tamara (57:17):
Absolutely,

but your your answer.
fantastic actually, like that'sa great perspective on, it's
almost a delicious irony thatsomething that has like the
budgets of Hollywood behind itis responsible for
decentralizing gatekeepers inthe

Tamara (57:35):
well,

as

Tamara (57:36):
it's probably a part of it, right

one, but it's one of them.
Um, I think it's interesting.
We talk about the circuit,right?
Yeah, I was thinking about, youknow, if you grew up in Canada,
right?
So the circuit was so defined,right?
And I know because I was

Tamara (57:53):
Yeah.
Right.

you get a band, you start playing shows.
If you have three clubs in yourcity, then those you try to get
in the door of all of them.
And then you try to be able toget to the one in the next town.
And then as many that werewithin that eight hour drive
that you could do in a daybecame your circuit.
And then.

Tamara (58:13):
Hmm.

growing, you got across Western Canada, right?
And if you could get to start totour Canada, then you start to
attract maybe agents andindustry people that you need on
a team and managers andpublicists.
And, and it's such a welldefined circuit and everyone.
And there was such harshauthenticity.

(58:35):
Requirement of everybody has topay those dues or you're not
going to get respect

Tamara (58:41):
Right.

which is where I think this idea of winning a
competition, skipping all ofthose steps to also having a
career doesn't make you.
authentic artists, maybe that'swhat the implication is, but I
think the suggestion that thepart of plays in a greater thing
that's happening of removinggatekeepers, um, that while

(59:04):
there's all kinds of value andpaying your dues and the
benefits it gives you, um, everyone of those steps and that
circuit are held by gatekeepersthat also

Tamara (59:17):
Yeah.

of the worst parts of everybody's shared
story of trying to make it.
Uh,

Tamara (59:23):
would be interesting to hear.
Yeah.

that's interesting.
Cause I think what I wonderedwhat your thoughts might be too,
is like, how valid a place doessinging competitions play as a
new part of the circuit or inthat web, as, as you put, like,
these are all like nationalglobal things with very large
budgets and incredibly highskilled.

(59:46):
best of the best production and,and all the technical people
behind it and, um, and studiosand all the business that goes
with it.
But at more local or regionallevels, is there opportunities
that maybe we're not missingwhere being in competitions is
actually a part of development?

Tamara (01:00:07):
Well, that's interesting.
I would just like to add that ofcourse we've got like TikTok and
a lot of people are gettingsigned just straight from TikTok
and they only know like, Ishouldn't say they, because this
is not everybody, but sometimessomebody I've had this.
You know, come in through mydoor before where someone, you
know, gets a label and they'relike, Oh, I, I need to sing

(01:00:30):
these songs.
I'm doing this big kind of show,but they haven't actually sang a
set yet.
So, I mean, you could say, Oh,you're, you're skipping your
dues, but I just don't thinkthat those are the same dues
anymore and.
I think that in order to sort ofbe lighthearted about it, I
almost have to let go of, theseare the steps.

(01:00:50):
It's like anybody can getnoticed at any time on any
particular thing.
And so you should really,really, really be sure about
following your joy and.
And do it because as much asperseverance can take you
somewhere, so can joy and havingfun, you know, you could just
have a blast on the internet andyou could get noticed so, and

(01:01:13):
you could end up on.
You know, a show, a late nightshow or something, just the next
day, you know, it's, it's reallychanged.
So I think you bring up a goodpoint and anybody who is feeling
that way, I would just say,really figure out what brings
you joy and follow that path.
Because there's a lot of pathsnow.

(01:01:35):
It's like a, like I said, a weband, uh, There's lots of
opportunity for people to maybenot get to the A list area, you
know, but to be in this otherarea where you're actually, you
know, have a life and a careerand doing well.
Yeah.

