Stephanie Rabus - 6/3/26

A leaky heart valve. A brand-new piece of medical tech called a Harmony valve. And a country singer who’s back on Broadway faster than most of us would return to the gym. We’re joined by Tennessee recording artist Stephanie Rabus, and she tells the full story, from being born with a serious heart murmur and having open-heart surgery at 11 to facing pulmonary regurgitation decades later and choosing a transcatheter pulmonic valve replacement instead of another long recovery.

From there, we zoom out to the working-musician reality in Nashville. Stephanie breaks down what it’s like to gig on Broadway when there are no sick days and your income depends heavily on a tip jar that can swing wildly from night to night. We talk about fear, pacing yourself after surgery, and the mental toughness it takes to keep chasing a dream when the industry loves to tell you you’re “too old” or “too late.”

We also get deep into the craft behind her new single “I Told Me So” (out May 15): the co-writing room, the emotion that comes from lived experience, and how a simple work tape can turn into a finished master with the right producer and world-class session players. Plus, we dig into vocal health and vocal production, including when pitch tools help, when they hurt, and what vocal therapy taught her about breathing, hydration, and staying consistent for the long haul.

If you care about country music, Nashville songwriting, Broadway gigs, vocal health, or what “making it” really means today, you’ll get a lot out of this one. Subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show.

Episode Links

• Stephanie Rabus: https://stephanierabus.net/
• Scotty Simpson: https://jayfranze.com/episode3/
• Stephanie Rabus: https://jayfranze.com/episode149/
• Kieran Robertson: https://jayfranze.com/episode209/
• Karen Waldrup: https://jayfranze.com/episode213/

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introduction

0:31

And we are coming up to live. I am Jay Franzi, and uh with me tonight uh Lizzie to my Christmas, my beautiful co-host, Ms. Tiffany Mason. Good evening, Jay. If you are new to this show, this is your source for the latest news, reviews, and interviews. And if you would like to chime in, join us, fire off questions, whatever you would like to do, please head over to jfranzie.com. All right, my friend, tonight we have a very special guest with us. We have a very, very special guest with us. We have a country music recording artist hailing from the great state of Tennessee. We have Miss Stephanie Rabus. Stephanie, my friend, thank you for joining us. Hello, thank you for having me. It is our pleasure. We have a lot of things to go over, a lot of things we want to know about.

