The raspy voice has been a signature sound for some singers with legendary careers. Rod Stewart, Stevie Nicks, Bonny Tyler, Macy Gray and Brian Adams are among the artists that come to mind who have successfully used this sound. In many contemporary music genres, a degree of raspiness can add a cool, communicative factor to vocal…

 …

I have added my song: "BOSTON' to my page where it can be heard. Boston was on hold by Patti Page and her Manager: Jack Rael for a recording session but Patti became ill over the last two years and the song is now in limbo. My hopeis that the right performer will hear it .

Michael Buble could make it Boston's song, but that is only my dream and when I dream, I dream big..

Thank you.... H.D. Flagle

As I pondered in a blog a while ago, the Uncle Rico character in Napoleon Dynamite longed to go back to 1982 and do things differently in high school.  I guess there's a couple ways you can look at that, but rather than lament that things in our biz are difficult and long for the "good old days" I figure that there is good music to be made and that in itself is of importance.  Many of my friends in the biz, who are world class musicians and audio folks, have taken to making little recordings…

Vocal vibrato can be likened to garlic... some songs/dishes call for more, some less. There are different types. Sometimes you want artichoke garlic, sometimes elephant garlic - sometimes you want faster wave vibrato, sometimes slower. Great cooks will tell you that sometimes you want to chop garlic, sometimes…

I’ve met them.  I’ve worked with them.  And I’ve seen them disappear.   I’m talking about the singers (they don’t yet deserve the title ‘artist’) who have some talent, and pretty much only want one thing; fame. 

They appear to have things going for them…management, a stylist, professional photos, an A-list hired band, great songs written by someone else, and sometimes a backer with deep pockets.  And it’s the cart before the proverbial horse.  These people want the spotlight, but they…

Thom Flora, Judy Rodman

singing background vocals at Eclectic Studio, Nashville

Doing your own background vocals on your recording project can be a very good idea, or can limit or even sabotage your project. Here are two big factors that should be…

Performing for a competition is stressful to say the least.  Choosing the right song/songs and sticking to an allotted amount of time can drive you nuts! 

Many times artists will second guess themselves and sometimes even change their minds last minute on what songs to do right before they go on stage.   I witnessed a train wreck like this at a competition I was helping judge.

This was a band that played the year before, so our panel was familiar with their sound and style. …

Earth Hertz Production's new mobile unit now home basedin Franklin, TN.

Formerly the Skyelabs Mobile Unit Rover has been in prep since it's purchase from Bob Skye in Feb. 2011.

Rover is a 35 foot GM Coach, a former Greyhound, that has found a new skin as a mobile recording studio since 1982 when Bob Skye created Skyelabs Recording in her.

PAST CLIENT LIST

The Grammy winning “Tributes To Miles”

Dave Mathews

Bruce Hornsby

Keb ‘Mo’

Sammy…

I rarely go to songwriter rounds because many times, for every one great writer, you have to sit through 3 or 4 bad ones.  The other night at the famous Bluebird Café was an exception.

I mainly went to see my clients The Stellas, and they did not disappoint, with their fun and tender lyrics and amazing harmonies.  Every song was great. 

There was another writer there whom I’d never heard before. He’s written hits for Steve Wariner, Brooks & Dunn, Patty Loveless, Josh Turner…

It brings me joy when I see maturity begin to catch up with potential.

Potential, or raw talent as we often call it only gets us so far.  The mastering of that ability takes time, effort, focused attention, dedication, commitment, and sometimes just plain rudimentary practice. 

When I was in the fourth grade I went to play for the National Piano Guild auditions. We performed before a judge at our local university and received a critique afterward.  I had a…

I just finished two days of work with a band in Baltimore. They are great musicians and have always been told this. Typically musicians of this caliber would say, “We’re good enough, we don’t need any of that Tom Jackson stuff!”

To their credit, someone in the band knew their show was still lacking, and saw the value in getting some help, after hearing Tom speak. They ordered our videos, watched them together, then got on the phone and asked me to come up and do some one-on-one…

I recently had a real-world refresher about how to get a voice that feels fried in shape for a long band rehearsal....because this time the voice was mine!

The year so far in Nashville is full of pollen and other allergens, even more than usual this year. My schedule has been slamming with vocal lessons, studio production, etc. The day of rehearsal, I gave several vocal lessons starting 9am, drove to the studio and did a few hours of vocal production, drove back, gave more vocal…

Breath is the power source for the voice. Not having enough breath or not having control of breath for singing or speaking can cause all kinds of vocal problems, including:

1. running out of breath (can't finish phrases well)
2. not having enough volume (weak, quiet voice)
3. strained or…

 Yes. I think it is not clear to any of us where new jobs will be. Certainly the world loves internet-media-networking. I think sound is on all of those, except texting.  So, there's not much goodness in having tons of pure music engineers, but there is in rich-knowledge media people. Audio should know and appreciate video skills, graphics should know video, at least enough to feel comfortable in working with an expert and know the language. Therefore, I have no trouble in continuing to…

Guys are welcome too! We have started this group with all female in mind but, Unfortunately we have not found all the players we need. We will be going in the studio May5th And shooting a video soon after and would like to do so with al our own musicains. i have a new single out " I'm Gonna Follow You" on Amazon/Rhapsody and E-music and a video I did when first moving here a couple years ago called "Big One" By Alissa joyce on youtube.. If anyone has any suggestions on musicians that may be…

Check Tom Jackson's blog today - FREE pass Backstage!.....

This is why I get hired by so many artists and bands: to help them create moments in their show so they can connect emotionally with their audience.

If you could take a cord and hardwire it to yourself, then wire that cord into the whole audience so they feel the same thing you do about your songs, you’d sell out your entire stock of CDs the next time you played. You’d sell out because…