Glen Erickson (01:01:51):
So more than just doing TV shows, which you've had
this great opportunity do, andI, and I think you've had
probably a really great impact.
places and you love workshopsand we've talked about that and
you like have this incrediblemagic of of drawing things out
of people know you've also justworked in what you said in the

(01:02:12):
industry of people who areeither on tour In the moment or
getting ready for recording umBut you've worked with people At
lots of stages in early stagesof their career or people who
are full time professionals andhave a lot under their belt I
know like you worked with TateMcCrae early And now she's, you

(01:02:33):
know, global female in the, in,in that sort of scope of pop
artists.
And so you've seen people along.
I'm wondering if you candifferentiate for us sort of
what the different sort ofprimary that artists face or

(01:02:53):
challenge at those stages.
So if they're early, right,where they're just trying to
write and sing and perform allthe time to get noticed versus
Yeah.
Yeah.
Now they're preparing forrecordings versus now they're a
career artist, they're gonna,they have to tour and a lot of
people, you know, are makingtheir earning off of this person

(01:03:16):
on the road or something, which

Tamara (01:03:17):
Right.

of pressure.
So I'm wondering if you can sortof tell me what you see is like,
what are the main things singersare encountering and need help
with at each of those stages?
You

Tamara (01:03:29):
So recreational singers could be any level of ability.
They might be, you know, themost amazing singer you've ever
heard, or they could be somebodywho's a beginner in terms of
their skills.
Usually you're just following,like I was saying before, you're
following the joy.
And so you just do what you loveto do.
That's that's sort of thatcategory.

(01:03:49):
Then when you step into, Hey, Iwant to start doing this for
some money.
Um, the very first thing isobviously that people think of
is just like.
Accuracy and ability to, todeliver something and have, you
know, you have to have arepertoire and you have to have
your songs together.
So you're, you're getting that.
Um, once you have that together,then you might be, well, I

(01:04:12):
shouldn't say that because nowsome people aren't even doing
sets and shows are just goingonline, but you still have to
gather.
Some sort of material to sing,whether it's on TikTok or you're
doing a show, et cetera, right?
So you're kind of focusing in onthat.
So a lot of people will kind offeel like they have to do
certain skills at that point.

(01:04:32):
And it's just more like, Hey, ifyou are finding that you're
singing your songs and they'renot coming out well, then maybe
you need a little bit more ofthat technical side of it.
Essentially, when you get intothe emerging artist zone, you
really are trying to find yoursound.
Trying to find that authenticpoint.
Some people have it.
They just, they open their mouthand there you go.

(01:04:52):
That's what they are.
That's what they do.
But a lot of people have a lotof abilities and so they're
really pinpointing.
What, where am I going to funnelmy energies and my time and how
can I create a cohesive sound?
And so that I find is a big sortof area in there.
And then also people whenthey're getting to the latter

(01:05:15):
stage of emerging artists, theystart to doing more shows and so
they need more chops.
They need more vocal fitness.
They need the ability to, uh,sing longer and stronger.
And so that element startscoming up.
And then of course, once you hittouring, you know, obviously
somebody likes what you'redoing.

(01:05:35):
You're going out there, you'retouring, um, your sound maybe is
clear, but now it's all aboutstamina, strength, ability to
withstand demands.
Um, this is a, an area I getpulled in a lot because, uh,
people haven't focused in theemerging artists stages on
getting the fitness that wouldbe required for.

(01:05:56):
Touring, which is a whole otherlevel.
And,

Yeah.

Tamara (01:06:02):
and then the person who's been on, you know, the
road a long time, it's, it's allabout the, like the soul and
making sure you don't getdepleted and that you don't lose
your joy and you don't lose hopeand you spark a life.
And I think, um, in that area,it's easy to start.

(01:06:26):
To get vocal issues, especiallybecause we're not excited
anymore.
So there's like, it's adifferent spot to be in.
That's why I think every singershould have a non singing hobby.
100 percent that they're doingall of the time as a consistent
hobby and never let your hobbygo, no matter how well you do in
singing or music, because thatis the thing in, in those

(01:06:50):
stages, that's going to fuel youand allow you to not burn out so
fast.
Um, Yeah, I kind of, that's kindof recreational, I'm just
starting off to the idea ofbeing professional and then
emerging, late emerging,beginning touring, late touring,
that would be sort of the

there's lots of

Tamara (01:07:12):
spectrum.

like you hear stories of like, Eddie Vedder,
he won't talk to anybody like hewon't use his voice, he won't
talk to like no one's allowed totalk to him the whole day of his
performance now, and I mean, Isort of get it with him.
If he's trying to preserve thatgrowl, like it sounds like he's
destroying his voice every nightto keep singing like they did in

(01:07:33):
the nineties.
But, uh, but you know, artistswho are career artists have
obviously figured out someversion of the discipline that
they need to have to protecttheir tool, um, and their
instrument.
that emerging artists is a hugefield of people who are.
You know, on the cusp, or maybethey've been doing it for a few

(01:07:53):
years, um, you know, and what isthe thing that most people
overlook the most about theirvoice and, and what it needs to
be to move to the next level,right?
Like, what is the thing thatmost people are either hurting
themselves at or justoverlooking?