Congenital Heart Diagnosis And Surgeries

1:18

However, what can you tell us about what's going on with your heart? Well, uh, so when I was born, I had a pretty bad heart murmur that the doctors discovered pretty quick. So they wanted to do some procedures, like they tried first to do this thing called a balloon catheter procedure. They did like three of those when I was really little that weren't successful. So by the time I was 11, I ended up having to uh do an open heart surgery. And the the thing I had was called pulmonary stenosis. So they had to fix that. Basically, it wasn't open, the valve wasn't open enough to uh pump enough blood through. So they had to go in and basically cut that valve to get the blood to go through. Well, apparently as years go by and you get older, uh, you know, things tend to wear out a little bit and you know go in the opposite direction. So um I had noticed a couple years ago some heart palpitations that I had never noticed before, and got that checked out recently and found out that I had what was called pulmonary regurgitation, which is a leaky valve. So apparently I ended up having, after doing tons and tons of tests, MRIs, CTs, all these things, I ended up finding out that I had a pretty severe leak. I mean, they were saying kind of moderate to severe, which is like a 36% leak in the opposite direction of where the blood should have been going. So we kind of went through the options. We could have done another open heart surgery, which I was like, please know there's a long recovery process in that, and doing what I do as a singer couldn't really be out for three, four months. You know what I mean? So they ended up going with some pretty crazy medical technology called the transcatheter pulmonic valve replacement, and they use ironically what is called a harmony valve, which is made from a pig valve, and then there's some other stuff in there. I I don't know all the details, but they basically put it through a little catheter in the groin and all the way up into your heart, and they just place it there. And I had this done about a week and six days ago, about exactly a week and six days ago. So yeah, pretty crazy stuff. But the real crazy thing is when I I was 11 was when this first happened, and I figured out then that I could sing, basically. I mean, kind of figured that out. My dad played drums for an Elvis impersonator who was our next door neighbor, and I asked if I could borrow the mic, and I sang a cappella, the song from the little mermaid, part of your world. And they kind of were like, Oh, she can sing, okay. And then they kind of figured out that was the dream, that was the goal, and we went from there. But now here we are 33 years later. I'm 44. There's a lot of numerology in there if you go for that kind of thing. And I have a brand new song coming out about not giving up on your dreams, keeping going, and I have a lot of other music getting ready to come out this year, too. So it's kind of a full circle thing. Too many questions before we leave the heart. You mentioned it happened at 11 years old. By the time you're 11, you're already, you know, in school, you're remembering things. What was the feeling like at that time? What were you thinking? Well, I mean, it was a pretty scary thing, obviously, being a kid and kind of wanting to be involved in all the things that the kids are doing, you know, not to mention we had a swimming pool in our backyard. We lived in Arizona at the time. So, and this was during summer. This was like July. So I'm like, I don't get to go swimming, everybody else does. You know, it was like a couple months of not getting to do any of that and just recovery in general. But yeah, I mean, a pretty scary thing. And I mean, I feel like going through it now as an adult, even though it wasn't as severe of a type of surgery, I was maybe even more scared though, just because as you get older, you're like more aware of things. As a kid, you're kind of like, Well, I don't really know what's happening, but I'm just going with the flow. My parents were probably a little more scared than I was back then. Um, but yeah, definitely like a big thing to go through at that age for sure. So you you say you didn't know as much as your parents probably knew at that time. Yeah. I can only assume you were nervous. Oh, yeah, yeah, I do remember that for sure. Well, and when I went in, so they put you to sleep and everything with the anesthesia, and they did the mask on me instead of the IV because I was like, I'm afraid of needles. And uh which I still am, but you know, with it, as everybody should be. I know. So um, but they did the mask, and I remember it was this crazy, like it was a very strong strawberry scent. I think they thought that would help me somehow. But I remember going to sleep with that, and I felt like I was gonna die, like I was suffocating, like that was like the last thing I remember, like, I'm dying. And then I, you know, next thing I know, I wake up and it was all done, everything was done. But yeah, that moment itself was pretty scary. So when you when you did wake up and come out of it, what was the situation like? Did you have breathing tubes? I mean, what did you have connected to you? Yeah, there was a breathing tube. I can't remember if it was still in. Like this time it was already out by the time I woke up, or at least by the time I knew I was awake. I don't know. Um, so I don't remember that far back 33 years ago. Um, but I do remember just a lot of pain. I had this thing that I had to like breathe into. You would breathe in to like check and your your lung capacity to make sure that it was like getting back up full, you know, steam or whatever. Um, and yeah, just being in a lot of pain. I remember kind of being like hunched over a lot because you know, they they did the scar like across. A lot of people get their scars like up, but I had mine underneath, like across. And you know, that was a thing, like the ladies, like my mom and my aunt, everybody's like, get it across because you'll want to, you know. And I'm like, okay. So now, you know, when

Living With A Valve For Life

7:22

I was told I may have to get open heart again, they were like, Oh, we're gonna do it this way. So I'm like, Oh, I'm gonna have a nice little cross all the way, you know. Um, and you know, the thing about this valve too is uh apparently they they really only last like 10 to 15 years. So I am gonna have to, you know, continuously kind of go through a procedure through my out my life, whether it's another transcatheter or eventually maybe an open heart surgery. So, you know, it's like how does that make you feel knowing that that's oh it's that's scary, yeah. But you know, I mean I just I I kind of kind of am a person who like takes things day by day, and I do a lot of praying and uh a lot of just like letting God know that I'm you know very grateful for him protecting me and you know providing for me and all that. So I'm constantly in this gratitude mode, even if something's a little sketchy and scary, like I know that there's a plan and a purpose for it. So it's just gonna be tough. So oh yeah, it's a lot. I am glad it's successful. I'm glad you're back in battery.

