Looking back, I don’t think i really thought about what being in a band was about. I just always loved to sing, the opportunity was there, they wanted me and so I joined a band. I didn’t realize how much is involved. I thought I would just show up, sing a few songs, have a drink or two and that would be it.

There’s so much more to this band thing. It’s like a second job and while I’m not complaining (ok, i am complaining but no one else will listen) this is tough stuff.

First off, we practice every Wednesday night. Now night to me is something altogether different than the guys in the band seem to think. I’m thinking 6 to 10 p.m. sounds good right?

Hell no! We don’t even meet until 8 p.m. and don’t get started until 8:30. By 10 we‘re going good and when we leave it’s usually after midnight and closer to 1 a.m. This in itself has been a major adjustment and i’ve taken to getting an hour or so nap in before I go to practice. I feel so old sometimes.

And that’s only the beginning. For two months now i have been learning songs. At first I was given a playlist of 40 songs to learn. Of those 40, I was expected to sing 37 of them and I refused to sing 2 stupid songs so that left me with 35 songs to learn. Within two weeks I was pretty comfortable with about 20 and have been working on the other 15. So now, the guys keep throwing new songs at me to learn. Over the past two weeks, they have asked me to learn another 8 songs.

I have discovered that if you want to learn a song, you can’t expect that one practice a week will do it. So i started practicing 3-4 times a week for an hour and now, with more songs, comes more practice. Almost every night now, after work and in between dinner & dishes, I go to my practice room and sing. I sing an estimated two hours a day at least.

Oh and my “practice room” is my walk-in closet. I’ve got an ipod speaker system, and a chair among all the clothes and shoes and this is where I practice. If i haven’t mentioned before, my monster-in-law, sister-in-law and her daughter live with us (although my husband lives away all week) and I don’t want to disturb everyone. So i sit in my closet and sing my lungs out. As it is though, my family now knows the words to just about every song i sing and I think we‘re driving each other crazy.  

But practice makes perfect and I am committed (and should be committed) to doing this. Every night when I lay in bed I thank God for this talent and instead of saying I have to go practice, I say I “get” to go practice. Yeah me! I think...