(01:08:14):
Period.
Mm

Tamara (01:08:16):
One thing is your speaking voice.
If you're using your speakingvoice in a way, whether it's at
shows or not at shows, and it'skind of more in this vein.
Um, where it's not got that goodairflow behind it, that is gonna
bite you in the butt.
Maybe not in your earlytwenties, but a little bit in

(01:08:37):
your later twenties, it's gonnastart biting in your butt.
That's one.
The second one is, is just whenyou're sick, when your voice
isn't up to par, you push itanyways.
Again, that lasts for a certainperiod of time and then usually
that catches up.
And, um, and then I would sayjust.
Overlooking the balance of restand care and, uh, strengthening

(01:09:02):
your voice.
Not just for one song, but forwhatever demand you have.
That takes some vision becausewhen you're on tour, you can't.
Get those chops the few weeksleading up to tour.
You have to have been working onthem as you go.
So I would say that.

(01:09:24):
And then the final thing I wouldsay is the hobby thing.
I said that I think everybodyshould have a non music hobby to
keep them fueled.

mm So what's the worst thing when you're on tour?
Is it drinking alcohol everynight like you do when you're
like just a young artist whogets a chance to all of a sudden
go out on the road with, uh, andyou're with a lot of your
friends every night?
Is it coffee that you're tryingto keep yourself up?
Is it bad sleep habits?
Which is the other most commonthing?
What are the generally.

(01:09:58):
The biggest habitual things thatgo along with being an artist,
uh, that are actually hurtingyou

Tamara (01:10:06):
Well, all those things, you know, vaping and all that
sort of stuff is, is hard on thevoice.
I always say to myself, is itrealistic to tell somebody to
stop all of that?
And I always.
I think probably not.
So I'm going to go with what isthe best way to overcome it.
And that's a warm down.
Do a warm down.

(01:10:27):
So actually this brings me tolike my whole goal in this last
little while has been to createcontent that is.

Yes

Tamara (01:10:35):
required for the working singer or the emerging artist,
the pro singer, which isdifferent than just trying to
sound good, get on pitch and beaccurate with your notes.
It's all about maintaining yourvoice and having a warm down and
knowing what to do.
Um, having the proper warmup.
If you don't have a properwarmup, you're probably going to

(01:10:56):
say warmups don't work for me.
That's because you don't havethe right one because.
Not that you have to doexercises or scales, but just to
know how to ramp up your voiceand then how to wind down your
voice.
So I've got my voice fit appthat's going to be coming out in
the new year.
So I have been working on it along time.
So people may have heard me talkabout it, but like anything, it

(01:11:20):
kind of went through so manyiterations and learning curves
that, um, It's been absolutelynuts, but it is going to be out
in the spring and that's what itis.
It's completely dedicated to belike on your phone, all the,
like a toolkit for the workingsinger, everything you need in

(01:11:42):
order to really thrive.
So that's something I am hopingthat singers do check out.

how passionate you've been

Tamara (01:11:51):
Yes.

for a long time.
So I'm glad that you segued intothat because you've hinted at
this idea of fitness and vocalfitness and all these things.
And, what is a warm down?

Tamara (01:12:01):
So a warm down basically takes everything you just did,
let's say you wound it all upand you were tight with either
your muscles or your voice, yourtongue, everything, and it just
winds it back down so that whenyou go to bed, you're not going
to bed with this instrumentthat's really tight.
So it's a series of exercises,um, or tasks, I would say, that

(01:12:26):
help to reestablish a home baseof airflow and breathing.

is physically how our vocal chords are, right?
Like they tighten up likestrings on an instrument.

Tamara (01:12:37):
Well,

about?

Tamara (01:12:38):
more of the extrinsic muscles around your vocal cords,
because the voice is located inyour larynx and your larynx is
designed to go up and down in astraight line.
Swallow for a swallow to protectour airways.
And it's all these extraextrinsic muscles that we use to
help lengthen those vocal cords.
Um, in moments, let's say we'resinging when we're not.