Returning To Shows After Procedure

8:26

But what's crazy to me is you're already scheduling and doing shows. Yeah. Well, so I was supposed to do shows back in Illinois. I had to drive five hours for those, but I didn't do those shows because I wasn't supposed to drive for like a week, but then in longer distances, longer than that. I did do a show today on Broadway, but I was like on my stool a lot, and I kind of was like letting everybody else sing. And in this business, we don't get sick days, we don't get leaves of absence. So the bills were getting it was getting a little scary there for a minute. Um having to miss out on all of those things. So, you know, everybody was kind of understanding I might have needed like a little boost of help in certain areas and keeping things a little lower key for me. So, you know, I wasn't belting too hard on anything, just trying to keep things mellow, not use a crazy lung capacity, you know. Also, probably good to exercise those muscles, right? Yeah, I yeah, I think so. I mean, anytime that you know something's kind of out of commission for a bit, it's like good to kind of just start getting getting back into it, easing into things. So knowing how to sing, does it make you feel odd not hitting full capacity? Um, I mean, I I love to just go for those power notes. But you know, I think just the uh importance of easing into things and not overdoing it, I think is is what keeps me grounded on that and okay with it, you know. All right. Well, I don't want to spend our entire time talking about the heart concern, but I did have one more question about it. Okay. When you perform now after the surgery, is there anything that scares you? Uh I don't. I mean, I was maybe like a little worried, you know, because of where everything, you know, with like the sutures or whatever you would say they are. I I guess technically they use like a collagen plug or something because it's literally like little dot. I mean, it's not even like a cut. They like just put a little dot and then they go in the artery. It's in there's like hardly any scars gonna be there. But I think worrying about, you know, making sure that that's okay, because you know, sometimes you hit those power nodes and like you're like, is something gonna, you know, pop or go crazy? Uh, you know, and then of course with the lungs and everything. So yeah, a little bit of concern there, but I feel like pretty close to back to normal. And I think that you know, that's one of the benefits of this type of procedure is to be able to kind of get back in there a little quicker. Well, a lot quicker. I don't know. I just try to think of it myself. I mean, I know heart disease runs in my family, and I sometimes think, you know, is it too much or are you pushing too hard? So I just wonder, yeah, for someone who's had to go through a surgery, do you come out of it and think, is it too soon to perform or is it too soon to push it? Yeah.

