B (2:12)

Yeah.

A (2:12)

Going Tyler Childers, even. I could just let that. That music go and go there. But if I'm hanging out, working in the studio, I turn in. If I'm working in the studio, as in, like, fixing something or Working out or doing something like that, I kind of turn into a kid again and listen to some hard rock grunge music, you know, Pearl Jam, Sound Garden, Nirvana, all that stuff. Tool. But yeah, pretty much it's kind of. If. If I just tell. What I'm asking Alexa to do is usually play some Coltrane or John Mayer Eagles.

B (2:43)

Yeah, that's very cool. What about life? Message or mantra? Are there. Is there a words or quote or sort of philosophy that you live by?

A (2:50)

I don't know that it's necessarily consciously or that something that I continuously say, but I guess when I think about it hard enough, it's definitely like a die trying type of thing. I definitely am like, you know, even in the music business, I would consider myself kind of like a cockroach, you know, I'm still, still around, still doing it all these years. So definitely just try, you know, almost in anything if I'm struggling, if my day has been going kind of rough, whatever, just try, give it a try, you know, just. Just keep going. Don't stop, try, you know?

B (3:25)

Yeah. Love that. So tell us a little bit about yourself before we get into vocal coaching, stuff like that. Like, who are you? Where did you grow up? What's your life story?

A (3:34)

Okay. Yeah, I. I was born in Miami, Florida. My parents are from Cuba and I lived in Miami for about 10 years. My parents split up. My mom met a guy from Alabama and we. We ended up moving to Gainesville, Florida. So. And we kind of moved on to a little. It'd be weird to call it a farm, but we did have a cow and a horse and all that stuff and about, you know, 12 to 14 acres there in. In kind of the middle of nowhere North Florida. So I grew up there and essentially kind of lived pretty much a very country life there. I have an older brother, so that's seven years older than me, but I spent pretty much from age 12, 11 and 12 and on as kind of an only child there. He'd stayed in Miami and when we moved, so I had plenty of space and I had a lot of time on my hands and didn't have. A lot didn't happen. I had friends and stuff. It's not like I didn't have friends, but I definitely was somewhat isolated after school in time and just kind of doing. Doing my thing.

B (4:37)

Yeah.

A (4:38)

And that's kind of where I started. Yeah.

B (4:41)

Yeah. What's a pivotal moment in life that fundamentally changed your trajectory? Like, did something happen in your youth or maybe as an adult that kind of changed, like into what you're doing.

A (4:50)

I would definitely say that if I were to look at my career where I'm at now, probably it's going to sound like a cop out answer, but it's not probably. When I met my wife in. In my late 20s, that was a big change. My focus just really changed and I sort of evaluated my career, which we can get into later. But. And when I met her, it was pretty much the catalyst as to getting me to move to Knoxville, Tennessee, where I then started teaching voice there and met Morgan there. So if I look at that year of, you know, sorry, I guess it was a couple years before I moved there, but essentially meeting my wife, shifting my location and moving to Knoxville, which was a huge change and a big difference in my life from touring and all the things that I was doing to go settle down a little town. But I met Morgan Wallen and it kind of really sort of took things into a different direction there. It was a big one.

B (5:48)

Yeah. So. Yeah. So you already broached the topic of music. Yeah. Tell us, how did you get into music? Like, you talked about living sort of on the farm.

A (5:56)

I have to say, when you have an older brother and an older sibling, especially in that era, in the early 90s, late 80s, early 90s, I was exposed to whether my mom wanted me to be exposed to or not. Yeah, I was exposed to a lot of pretty edgy music, you know, whether it was what was kind of happening in my, you know, in the pop scene, hip hop scene, I should say. But I always come back to a specific song. It's a song called Big Empty by Stone Temple Pilots. And they. That song was on a soundtrack for a movie called the Crow. And when I was a kid, my brother had taken me to one of those dollar theaters or whatever and saw the Crow. And I guess if I remember correctly, there was some soundtracks for sale there. He bought the soundtrack and we were listening to it on the way home. And when that song came on, I might have been around 11 or something like that, 10 or 11. When I heard that, I remember being very enamored by it. And I heard my brother singing along with it because he kind of knew it. And I immediately was like, I want to try to sing to this. Can I sing? This is cool. This is really. It was almost the first time. Most of us, when we have music, you feel that there's something that's yours. Yeah, like this music is mine. This is not my mom's, you know, this is. This kind of thing is mine. So I Remember really getting into that. And I feel like just at an early age, kind of getting into some pretty deep, you know, even to an extent, dark music at an early age. That was big. Cause I feel like it set the tone for. For the rest of it. I can kind of go back. Every time I hear that song, I think about that moment.