(01:13:01):
Feeling the best, or maybe we'retrying to hit a high note, you
know, like the strain and theputting up of the neck and all
of that.
Those are all these extrinsicmuscles that are coming to say,
I'll help you hit that highnote.
And if you don't wind them down,there will be a point where you
notice it and it could take along time.
Some people, it takes a longtime, but as soon as you start
feeling it, you get, you know,voice changes or you just.

(01:13:23):
not consistent anymore.
You're like, Oh, this voicedoesn't feel the same.
And everyone always thinks it'sa mystery.
And I always say, this is not amystery, you know?
So implementing the warm downwould be the, the first thing
that I would do as a practice,even if your voice is working
perfectly.

Yeah.
Well, this is what I love aboutyou.
Cause you can see, I love seeinghow you immediately get excited
and passionate

Tamara (01:13:47):
Yeah.

it.
It makes me think how like goingall the way back again to the
first year we met at thisbootcamp and, You didn't have to
but you sat in on one of mysocial media sessions and I was
talking and then you cameafterwards to Gently and
politely ask if you could giveme some tips So I don't kill my
voice while I was publicspeaking because you heard me It

(01:14:10):
was my second one of the day andI was already

Tamara (01:14:13):
Tired.

shape and tired and distant tone and um, and
you're like, you know, there'sways that you can like protect
and guard that and manage thatbetter.
And I was like, it was soamazing.
It was like, so generous of youtoo.
Um, and I know you bring thateverywhere you go when you see
it.
And I think what's exciting foryou to put out your voice fit

(01:14:35):
app.
Um, and I'm going to leave linksall over when I out and
everything so that people willbe able to make sure they stay
connected to where you are andbe able to find this app.
And I think it's exciting thatyou'll be able to.
Effectively reach, hopefullymore people with all these
things

Tamara (01:14:53):
Yeah.

talked about and what you're doing and how
important fitness and all thesedifferent parts are.
I know you love so many aspectsof what you get to do, but your
ability, like the way you couldjust articulate, you know,
anatomically what is going on aseasily as you talked about.

(01:15:14):
You know, intuitively andemotively what people are going
through at different stages oftheir career, uh, is a real
special gift.
I think it's great to be able tohear.
And to see, um, I want to askyou some specific questions

Tamara (01:15:30):
Okay.

almost like rapid fires to because I'm also want
to be cognizant of time.
We've been talking for a while.
So, but I'm very interested andmaybe you don't want to answer.
I don't think it's any technicalviolation, but you've been able
to rub shoulders with a bunch ofcelebrities.
through a lot of your differentshows.
So is there people that stoodout to you, for different

(01:15:55):
aspects?
Like who, like on the maskedsinger, where people with maybe
zero singing background and

Tamara (01:16:01):
Right.

degrees that you get to help and be part of, and
then see, you to see thenormalcy of who that person is
apart from celebrity.
Right.
As someone gets humbled in theirattempt to learn how to, how to
do this.

Tamara (01:16:16):
Sure.

is there people that have stood out to you?
I'm curious, like, is there,there are people that you've
just been like, Oh, that's a,interesting or special person
to, to be able to get to know.

Tamara (01:16:29):
Truly.
I will answer the question, butI really have enjoyed.
Everybody, everyone kind ofbrings something really
different, but one person Ireally, really enjoyed meeting.
Um, and there was many, but TonyHawk, I loved working with him.
He was kind, gentle guy.
He worked really hard and it wasjust like seeing somebody who.

(01:16:52):
You know, physically when he wasdoing all of his skateboarding,
I mean, he just gets on askateboard, falls, tries again,
do this, you just, you just keepgoing, doesn't matter.
It's not personal.
And it was really cool to seehow he was doing music and
singing, because if you didn'tdo something well, he never took
it personally.
And that's one thing thatsingers tend to, you know,

(01:17:15):
personalize like, Oh, I wentflat though, I'm a bad blah,
blah, blah.
But like watching Tony do it, itjust was just like.
Keep going.
And I just felt so inspired tobe like, what are all the
obstacles I have in my head?
And do they need to be there?
So, uh, so many people, but Ireally.

(01:17:38):
I could go on, but Tony,

Oh, that's cool.
new shows or new ideas that havecome up for you from doing these
kinds of things that, that youfeel like.
You've had ideas about thingsthat could work or

Tamara (01:17:55):
Oh, yes,

on TV.
That's

Tamara (01:17:59):
put my, uh, fair share of formats together to be
truthful.
Lots of things like what would Ibe interested in seeing, you
know, I've, I've put themtogether and there was a point
when I was like, I'm going topursue these, but I think I just
kind of gotten passionate about,um, Uh, I really want to put my

(01:18:19):
content out.
It's kind of like a little bitof a legacy for me to put it out
and, and have something that Ican, you know, help more people
with and I can see one on one.