The Story Behind I Told Me So

11:27

All right, let's talk about your new single. I told me so. Yeah, well, uh, so I had a writing session actually a couple of years ago with a couple of my favorite writers I've written with. Who are? Uh well, Mark Roma is one of them. He wrote Bells, Bells, Bells with me. He was one of the writers on Pray You Down. The other writer is a man named Greg Matthews. Unfortunately, he did pass away very recently, and it was a really sad situation. I had finished, well, the first version of the song, and I had the group message still from when we had written the song a couple years ago, and I hadn't talked to Greg since then, but apparently he ended up getting pretty sick, and I believe that it was COPD, I believe. And I didn't really know that, like I didn't know about the situation. So uh when I sent the song through, Mark got back to me and he told me that Greg hadn't been doing well. You know, he was like, he probably won't even be able to respond to this or anything. So unfortunately, a few days after that, he texted back the group and said that he had passed away, so he never even got to hear it. And I hate that because he loved it so much and he really was like, gotta record this, you know, and that was the plan when I put Pray You Down out. But at the time I had a couple of personal losses, and so Pray You Down really fit in my life at that time, and it was pitched to me by Mark and Corey and a girl named Ava Page. And you know, I usually go songs that I write, but I loved that one, and it meant so much to me. I went with that. Yeah. So going forward, we put uh this one on the back burner and then now got to do it, and I just hate that he ended up missing it. But but in the session, we were all kind of talking about, you know, how we've all been chasing this dream, them as songwriters, me as an artist for all these years, and just all the highs and lows and ups and downs and things that are like hard to kind of deal with. But the fact that it's just so ingrained in us, like the dream that it's something you just can't give up on. And you know, you have parts of yourself that have doubts, but you have parts of yourself that are confident and believe that this can happen for me. And it's really about embracing that and then saying, in the future, like that you could tell yourself, you know, I told me so, like I told me so I could do this. So proving to yourself that you can do it. Can you describe the writing session to us? Uh, I mean, probably like that, really just balancing. I mean, every it seems like every time I have a writing session, it's like we get in there and we're like, well, what do you all want to write about today? You know, and then you have a couple different things, or or does anyone have any ideas they've written down? And you know, and um I think that kind of just ended up rather than being like one of those ideas, it was kind of us talking about this and lamenting on it, and then saying, Well, let's just, you know, write about that, you know, let's go forward and and write about this situation. So that's how that went. So that's how the topic comes about. But when you get into the actual session itself and you guys start writing, do you guys take on roles? Like, is one person a lyricist? Is one person the music, one person the melody? Well, I think um in that one particularly, uh was it Greg, I think had the guitar and he was kind of picking around, just started playing some chords, and and we were like, Oh yeah, I like that, you know, I like that vibe. And then as we were kind of talking about the story, one person will kind of put a lyric out and they'll be like, Yeah, or we can say it like this, and you know, as we kind of just balance lyrics off of each other to kind of get that that idea going, and then a lot of times you get that perfect lyric and everybody's like, Yeah, that's it, lock in, you know. And I feel like that that was how that one went. And a lot of them that I've done go that way, really. And it seems like sometimes people kind of take the reins on the melody, and then you know, you kind of go with that. Other times you might switch it up. Well, we might want to go a little higher here. But it seems like a lot of times the person who's got the guitar ends up kind of really writing the melody, and then we all just kind of chime in with lyrics. When you write a song yourself, if you were just on your own, is it lyrics first? Uh, so I've had in in the past literally like thought of a line and then could sing it in my head like a cappella, like I could just hear how it's in my mind supposed to go. When I was a lot younger, before I ever was in bands or doing anything, I literally wrote whole songs a cappella, you know, so I could hear the melody. I could, I just didn't have any way to write the music because I'm working a little bit on guitar, I'm practicing, I'm just not that great. I'm not good enough to do shows by myself, but I can I still have a good ear and I can hear these melodies in my head. And a lot of times I'll just kind of sing something to a guitar player and they'll be like, Oh yeah, these chords will go with that, you know. So mm-hmm. That's crazy, me. When I write songs, it's always lyrics first and then music second and then melody last. Because it's just my abilities, that's where I feel comfortable. I can lyrics, I feel perfectly fine. Music, I can I can formulate chord changes. The math seems simple to me, but I can't sing. So melody is always the hardest part for me. I hear it in my head, I just don't know how to interpret it. So when you wrote the song, how did you go ahead and demo it? Well, that day, Greg actually did just a little voice memo recording, which I I kind of cherish now, you know, knowing that you know he passed away just to have that is special, you know, because you get to hear that transition of where it started with his voice, and you know, and it's just like ugh, it's like a little emotional. But you know, and and just the song itself, when you hear it, it's just kind of got that emotional feel to it. So it but to hear just him and a guitar, and that's how the whole thing started, and then I brought it to the producer, and we figured out what a good key for me would be, and then you know, they put a little chart down, the studio musicians did a thing, you know, and we had, and I mean, you know a little bit about this, um, but we had kind of evolved the song, it kind of started out being a little more like traditional, like something you might hear in 80s or 90s country, which I love, but we were all kind of in an agreement that we wanted to give it like just a little bit of a modern twist to it, you know, just something, a feel that made it a little more consistent with what's happening now in music, which now people are really embracing traditional, but you still want that kind of newer feel, you don't want it to feel like it was plucked out of you know the 80s. So that's what we ended up doing. We just over time evolved, added a couple things, like changed up some uh balances and different things in the mix, and then ended up with what we ended up with. And I'm very happy with how it turned out. So there was no actual demo, it went from work tape straight to your final master. Yeah, yeah, pretty much, yeah. So you said you met with your producer for it. Who was the producer on