B (7:32)

Yeah. And then did you have this, like, dream? Like, is that when you started, like, picking up an instrument, or did you have.

A (7:38)

No, I actually. No, I didn't. I didn't. Probably was a couple years later in Gainesville when I was living there, specifically the town of Trenton, Florida, that I grew up in. I. I like to give Trenton a shout out, always. Home of Easton Corbin, but it's also the home of me too. Come on. You know. But I specifically remember them wanting to play drums. So I was obsessed with bands. So I got really obsessed with it. I would. I just got really into that and the culture of that, and I wanted to be in a band. It was such a big departure from where I grew up. You know, some of those cool bands that you would see on MTV and all that stuff. And I felt like, you know, I just wanted to play some drums. I just remember getting some drums from my mom and my parents got me, and they immediately were like, yeah, we love you, but I don't think that's gonna happen. And I ended up picking up my grandpa's guitar, and that was kind of the deal, that I can play guitar. Maybe they'd get me some lessons. That's kind of where. Where it started it was. And I have to tell you, as bad as it sounds, even though I'm a vocal coach and I always tell my. My clients this, it's funny that, in a way, my first few lessons kind of. I think that was a big moment for me because I felt like I didn't want to learn what they were teaching. I just wanted to go learn some Nirvana songs or write some songs. I had an inclination already. My immediate thought, I don't want to learn the things you're showing me. Which is not good. But it definitely opened my eyes that I actually did have an interest in this and I wanted to write music, I wanted to do my own thing. I almost didn't want to go that route, which was pretty interesting. In other words, I think if I just stuck with guitar lessons. I don't mean voice lessons, but I'd stuck. If I stuck with guitar lessons, I don't know that I would have actually, you know, really stuck with it. I just Got to. I just said, you know something, Mom? I'll make you a deal if you can let me quit these lessons, which, by the way, my mom does not like me quitting stuff. But she. I was like, I promise you I will play this guitar. I love it. I just want to sit at home and learn how to play some power chords and some songs. And I became very obsessive about it. So it's kind of interesting that that was. It was almost a little bit of a punk rock moment where I'm like, okay, actually, I don't want to do this, but actually I really want. I want to make sure my mom allows me to still keep playing. I was only, like 12, you know.

B (9:55)

Yeah.

A (9:55)

And.

B (9:56)

Yeah, that's.

A (9:57)

That was big.

B (9:57)

That's pretty cool. So fast forward to today, and we're going to get into vocal coaching in a second, but fast forwarding today generally as a singer, songwriter, producer, and vocal coach. What's a typical year like? I imagine it's very varied, but what's a typical year look like for you? Are you on the road sometimes helping out? Are you in the studio? How's it go?

A (10:19)

You know, I could ask the universe, dad, every day how it's going to go or how it went. But if I look back the last few years. The last few years have been sort of. It's almost a little bit more how my week looks, I guess would be. It's kind of like a couple. A couple days of writing in sessions with different artists and various songwriters in town. And then there's always some form of production that's kind of sitting there for the most part, some sort of record that I'm working on, recording or something that's pending there, but mixed in. I'm teaching lessons, you know, throughout the week on Zoom or in person. And then what. It's kind of been just about. In the summertime every year, I find my way out on the road with some artists that need some help and some guidance and some teams that, you know, that need some help and guidance and how to get, you know, just singers really at an optimal place or help them with injury recovery, things like that. So I do a little bit of. A little bit of all that throughout the year. It's. It's pretty. It's pretty hectic, but it's. I don't know. I can. I complain some days, but then I'm like, I don't know. I think it's kind of. Kind of how I want it, you know?

B (11:28)

Yeah, super cool.

A (11:31)

It's all Surrounds music, you know.

B (11:33)

Yeah, no, that's super cool. Tell us one or two highlights in your career so far that. That, you know, are top of mind.

