As a singer, being able to accompany yourself while writing, practicing and gigging is a huge plus because you don’t have to rely on the band. It has opened a lot of doors for singer-songwriter Brenda Earle Stokes. Brenda has been a closeted singer for four years. She didn’t identify herself with piano at first. But when she started honing her piano skills, it opened up a lot of opportunities for her to showcase her talent. Now, she helps other musicians make money from music by expanding their skills. Tune in to this episode and find your key to earning more as a musician.
How Learning Piano Skills Can Help Singers And Songwriters Get More Opportunities With Brenda Earle Stokes
I am so happy to be here with Brenda Earle Stokes. We are going to talk about her journey about how she helps musicians make money from music in ways that you haven’t thought of or by expanding some of the skills that can open up whole new markets to you. This is what I’m excited about. This aligns well with some of my stories. We will get into that as well. To start us, Brenda, I would love to know a little bit about your journey in music. You’re a piano player. You’re very multifaceted. I would love to find out how you started, what made you focus on piano and voice and the way it played out in your career.
Thank you. It’s great to be here. I did what I call middle-class piano lessons from the time I was five. That was what we did. Both of my parents played a little bit. I was never super committed to it but when I was in high school, I was in every band. I accompanied the choir. I sang in the choir and played clarinet in the band. I was obsessed with it but piano hadn’t connected with me in that same way until my high school band director played a recording of Oscar Peterson, the jazz pianist. I went, “That’s what I want to do.” As soon as I heard two notes of it, I went, “This is the thing that has been missing.” At that point, I turned all of my attention to becoming the next Oscar Peterson.
I practiced all the time. I ended up moving to Toronto in Canada to do my undergraduate degree, which was at York University. Oscar Peterson was the chancellor of the university. I got to know him a little bit, which was amazing. I had done some singing through high school and elementary school. It was the era of Diana Krall. Everyone kept saying, “You must be a singer.” I wanted to be taken seriously as a pianist. I was a closeted singer. I sang in a closet for four years. I started to sing out after I graduated. I started doing some jazz gigs and recorded my first EP CD around that time. From there, I decided it was time to get out of Dodge. I moved on to a cruise ship for a couple of years doing a sing-along piano bar.
If you want to learn how to be a professional musician, a cruise ship piano bar is the place to figure out an audience and songs. I did all of that for several years. I finally moved to New York to live the jazz dream where I did a Master’s degree in Jazz Piano and Voice at the Manhattan School of Music. Subsequently, I’ve done everything. I’ve recorded a bunch of albums as a band leader, toured, played as a side person, music-directed Broadway musicals and taught elementary school and high school music. I have my online membership of online courses. I’ve done it all.