Producing Choices And Studio History

18:50

this one? Uh his name's Brandon Henniger, he is a producer engineer at uh the House of David recording studio, uh down in like you know, Music Row over there. Um, and I think David, uh, who owned that studio had also passed away in the last year or so. But yeah, there's a lot of very like famous people who recorded there. I can't like remember right now who they all were. I thought I heard something about Elvis. Um, but I think he said something Elvis or the Jordan Airs or you know, some people there, but like there's a lot of photos and different things all over the place, but it's a it's a pretty legit studio. Yeah, that studio's been there for a long time, and I know a lot of people have come in and out of it. So when you first entered that studio to to work, what did it feel like? Oh well, yeah. Um just to know you know of the history of who's been there. I mean, just like at the Grand Locry, when you're there, you just kind of feel this crazy vibe of like, oh my gosh, I'm in a pretty cool historic place. Like a really good like we can relate to that. It's just like when you perform at the Opry. Well, not performed. Gee, we do know. I haven't performed at the Opry yet, but yet. Yet. But being there, even in the audience, the first time I ever went to the Opry, I like balled because it's just a vibe. Like it's if you have that dream, it's an overwhelming feeling the first time that you go there in the audience. But I've been fortunate enough to go backstage three times now. I know a few musicians, well, several musicians who play on the Opry, so and they can just get guests in, like, whenever. So it's a pretty neat thing that you know, my dad and I recently got to do that, and it was really cool. So you go in there, it's kind of a little bit overwhelming. So when you go through the process, you say you work, you try to find your key, try to tighten up your melodies. Is there anything special about that process you can share with us? Um I think that there's this kind of camaraderie and understanding of each other, that we both have kind of ideas and and willing to kind of listen to each other and figure all that out. You know, in this particular song, I had picked a key and I was singing it in the studio, and actually, one of the musicians, the one who like charted, like wrote the chart out from the work case. Obsession lead. Yeah, he was like, You can do this higher. He's like, I think this isn't really like your key. Like, I think you could really go up on this, and I'm like, Oh, you think? And I was kind of feeling that when I was going through the first pass. I was like, it doesn't necessarily feel like it's in that sweet spot for me. So he moved it up, and then it was like, Okay, that's that's where we are. So it's kind of special when you have people that know what they're doing with that, they know what sounds right and you know how it should be. So that that is special for sure about it. Who was the session lead? I'm pretty sure it was Michael Webb. He played keys and bass, I believe. But yeah, Michael Webb, we were in it, they played it, they all just played. And I haven't been in like full sessions a lot. When I did my album, My Time Now, my producer on that one, she didn't even have me there, which I thought was a little weird. She didn't like really correspond timing with me. So she literally did like the whole album sessions without like I I came back and did my vocals later. So she did the session. But this was like we all played at the same time and and everything. So it was new to me to have that experience and just see how pro these people are. And they just like, okay. What impressed you the