That's great.
I mean, you have impacted a lotof people and I think it's great
that you have an opportunity touse.
technology for what it's therefor,

Tamara (01:18:41):
Mm hmm.

reach more people.
And you, okay, so I knew that wewere going to talk, strange
story.
I'll connect some dots.
I discovered on Spotify that,you know, you could on, if you
go to the song credits and thenthe songwriters are there and
some of them have a little arrownow beside their name.
And now

Tamara (01:19:01):
Yeah.

like a webpage that shows all the songs that.
They have credits for

Tamara (01:19:06):
Oh, I didn't know that.

order of how many streams they have.
So I discovered it because Iwanted to see Aaron Dessner, one
of the brothers in the nationalwho basically co produced and co
wrote folklore with TaylorSwift, right?
During the pandemic and now hasstayed sort of a part of her
songwriting team sometimes, butthen I was listening to a
podcast with Gracie Abrams andhe was involved in producing and

(01:19:31):
then I realized a song credit.
So the joke with my friends isHe must be 10x richer than all
of his other band members in thenational now because of that
opportunity Because they'retaught we're talking one and a
half billion streams right for

Tamara (01:19:47):
Well, yeah.

Right and but it's more than that but then so
I said it to another friend whosaid I and it was interesting
he's like I wonder what Sia andher page looks like because of
her career of writing fordifferent people.
So I went and yeah, she's gotsongwriting credits for some
huge artists and not justherself besides

Tamara (01:20:07):
Right.

right?
That are in the millions in abillion, like number type, it's
ridiculous

Tamara (01:20:13):
Wow.

streams on Spotify.
But that made me, like, Ihaven't listened to some Sia
songs for a while.
I listen to Chandelier?
And I'm like, the best focaltake I've ever heard in my life?
And not just because she's

Tamara (01:20:30):
It's raw.

But it's so raw, and she lets it break up.
So

Tamara (01:20:34):
Yeah.

feel it.
And I've heard a lot of peopletry that song.
Nothing feels like Especially ifyou have it louder, the
headphones on, and you hear whatshe's allowing her voice to do.
So I'm curious what, to you, aresongs you can pull that you feel
like these are some of the bestvocal takes I've ever heard for
various reasons.

(01:20:57):
Is that

Tamara (01:20:57):
Oh my goodness.
I'm just trying to think.
Currently I work so much withpeople on their original music,
right?
Sometimes not even released andthings like that.
So let me just give myself athought.
I always I am always impressed,especially with live vocals.
I love Leigh Anne Rimes, Ireally do.

(01:21:17):
She really has a beautifulcommand of her voice and she's
very emotional and vulnerable.
Um, her song Spaceship, I reallylove that song.
It's very beautiful.
Um, let me think.
I love Kimbra.

(01:21:38):
Actually, have you ever listenedto Kimbra?

I know who that is.

Tamara (01:21:41):
She lets it go.
Like she's painting with hervoice so amazingly.
And she just, she's very, canimprov.
She can go quiet.
She can, this is the thing aboutvocal fitness.
Vocal fitness does not meanstraight cookie cutter singing.
It just means a fit voice is onethat allows you to express

(01:22:06):
yourself freely in the momentwithout hesitation.
And it doesn't mean that youhave a pristine vocal that's not
broken up.
Like you want to get to thatspot where it's really raw, like
Sia, but.
I think those two people reallystand out.
I'm sure I'll think of manyafter, but

Oh, of course.
But absolutely.
I love the way you just phrasedthat by the way, about, cause I
feel like this is, My thoughts alot about artistry period about
what you'd have to do to beprepared for the moment, right?
The, the things that we do weoften just see or experience

(01:22:44):
artistry in those moments, ifthey make us feel something,
right?
If it

Tamara (01:22:49):
right,

if it's memorable in some way, not even about what
it was that was memorable.
It just was memorable.
We have no, have no vision orinput into knowing.
Why they're prepared in themoment, right?
Why somebody can just step upand do the thing they do in the
moment.
It's because it is it becausethey're special or because

(01:23:12):
they're prepared.
And I love how so much of yourtalk is about the preparation
fact,

Tamara (01:23:18):
Yeah.
When you need it, do it.
If you don't need it, I don'tthink anyone has to like beat
themselves over the head to doharder things if things are easy
for them.
But yeah, that's, that's how youget them.

so is the voice fit, this sort of the focus of
Tamara Beatty's life at themoment?
Like

Tamara (01:23:40):
Yes.

