This past Wednesday afternoon, I drove up to Salida, CO for an ENT appointment. The appointment was to see what is going on in my throat. After hearing my symptoms, the doctor concluded that I would be better off seeing a laryngologist. A laryngologist is somebody who specializes in the larynx. Although I just want to figure out what is wrong with my throat, I'm glad that the doctor was up-front with me and told me that I should see somebody who specializes in the singing muscle (the larynx). I now am on track to schedule an appointment with a laryngologist at the University of Colorado Medical Center in Aurora

"Since Spring, I have had this pain in my throat. Actually, I've had two pains. One on the left, and one on the right. It comes and goes sporadically. Coming into college, I was able to hit much higher notes, I had easier voice flexibility, and I had a good amount of vocal endurance (I could sing for an hour or two). Now, my voice cracks a lot, there is a lot of sharp pain when I sing over 10-30 minutes straight (depending upon the day), my falsetto is gone, and notes after a certain point (like D4 and E4 and above) are painful. They should not be painful. There is also a filmy sound to my voice."

This ^, was a post from earlier this summer. 

This Wednesday, I am scheduled to see an ENT!! That is an Ear Nose and Throat doctor. I am praying that he can see what is going on in my voice. It has been months, and I can hear the retrogression in the quality of my voice.

In the private lessons that I am giving, my students are doing great! At the beginning, a couple of them were not quite able to match pitch. Now, when we start to warm up, they are pretty much on the correct note. It's a really great thing to see somebody's voice progress. It is an even more amazing thing to be a part of something so magical. The voice is what everybody uses, correct? The voice is a person's identity. Being able to talk somebody through the proper ways of singing, is so rewarding. We are on our fourth week, and in the upcoming lessons, my plan is to give my students their first piece of music. Let the journey begin!

Back when I was in junior high, high school, and even in the early years of college, I was pretty passionate about the Big Apple. For a time, I actually wanted to move there. Something about New York excites. Maybe the lights. Maybe the artists. Maybe the fact that it's New York haha. When I was 17, my Uncle, who lives in New York, had promised to fly me out to New York as a 21st Birthday present. I turn 21 on April 30th, so that would be this next coming year! Also, this same Uncle gets married at the end of the summer. I was thinking I would fly out to New York at the beginning of the summer, and fly back after his wedding at the end of the summer. My first step is to put money aside in an account for next summer. I have about a thousand. My second step is to ask my Uncle, or my Cousin who also lives there, if they know somebody close to them that is willing to rent space out for about two months. My third step is to figure out how much money I would need for 3-month's-rent, a Metro card, groceries, plane tickets, spending money, and emergency money. My fourth step is to start calling places and venues in New York and seeing if I can set up some gigs. My fifth step is to get enough album's ordered so that I can hand some out wherever I go, whether that is on the street, in a store, or what have you.

I am so pumped to say that my roommate Nolan, my roommate Skyler, and myself will be going on tour this coming winter. Skyler has a CD of his own, I'm looking forward to finishing my CD this coming spring, and Nolan is working on his EP. We plan on leaving the 27th of December, and finishing on the 9th of January. We're doing a Colorado tour, which means that we are planning to hit every city that we can. We are thinking Denver, Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Golden, Greely, and hopefully many more. Right now, we are trying to book venues. The venues that we are picking are more coffee shop/ cafe type of place. We want a social place where people will come in and out, but also a place that would have a stage, or an area to preform. I believe that this will be an amazing experience. It'll be three men, two guitars, and one portable piano. We are BEYOND pumped. I'm excited for three main things: Experience, possible fans, bonding, and exposure to strangers.

There is SO much experience that lies within this. We can learn first hand the struggles that it takes to tour, the challenges that come with booking, the way we should manage our money, etc.

Possible Fans and Exposure to Strangers pretty much fall under the same category. It THRILLS me to preform in front of strangers. Your music isn't being observed or listened to by people who are already supporting you, or people who have heard your type of music. You are now playing to a clean slate of ears. You can read their raw facial expressions to see if they are moved by your piece, if they are interested, if they don't like it, etc. How exciting!

Bonding will be really great, too. I feel like there is so much to learn from Nolan's runs, to Skyler's word-choice in his songrwiting. From Nolan's chords, to Skyler's use of allusion in the themes of his songs. We can talk about why we are doing what we are doing. Where we see ourselves in the future. How practical is what we are doing? How great is it to be giving and spreading music all of the state? I feel like there will be thousands of discussion questions that will be tossed back and forth, strung into the a.m. by crisp winter wind, sheer awe, and wonder about what is to come.