Studio Musicians And Real-Time Magic

22:38

most? Um, well, I just think that it how it comes together, you know. Like, I mean, I I'm playing cover bands, which is great, but we rehearse typically, like, we learn these other people's songs. Everybody, you know, listens to it for a few days. We get together, not so much on Broadway, because there's no time for that. But my band borderline, like whenever we want to learn new songs, we'll get together, have a little rehearsal, learn it, and then you know, do it a few times. But these studio musicians, they're just like, Oh, there's a chart, this is what we're doing, and there it is, like bam, you know, and I'm like, whoa, that's pro. Which do you prefer? Uh, I I really love, I mean, both situations just because they're different. But I mean, I love being in the studio and and to be with people that who were that pro is a really cool thing because you kind of feel like something big is happening here if I'm involved with these people who are like, man, like just got it. The energy in the room. Yeah. Yeah, those people have played on thousands of records. Oh, yeah. I mean, it's just super. And though they make it so like effortless. Exactly. Do you know who Scotty Simpson is? Yes. Scotty Simpson bass player plays for the Oak Ridge Boys, but he was on the show back in episode three. It was a long, long time ago. But Scotty was on here and he was talking about the difference between being a session player and then being a road musician. Because he does both. And he was saying when you're in the studio, the responsibility is to come up with something on the spot, come up with something good on the spot and quick. But when you're the road musician, the responsibility is to learn what somebody else came up with and then master that and not deviate from what people are used to hearing. So he says it's just a different approach, and some people are better at one of those than the other. Yeah, that's exactly how I I should have put it. That's exactly what I'm saying. Speaking of people who were in the recording studio, was your dad there? Your dad has been so instrumental on the show, and he's always cheering about his daughter Stephanie. You know, is he there in the studio with you? So he didn't get to be there for the musicians, but he was there for my vocal session. And he just loves every every part of everything. He's just so enthusiastic. It's it's so great to have someone like that that with just so much belief and and like passion for what I do, you know. But yeah, so he got he got to experience that. And you know, we've done a couple other songs in that studio. We did Pray You Down in that studio. We did well, we didn't do Bells in that studio, but we did Pray You Down in that one. So he was there for that too. I I believe he got to be there. But yeah, he really enjoys seeing that process come to life. What's funny to me is I can't tell you how many times on the show that we've said Jerry Rabus, father of Stephanie Rabus. His name comes up on the show more often than your name comes up on the show. Yeah, that makes sense. Your name only be comes up because of your dad sometimes. I wasn't gonna say that. I mean, that was a harsh, Miss Tiffany. But no, I mean, it really does. His name comes up a lot. He answers the question of the day for us a lot and we talk about them. And we're always saying Jerry Rabus, father of Stephanie Rabus. Oh, yeah. Well, he's you know, once he supports something, he's a very loyal supporter, and he really is a huge fan of yours. And this right here, oh boy, like he loves this. I love it too. A lot of great information in there, and that was another thing I wanted to talk about too. That just I'm not much of a reader, I love Audible. Yes, you can. You gotta go on there and record a version of this because I get in the car and I listen to books. That's what I do. But this wasn't a hard read at all. And my dad, because he got the copy originally, then brought this one to me when he came to town, and then he got himself another copy. Um love him for it. Before that happened, he was like, taking a picture and send it, like, read this part, read the, you know, and so he's just very like, yeah, he's all about it. And uh, no, it's a it's really great. You know, you and I had that conversation too about a lot of the stuff in here. You were kind of helping me like one-on-one with you know, getting like my bios right, things lined up on my website, and all that is in here. So any artists out there, you must sorry, we have some technical difficulties. He doesn't like very much attention on himself, but it's his book, yes. Oh, this is Standout or Fade Out Strategies for Standing Out in Nashville by Jay Franzi. Nice, and I love it. It's a really great book. I mean, telling y'all, if you're looking to learn more about this crazy industry, uh, this is a good place to start. So check is in the mail. While we're talking about parents, let's go ahead and mention Miss Kathy, Tiffany's mom, says that Miss Tiffany sent her a copy of your song, Pray You Down, and she loved it, made her cry. Oh, well, thank you so much. I'm glad that it touched you in that way, and that's why I recorded it, because I have had that personal experience, and I know literally everyone else has. So I think this was a song that anyone can resonate with. So I'm glad that you know it touched you in that way, and I'm so sorry for your loss. It's the hardest thing. I'm telling you that I just pray every day, like, give me so much time with my parents because I don't I do not know how I'm gonna handle that when that day comes, you know, and I pray it'll be a very long time from now. It is tough. I will tell you that. I lost my father, I was in my early 20s, and lost my mother in my early 40s. So oh my goodness. It is not easy, but yeah, I guess it's part of life. Yeah. All right. So you went in the studio, you spent the day with those musicians. Was it a again we talk about a union session? So was it a typical three-hour block? Yes, it was. All right, so you go in there, you're impressed by the musicians. They go in, they knock out your song, you get to see some of the world's finest musicians play your material for the first time. How'd that make you feel? Well, I mean, really good. And I, you know, I was sitting there with so the producer's uh girlfriend, she was there, and we were just sitting there and we're like, it's so beautiful. Like the piano came in, and we're just like, Oh my gosh. Because like the way that the song sounds when it's just an acoustic guitar or acoustic guitar, and I mean it was Greg singing it, so it just it was just like this guy voice and acoustic guitar, and then the way it comes to life with that, it's just like whoa, you know, it's it's a pretty overwhelming thing. I mean, I know people who have done it a million times is probably nothing anymore, you know. They're like, oh big deal, but I think it's really cool so and really special. I mean, I I can't tell you enough, it really is an amazing feeling and amazing experience. Once the session was recorded, typically that three-hour block, did you stay in the studio at that point and continue working, or did you come back on a different day to do your vocals? I did um, let's see. I think that day I just ran a few passes just to have one to kind of like live with, you know. Um, yeah, the scratch. And then I did come back later and and had like a separate vocal session. But yeah, that day we just wanted to have something for them to work with when putting all the music together. It is normal to have somebody go in the booth and sing a scratch vocal with them, but in your particular case, your song is so personal and there's a lot of feeling behind it. So uh when I think of you going in there to sing scratch, it may make the musicians actually feel the emotion a little bit more than they would have if you weren't there. Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. Well, very cool. So then you go back, you sing it. How many times did you go through the material? And did you do it all at like one stretch, or did you go verse, chorus, verse, chorus? Did you take it in sections? So this this producer, he tends to do or we'll just kind of do the whole thing, like we'll just run through a whole pass and then we'll listen to it, and then like we might listen to the first verse, and I'll be like, okay, that's good, go to the next, and then be like, uh, I could beat that one. So, like, let me do that line again, you know what I mean? So we'll do like one of the chorus lines or whatever it was. So we'll kind of literally comb through it and go, okay, I could beat that, let's do that again, and then go through. Now,

