Judging Your Skillz

When you see our family perform for the first time your immediate response might be surprise, joy or even a little confusion.  (Who are these people and what are they doing to those fiddles?)  Probably the last thing going through your mind is:  "Wow, these kids would be great for...let's say, judging a hip-hop competition on the fly, the winner of which will recieve $600 and open for a Sean Kingston performance."

But that was exactly what was going through the special events coordinator's mind when she slipped backstage during our show.

Christian was the first to hear the news.  In a fair so bursting with activity, time is of the essence and it was a simple matter of getting our drummer's attention in the middle of 'Rocky Top' to share this good news.  Because the drums were pounding around their ears, she simplified the message.  "I need a judge for a skills contest.  Find me after the show."

Never missing a beat, Christian finished out the rest of the performance while we danced, oblivious on stage.  As we retreated backstage after the show, in the time honored rock star fashion, with much backslapping and high-fiving, Christian told us the news.  Then he and Kathryn wandered off to find the coordinator.

They were both immediately drafted to judge the competition, giving us a ShaeLaurel majority of 2 to 1!  (Yes, there was only one other judge.)  Apparently all of the original judges knew most of the people in the competition so they needed an outsider's eye.

The competition took up an entire break between shows.  4 contestants entered and a 5th was picked at random from the audience (There were too many prizes for too few contestants!)

In a bizarre twist of events, 2 different bands won the competition and did a free style joint song in celebration.  The crowd was enthusiastic and approved of the choice.  Kathryn and Christian were both interviewed for a local television station and became an integral part in all the ceremonies.  Now that's something to put on your resume:

Internationally renowned veteran musician and performer...oh and a good judge of your skillz.

See kids, rehearsal can be fun!

ShaeLaurel vocal experiment with helium.

The way we entertain ourselves...

What it takes to be in my band

Performing, in my not-so-humble opinion, is the greatest job on earth.  (It is also the only job I've ever had.)  The highs are high, the lows can get pretty far down there.

A lot of people don't know what it takes to put on a show like ours so we thought we'd let you slip backstage with us and get a little tour.

Several things are required to get ready for a show.  One of these is stretching.  Kathryn and Dad are our top stretchers and they will lead us in a muscle loosener before a show.

Then there is vocal warm-ups, we all warm up together and concentrate on tight harmonies and singing together as a group.

Now it's time for Kathryn to work her magic.  She chooses our costumes for the show, then we dispute them, come up with different arrangements, argue over the changes, and eventually put on the clothes she originally chose for us.

Then there is makeup.  We've learned over the years that stage makeup is best applied with a trowel (or a paint roller).  Unless strictly necessary we don't put on tons of makeup, but for every stage it's different.  Some have more lighting, some have no lights at all, and some are so blinding that you'd rather wear sunglasses during the show.  Over all though, makeup can take a long time.

Now that we are all dressed and ready for the show it's time to tune and warm up our instruments.  We have 69 strings to tune before each show.  We split them up fairly evenly between the group... sometimes (Kat and Andy have the most I think.).  Then there are 12 drum heads to tune and some more stretching :)

Next it's time to 'pack up'.  We each have 3 wireless packs (in-ear monitors, an instrument pack and a vocal pack) that project our sound to the world.  These are strapped to our bodies on super sturdy, fail-safe... plastic cell phone holders.  Hey, they get the job done.

Once the show gets underway we do a lot of dancing, I mean a lot of dancing.  But dancing isn't the only physically challenging activity on stage.  Extensive testing in our top secret ShaeLaurel lab revealed that Christian's right foot, the one that plays his bass drum, traverses the equivalent of more than five miles during a single half hour show.  Five miles.  As a band we perform anywhere from 1-6 shows a day.  That's 30 miles, more than a marathon.  And that's not even dancing.

After the show is over and the lights dim, it's time to say goodbye.  If performing is the fun part (and believe me, it is) than the tear-down is the work.  Because we do it so often though, we are very good at it.  In a rush, we can pack onto a stage in less than 5 minutes with all our instruments and stand equipment.  (The State Fair was great practice. We got to pack on and off between each show!  We are a well-oiled machine.)

Now that the show is over, it's time to celebrate.  Our family has a motto:  "Work Hard, Play Harder."  And we stick by it no matter what.  ShaeLaurel parties can be crazy and a lot of fun and you can be sure there's a lot of homemade popcorn involved.

Performing, in my not-so-humble opinion, is the greatest job on earth.  If you have any questions about performing or being unbearably close to your family members, drop us a line!

Christian’s 15th Birthday Celebration in Alaska!

Christian celebrates his 15th birthday at the Alaska State Fair.  We even commandeered some fireworks for the occasion :)

VIP passes for all!

Here is a tour of our top secret dressing room at the Alaska State Fair!

The Alaska State Fair

We can boast of a perfect attendance here at the state fair.  36 out of 36 shows.  Not bad!  Playing at the state fair has been an amazing experience for our family.  We have seen wonders, met fabulous people and generally whooped it up.  
We shared our stage with hudreds of students of the arts, amazing musicians and talented dancers - all Alaskan, born and raised.   
The fair itself was overloaded with a plethora of fun activites, shows and amazing sights.  Charlie Danieles, Sean Kingston, and other big name bands rocked the night away.  We saw 60-lb cabages, dared the incredible bungee of terror and even test drove some cars (Andy's favorite part).  
We played 3 45-minute shows a day and explored the fair by night.  
In short...We are definitely going to need a vacation from our vacation.

More From Alaska!

Here's a picture from Juneau.  ShaeLaurel hanging out with the bears.

I love my brother.  End of story.

Glacial Magnificence!

Photo shoot!

Posers.

Alaska Rocks!

Our RV in the belly of the ferry.

Just out for a float.

Alaskan Beauty.

More Beauty.

Show off!

Our new backyard.

Boat wake...(It was a big boat)

Surveying our kingdom.  (And talking in plurals)

Christian captures the beauty.

Soaking up the rays.

So beautiful you could puke.

Blah.

Whale!!!!  

(This isn't our picture, we didn't see a whale jump quite that high, but this whale could be related to the ones that we saw... :)