A (11:42)

Definitely. It's hard to look at my journey and not especially with how. How huge Morgan's become. It's hard to look at my journey and not kind of look at that. Put a magnifying glass on that specific time where I met him and helped him develop everything, you know, just kind of worked with him. Songwriting, vocal coaching, kind of essentially. I mean, I moved my life to Nashville. In fact, Morgan's band was the band I was in. So I recruited the band. The band that I was in, I recruited them to be Morgan's live band. And still to today. Still, today, they are his live band. The members of the band that I was in throughout. Throughout all my twenties, a band called Adam Smash. But, yeah, I would say the highlights would be definitely being a part of his journey and trajectory. And I've had a couple of milestones with songwriting. You know, having songs, you know, stream in the billions and stuff is a pretty big deal, you know, in the sense of, like, for somebody, like how I grew up and certainly would have never thought it would be in the country genre, so some of that stuff. But definitely, like, you know, really just the highlights would be just kind of getting phone calls from certain artists and their teams that are. That are kind of in a bad. In a tough spot and they need some help and kind of being there for them. And the last couple years especially have been kind of like a highlight, one little highlight after another of just of just that kind of thing. Just working with those artists, being somebody that they would call.

B (13:14)

Yeah.

A (13:15)

For help there.

B (13:16)

Yeah, that's very cool. Yeah. And just. And the audience is going to want to know and as we go into vocal coaching here. Yeah. So, Morgan, there's Bailey Zimmerman that you've worked with. Nick who? Who else?

A (13:30)

Parker McCollum. There's a young guy that's out there now doing great, called Cameron Whitcomb that I'm working with. Dylan Marlow, Josh Ross, Nate Smith. I've worked with him quite a bit this year. There's also stuff outside of country. There's an artist named Briston Maroney that's an alternative act that's doing really well, that I sort of worked with him when he was a teenager. I kind of have to go back. Even though he's. It's been a long time. I was there kind of in those early days and. But, yeah, I've just worked with Quite a few, those acts. And it's kind of neat because, like, Bailey. Oh, Bailey would be a really interesting highlight because he's another act that I would. I would have had songs that I've written with. Yeah, Bailey that have. That have been released and all that, but also vocal coaching him. So that's. That's kind of. You know, it's. So as I was saying, Morgan and Bailey would be artists that have that kind of sort of like. Oh, that's kind of interesting. You were the vocal coach and you had some songs with them too. It's, you know, so that's cool.

B (14:30)

Yeah. So on vocal coaching now, why would an artist reach out for a coach? And then what does that mean? Like, what do you do? Give us an example.

A (14:39)

Okay. Yeah, that's actually a really good question. So I would compartmentalize that and say that if a person is starting off and they're just somebody that, you know. You know, they're really just getting going. I would say that the phone call and the initial lessons are really surrounding singing on key and, like, giving them regiments the proper vocal technique and breath support. But a lot of it is fundamentally seeing if they can hold a tune right. Although I have. And I have worked with a lot of. I mean, I've been in Nashville for about 10 years and I've probably worked with close to 7, 800 clients or somebody. I kind of lost track. My wife has a. If you call it a Rolodex of stuff, but we have that. But definitely a lot of novice. A lot of people. I've worked with a lot of people that are. And I think it's helped. One hand has watched the other, I think working with people that are getting going and just doing it for fun. But I get more calls now. Hey, my voice is just hoarse. It's blown out. It's having. I'm having issues with sort of surviving as a singer through the. Through the touring process. Sometimes I get calls for pre recording process. Like, let's work on stuff before we get in the studio. Sometimes it's, hey, I need you in the studio with me.

B (15:55)

Yeah.

A (15:56)

To kind of be. That's actually how we met, now that I think of it. We probably met like in that sort of thing. Like, hey, I'd like to have the vocal coach in the studio while I'm making the record with Bailey. So. So essentially. But yeah, a lot of it really is. If I were to really narrow it down. Nowadays, the big phone call is I don't have a solid daily routine that I'M doing. I don't. I. Where do I start? And why am I losing my voice so?

B (16:25)

Cause I imagine, Serge, that it's. You know, someone just started singing. They had a band, and they. You get popular and make a hit. And they've never had training. Right. They never had formal training. And just like we do with exercise. Like, you got to lift weights. And that's what.

A (16:39)

That was me. Yeah, that was me. That was actually, you know, that's. By the way, I should probably mention this is very important to the journey. Okay.

B (16:46)

Yeah.

A (16:46)

Because it is. Also. I experienced that. That's how I got into this at all. Was I. The band I was in. Adam Smash was. Got signed to Sony. And I'm not even kidding, literally, as I signed the document in that. In that. That week, I lost my voice, and I didn't get it back. I was trying to tour through. I had not taken lessons. I really avoided lessons. I was like, you know, too punk rock to go do that. They're not. I'm a lost cause. I'm screaming. But I blew my voice out, and it didn't come back. And it was the scariest point of that time in my life because I had worked so hard to get there, and I had no voice to record the album that we were going to make. So I got lucky that the producer I was making the record with convinced me to go see this vocal coach in New York, and it's where we were making the album. And that vocal coach just really just sort of changed the game for me, Gave me all the daily routines that I could ask for, really taught me lifestyle things. I was not living right. Just got me. Just sort of set me on the right path and went on to sing thousands of shows beyond that and finish that record and become a sponge for. I was almost, like, fascinated with how it worked. I'm like, whoa, this is crazy. How am I getting through this? You know?