Vocal Sessions And Performance Integrity

31:40

I've worked with other producers, like on my time now, where she's like, We're gonna do all the verses at the same time while your voice is in that range. So we do like the first verse and then skip over to the second verse, and then if there's a third verse, usually, usually not, I don't think, but anyway, third, well, maybe, but um, so two or three verses, whatever it is, but you do those all together, and then you go to the chorus, chorus, bridge, and then kind of piece it together in that way. It keeps your vocal in the same timbre, the same tone. Yeah, the consistency, which is nice, but I prefer the first way you described where you sing it the whole way through. I do too. Especially for you, you're a live performer. So let's go ahead and sing it. And it feels live, it comes across with that live feeling. And like you said, if there's a spot or two that may have gone a little awry, you can go ahead and just touch it up a little bit. Yeah, definitely. And I would rather try to like touch it up than be like, oh, just tune that, you know. I supposedly people say am a pretty good live singer. I don't know. But um I'll say it for you. You're an amazing live singer. Oh, well, thank you. Uh so the fact that I can do that and get it right and not have to rely on all this. I mean, there's all the technology you need right now to like perfect things. I'm a perfectionist and I like to it to be genuine and not fake, you know, um, not a bunch of tuning and whatever, you know, move this and that around and whatever. So I'm with you. And I would prefer it that way as well. I mean, I prefer a singer who can hit the notes and do their part the traditional way. But there are times I I won't say that it's never acceptable to use one of the tools that you may have. Oh, yeah. A singer may have just nailed a performance, like an absolute great performance, but it may have got a little pitchy. Yeah. Then okay, fine. You just touch it up a little bit, just so you don't lose that raw emotion. Oh yeah. For the most part, especially like you're saying, I would much rather you sing it over and over again. You sing it two, three times from beginning to end, and you've probably nailed every part of that song. Yeah, and I know and I know what you're saying on that, because there have been very rare times where it was like you capture the emotion, you capture the performance, but no, it might be a teensy bit flat, and you're like, okay, you can move that up without it sounded like you know, uh or whatever. You know, and and if it still sounds good, you know, that's great. And if you can have to do that to one or two things, fine, you know, that tap technology is there, and and that's great.