2025 is finally the year and, and

Tamara (01:23:43):
Yes.

is it like a giant exhale is coming on the
other side of the release ofthat app or do you sort of
foresee plan?
Like what, what do you see aslike, next for you with that?

Tamara (01:23:59):
I feel like it will be a bit of an exhale to finally just
have it there to say I'm doingit and to say, if you'd like to
see it, you can, you know, thatwill be great.
Um, the other side of it is justlike an artist where you put out
something and now you're like,Oh, well, how do I got people
know about it?

Yeah.

Tamara (01:24:19):
I.
I am going to let it just bethere.
Like, I think I'm, don't knowhow I'm going to pitch it or put
it out there.
Um, but I know that that nextpart, I don't know if I'll
exhale about that, but I thinkthat I just want to, it's, it's

(01:24:39):
like.
As an artist myself, that's my,that's my piece of art that I'm
trying to put out.
Just like somebody's album, youknow, you're trying to put that
out there.
So I think it will be an exhale.
And, um, yeah, I'd like to, I'mgoing to go back and do some
workshops.
I'm really missing just beingwith people and doing what I

(01:25:00):
love to do.
I think it's really important asa singer to know, like, what is
it that you do?
That's easy for you and youlove.
And that is what it is for me isjust standing in front of
people.
You know, big room and being inthe moment and that's it.
I just love that.
So that's what I think 2025 will

That's exciting.
I love hearing that.
I mean, I having The goodfortune I've had to be in so
many rooms with artistsexpressing themselves or doing
their art or what in whateverversion, whether it's like super
performative or whether it'sjust informal, you like we use
this word in the industry calledit right where they have the it

(01:25:41):
factor.
I guess I've always felt like.
a strong sense of when I think Iknow what that is or I see it,
right?
I see it in someone else.

Tamara (01:25:50):
Right.

I, this, I'm going to go all the way back to
the beginning is that I hopeevery aspiring artist or singer
or even hobbyist, whateverversion would be able to access
your app and get your app.
Because I think that you havelike this, it factor in your
field, for sure.
Like it's been magic everywhere.
I've seen it.
Um, and I know that's your giftin seeing that in other people.

(01:26:17):
Um, and I've probably alreadysaid 20 times.
I'll make it 21.
I see it in you all the time,wherever you are too.

Tamara (01:26:24):
Thank you.

um, I super appreciate you taking the time,
uh, to be here and talk with meand just get a sense of your
career and how you got to whereyou were and the things that
make it special and the thingsyou're passionate about.
Uh, I think so many people haveso many things they could learn
from every little nuance of thethings that you can talk about

(01:26:45):
that you've seen and what whatis

Tamara (01:26:46):
Thank you.

I appreciate the time and, and talking so openly.

Tamara (01:26:53):
I appreciate you as well.
And thank you for all you do forartists.
I don't think people realize howmuch you're doing to champion
them, to help bolster them, tokind of bring out your artistry
in the form of all, like notjust music, but your design and
your background working, youknow, in all of these.

(01:27:14):
So many different areas onprograms and you're, you know,
during and just so many areasyou have been a champion for
artists, uh, because you are oneyourself.
So thank you.

So sweet of you.
I appreciate you saying thatTamera.
Um, yeah, so we're 10 years intofriendship and I'm looking
forward to having another good10 years of friendship and
seeing where we land

Tamara (01:27:39):
I think so.
Yeah, that'll be great.
And we definitely just actuallyneed to see each other.

we do.
I was reminiscing with mydaughter about 2016 when you
invited us down to UniversalStudios and to.
be on a, on a taping of a showof the voice and see how it all
happens.
So, uh, that's a special memoryfor us.
Absolutely.
Which I'm always eternallygrateful for that her and I have
that.
Um, so I loved it and I lookforward to a chance when we get

(01:28:08):
to hang out again.
So,

Tamara (01:28:10):
Me too.

okay.

Tamara (01:28:12):
Thank you.

Thank you all the best to you and look forward to
talking to you again.

Tamara (01:28:18):
Thank you.
Bye bye.

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