Hello Fellow OSers and Who fans,

To those who don't know me: I am a writer by day (with Random House), and a musician at night, and I happened to sing lead in a band that sings mostly Who songs (with a bit of Led Zeppelin, Stones, U2 etc thrown in...and songs by a solo artist you may have heard of named Pete Townshend). Nothing brings me more joy that singing songs by Pete and The Who. I am sure you can all relate.

Friends and editors have been asking me for a while to start blogging about my experiences singing in a Who tribute band--especially as a woman putting forth and interpreting very male songs. But I held off, thinking there is only so much one can say about interpreting male lyrics and delivering them in a more female way. [ And please note that sometimes I do not even attempt to mimic Roger stylistically and/or note-by-note in certain songs, because in my mind the only woman who can really pull off Roger-at-his-most-Rogeresque (or Robert Plant for that matter) is Janis Joplin, and my voice is quite different from hers. So what I usually do, when I sing the Who at least, is study Pete's demo versions and infuse some of the emotion of those versions into my vocals.]

With Led Zeppelin, I simply stay away from certain songs that would sound preposterous coming from a woman (ie: squeeze my lemon 'til the juice runs down my leg)

 And I should mention that my band rocks full-force no matter what. And there's always plenty of sexual energy to channel!

Anyway, I thought it might be interesting to share some of my experiences with you. I certainly would welcome your input as to how you personally interpret certain Who songs. And I'd be curious to know how Roger or Pete have varied their vocals in live shows.

I want to honor the band I am serving when I am up there on stage. (And by that I mean I want to honor my own fellow musicians and I want to honor and serve The Who. Because the Who have given so much to me--to us--throughout the years.  

I look forward to corresponding with all of you.

Bright Blessings,

Lee