Production Stories - Entering Marion Video Project

Greetings my dear friends! As with most things related to the pandemic, time seems to move quickly yet not at all. More on that on another post later. If you made it this far, I hope you have already enjoyed my latest video project “Entering Marion” by the composer John Forster. I wanted to share some fun stories about the production of this little video.

Where did this song come from? Well, as you most likely know, I have often enjoyed participating in the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival Cabaret program (I think it is called something else now, but you get it) under the brilliant teaching of Ron Drotos, who sent me looking for this song. I proceeded to reach out to John himself. He generously sent me his piano score and the rest is history :) Back in 2019 we performed it as part of FSAF, and you can see the original performance linked on this web site.

Did you really go to all those towns? How long did it take? YES Lisa and I really did drive to each of those towns on a recent early fall vacation to Cape Cod. It took a LOT of planning, and Lisa spent hours on Google Maps looking for the exact locations of the signs. We spent much of 3 days of our vacation driving around recording the drive by videos and then turning around to pull over into mostly safe locations for the snap shots. There was much giggling and even more laughing out loud!

What is with that map? Knowing that I am dating myself, the map used in the video is a old AAA TripTik map from days long before MapQuest, let alone Waze. This map in particular has been in a box somewhere in my home since the summer of 1991 when I took a car tour of the USA to visit all of the Major League Baseball stadiums. I just KNEW lugging that junk around for 30 years would pay off one day!

What is next for Mike Brose Music? I am working on a project right now that involves some original songs. I cannot wait to share.

Until then, stay healthy and safe!

— Mike

"Live for the Applause" but ONLY if you can handle it

Getting praise can be difficult, especially if you do not believe it yourself. The inner voice often tricks us into believing that we do not deserve it, so we sabotage the praise purposefully or subconsciously. Here we explore praise from the perspective of the people that believe in you. Having empathy for the courageous ones that thank and congratulate us can make us better, less hesitant singers.

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What's the Worst Thing That Can Happen?

It’s my favorite question to ask people, both as a musician and as an engineer. In my “day job” I spend time thinking about risk - the product probabilities & consequences. Many times it can be challenging to quantify the costs of catastrophic outcomes (safety or environmental consequences for example). One way to break down complex issues into simpler concepts is to start with asking what is THE WORST THING THAT CAN HAPPEN? So how does that question apply to us, the Hesitant Singers?

Has that thought ever crossed your mind? Take a moment and ponder the thought - to stand in front of the mic, in front of a piano, in front of strangers, worse yet in front of your FRIENDS - What is the worst thing that can happen? I mean the WORST thing that can happen? Some of the worst outcomes, in general, I can think of - death, illness, prison - are pretty unlikely results so the worst thing won’t be that dramatic. So what is it then?

  • Will people not like me anymore?

  • Will people laugh at me?

  • Will people think less of me as a person?

  • Will the accompanist look at me disappointingly?

These questions … these self-doubts … are called the RESISTANCE, the negative voice in your head that holds us back and keeps us from sharing our voice with the world. Our mission is to work together to beat the Resistance and get out there and sing.

Because honestly, are people really not going to like you anymore? Besides, I can assure you that, as your accompanist, I would never be disappointed in you! Let me prove that to you!