B (17:59)

Yeah.

A (17:59)

So. So by the end of it, so what I was getting at is I was the client. I was the person that was in a jam and had some. So now I'm kind of. I kind of get to go through that process again. Although it's a little stressful reliving that a little bit, but I've done it enough times that I kind of. The story. Yeah, I've been very blessed. And the story ends well, usually.

B (18:19)

Yeah. No, that's cool. I saw it in a different way, but I saw the power of it. Excuse me. Speaking of voice, I saw it in a different way when I grew up seven kids, brothers and sisters, and we all had average voices. We used to always sing at Christmas time, Christmas carols and all sorts of things. One of my sisters goes off to college one semester, she comes back in time for Christmas and we sing. And her voice was amazing. And it was because she got coaching, because she was getting her degree in music and she got coaching. I saw right there. Dang. It's not like she had a more blessed voice than the rest of us. We all had that raw voice. But a good coach brings it out.

A (18:59)

Yes.

B (19:00)

And so, Serge, that's where I want to pivot to now. So a lot of my audience, as I mentioned, are executives in healthcare. Many of them, all of them have to perform, if you will, with their voice on a daily basis. Sometimes it's formal, like speaking to thousands of people, or sometimes it's just speaking to a smaller number. But there's always this performance, there's always speaking. And so when we met, and I'm thinking about coaching and music industry, I think the same in my profession. So what are one or two techniques that you might suggest, not for a musician, you know, an art, musical artist, but like professionals that have to speak for a living?

A (19:38)

Yeah, listen, I think the reality is that public speakers or leaders or people that are taking meetings or whatever it is, essentially you are. Are singing. That is what you're doing. It's not a musical thing, and there isn't something musical happening necessarily, but you are having to get a lot of words out. Right. Getting the information out. And that's quite often how we lose our voice. The reality is just make sure you're breathing also while you're talking. So being conscious of inhaling and taking a breath. And sometimes we have to get quick, sometimes we have to be very fast at it. So if you hear me, if I'm saying, like, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, you're hearing that I'm taking a breath, I'm supporting my voice, making sure I have some air while I'm talking. Be conscious of it.

B (20:25)

It's easy.

A (20:25)

It's actually a lot easier to forget to breathe when we're speaking than it is when we're singing, because there's something rehearsed happening when we're singing, if you will. And then the next thing is everyone can use a warmup. It doesn't matter if you're a singer or that. There's plenty of great little warmups on YouTube. You just vocal warmups. Doing any. Any warmup There's. There's some that are probably more effective out there in terms of. For public speaking, but doing. Finding a warmup that works for you in the mornings before you go into your meetings. Five minutes doesn't have to be a long thing. And get your voice stretched up and warmed up a little bit for the day. Um, you'll also notice that a big one, so you don't lose your voice is make sure that you find a spot in your voice, in your speaking voice that you. You hear clarity or you feel smooth. So in other words, if I'm talking down here, if I'm. If I'm trying to lose this voice here, you know, like that. I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna la. I'm not gonna. I'm more susceptible to hoarseness, and I'm wearing down my voice, but if I find a spot where the voice is here, here, here in my voice. So I'm working a little bit, so I'm actually projecting. I'm working a little bit to find smoothness in my speaking voice. And I laugh because sometimes I hear it in, like, an AI voice. You know, like, I'll hear. I go, oh, that's interesting. The AI voice has a pretty solid. Like, it's clear. It's not too fried. It doesn't have that tone in it.

B (21:50)

Right.

A (21:50)

So. Yes.

B (21:51)

Yeah, those are. Those are great. I love that. And you mentioned tech. You mentioned AI. What. What about tech? Do you leverage any tech at all in what you do?

A (22:00)

Oh, yeah, in. And I'm not ashamed to admit it on the. On creative front of my journey as far as. As a songwriter and producer, there's no doubt about it. I mean, the way. The way things are, I'm able to model Bailey's voice or someone's voice and actually have a little model of their voice. And when I write a song, I can put that vo. I could sing it, replace my voice with his, pitch it. Right. And, you know, to different artists, various artists. You could do things like that with AI. You can. Probably. One of the huge ones in the creative side would be if I'm, you know, if I don't want to rack my brain sitting all night writing a demo for a song that I wrote that day that I'm not even sure about if it's any good. It's nice to just, like, I write the song, put it down on an acoustic, throw it into one of these AI apps, and it'll. It'll. It'll show you a demo, and you're listening like, oh, wow, that's. That sounds done. Cool. Next day, next idea without having to sit there. The producer side of me doesn't use it much. Like the producing that world, if anything, AI is like, what not to do for my style of producing, like, for what I go for as a producer, AI is a little bit more of a, okay, don't do that.

B (23:13)

Right?

A (23:13)

If a. If AI is. Don't do that, go in a different direction so that you really stand out. So. But in vocal coaching, I do use recording as a tool. So if. If clients are in studio or they're at home even, I'll have them send me recordings, learn how to use a recording software to, like, record their. What they're practicing. I'll send them little videos that has my. Like, you're basically looking at the notes, like on. We call it MIDI in this world. Like little piano notes. You see them on recording software and you see these little notes and it helps you sort of look at them and guide you through. So I use technology quite a bit, honestly, in terms of, you know, in the. In the. Even the AI front of it all. The hardest thing about AI is that I always tell people the hardest thing is when you throw that. That demo on there, or you throw that work tape, as we call it, like an acoustic and a vocal, and you throw it and you hear it back and it does something different that you love. It's hard to unhear that, right? You're like, oh, boy, what do I do? Do I not do that? Just because this thing kind of bend the melody this way? It's like, that sounds so good. So that's. That's the tough part. That's where it gets a little fishy. Just because you're like, oh, no, like, I didn't. I didn't come up with that little movement. This thing did that. And you're like, oh, gosh, what do I do? How do I unhear that? That what it did, you know?

B (24:35)

Yeah, no, that's super cool. Yeah. So, Serge, we'll put all of your notes on how to get a hold of you, your website and things like that. Well, in our notes and that way anyone who's listening or watching has an interest in vocal coaching. Because I think you should do this for professional speakers or not. Not even professional speakers, regular people like myself, executives that speak a lot. And it's just.

A (24:59)

And I have. And I certainly have, by the way, just, you know, it's not something I have worked with clients like that. I also will see sometimes football coaches and I'm like, man. Or a quarterback going like, hey, man, this guy's gonna lose his voices if he keeps using his voice that way. Yeah, of course.

B (25:19)

Serge, this has been so fascinating to have someone outside of healthcare like yourself and such a creative force and energy. And we talked a lot about yourself, how you grew up, how you got into music, just how important your parents were in that journey. And sort of four or five hacks you shared with us on how to improve our own sort of self coaching, if you will, but improve our own voice and be careful with. So thank you for that. Super fascinating. Is there anything we missed or anything you want to double down on? I'll give you the last word.

A (25:50)

You know, I was a really, really terrible singer when I started, so I didn't mention that I didn't have a natural ability or inclination. I actually was extremely pitchy. Didn't have great rhythm, not much range. It's kind of crazy. I have a higher register in range now than I did when I was a teenager.

B (26:08)

Wow.

A (26:09)

So it's very important to note that I basically knew that singing was my weakness. I could write songs, I could be a crazy frontman, but singing was my weakness. But I look back and I think I was very determined to somehow turn that into a strength, you know, and essentially. So that's a big one, is I'm actually a vocal coach who is a singer, a singer that someone would want to learn from. It definitely blows my mind that my journey was not started off, it didn't start off with someone saying, hey, you're pretty good. You should pursue this. That isn't how it started. Like I was not getting told, you should go on a show or do that. That wasn't my journey. If you ask my parents, everybody were kind of like, we're just letting him do it. He loves it. We're just letting him do it. But I'm sure what they were thinking is, oh my gosh, this is not good. So it's, that's, that's important to see that this, this, this, the 20 year journey or longer 24 year journey that I've been on is kind of interesting. It's, it's. There's a ton of weaknesses and I have a way of just really trying to turn those into my strengths.

B (27:13)

Yeah, no, I love that. And, and like you talked about in the very beginning, like, don't give up. Keep trying to and pursue your dreams. And dreams happen. You've done amazing things, Serge, and I think you're going to do even more amazing things. In the future. So thank you so much for being my guest.

A (27:27)

No, thank you, man. Thank you. I'm a big fan of you and your family. Thank you for listening to Digital Voices. We hope today's conversation sparked ideas, reflection and connection. Subscribe on YouTube, Apple and Spotify podcasts so you don't miss an episode.