When Pitch Tools Help Or Hurt

34:26

But yeah, I I just feel like I don't know, I get a little annoyed when it gets to be these people that you know they have a certain kind of look about them, if you know what I mean, but they can't sing at all. And then they get in there and it's like, let's just tune everything, and then you know, they try to go and sing live on a like a radio tour or something, and there's nothing, they got nothing. But yet here they are with a record deal, or here they are on you know, the CMAs or whatever, you know. Because they're 20 years old and beautiful, yeah, exactly. So that's the kind of stuff that I feel like okay, we're we're overdoing it with this technology, just hire real talent. On that note, I will say one of my roles when I worked in Nashville was to tune vocals, and they would have me tune vocals that did not need to be tuned. They would want every word on the record tuned, whether it needed it or not. That's crazy. They were doing it because everybody's doing it, they want to make sure that they're just as perfect as everybody else. Yeah, and then you and then you hear them live, and they're like, that doesn't sound anything like what I heard on the record. I had a couple sessions with a voice therapist because I was I was dealing with like a little bit of hoarseness and I was like worried about it. So I got it checked out. They looked at my vocal cords, they said, no worries, like you don't have nodules or anything developing, but you do have like a little bit of like a thickening going on there. It's almost like a how do they word that? Not not mucus, but it was like something like that on the on the chords that you can clear if you know how to do it with therapy. So they ended up giving me this vocal therapist, and I did a few sessions with her, and she was talking about how when you're singing live, you don't have to worry about all these things being exactly like the artist, because the artist is not gonna be like that. What they did in the studio is not what they're gonna do live because there's breaths that are taken out, there's all these things that are going on in the studio, and you'll never hear that, you know, what you hear live. So she's like, don't worry too much about like the perfection of these things. You're you know, a real person, you're a real singer, but you need to breathe, but you don't want to overdo it, you know. And so she kind of went in and explained how don't try to mimic what's happening on these records because it's it's not real, really. How do you find that out? Do they put a camera down your throat? So, yeah, it's so uncomfortable. I mean, it's not painful, it's just awkward. They have this like tube with a little tiny camera and they put it in your nose and it goes all the way down your throat into your vocal cords, yeah. And they can see them and it how they're moving, and you know what's going on there, and they can see if any any bumps or anything are developing. And you're you're awake during this time. Yeah, they numb you, they put this like numbing agent in there. Yeah, it's weird. Watching the camera. No, I didn't I didn't see it. I kind of wish I had, because I don't know, but no, I would not want to see that. Yeah, I would. I'd watch every little piece of it. It's interesting, but yeah, I kind of wish I could have seen what it looked like, just so I can understand. But they described it and they just said again, there was just like a little bit of thickening there, and and really all you have to do in that situation is take some therapy and like learn about certain things about breathing and phrasing and like different ways of singing. There's like some people are kind of get up in those high notes and they just full-on belt and like scream, and then that's how you wear out. But this is kind of about learning control and making it more of like a mix when you get to those higher notes, so it's like kind of a mix head and chest voice type of thing. So no, I think we finally want to keep my voice. Yeah, yeah, you probably go through some pretty good lengths just to keep that voice and tip tops. Yeah, well, you know, I mean, I uh you know, I'm not gonna mention any names, but I have seen some people not be quite like what they were in their heyday, and I don't want that to happen to me. So that's like my biggest thing. You know, I just really want to hold on to what I have as long as I can. I know with age your range might shift a little bit, but this vocal therapist said there's no reason that anyone should really lose their voice, you just have to take care of it. It will shift your range, your tone. Things might shift with hormones, and you know, once you get menopause and all of that stuff, I'm like, oh yay, something to look forward to. You're dreading menopause, Jay. Yeah. We talk about age, and yes, age is gonna affect your voice, and age could yeah potentially, like you said, change the key or change maybe a little bit of tone. But overall, if you're taking care of it, you should be able to maintain the vocal. Oh, yeah. We had Kieran Robinson on the show, what, a week or two ago. He's out with Jeff Tate. And he's gotta be, I would say Jeff Tate would have to be maybe ten years older than myself singing live sounds just the way he did back in the day. He must know how to breathe. Yeah. He knows how to breathe and he knows how to take care of the vocal. I want to know what a vocal therapist does. Uh well, she kind of just talked to me a little bit about how to breathe, about I mean,

Vocal Therapy And Hydration Truths

40:00

uh just different exercises on on breathing and um technique. Do you meet her in the office? Yeah, it's like like the doctor's office. So are you laying down? Is it like it's you know, when you think of a therapist, you're on a couch laying down. No, it's like a voice lesson. I've you know, I never took voice lessons. I just grew up singing. I was in choir. I learned uh the basics about breathing and diction and uh what I can't think of the word right now. Anyway, um, dynamics. Yeah, dynamics, like all those things I learned in choir. They just have like a kind of a very basic um, but I never did take real like one-on-one vocal lesson. So it's a lot like that from what I hear. It's just like she's she's and well, she was a vocal coach for a lot of like celebrities. Oh, nice, but yeah, so she knows her stuff. She said she would be on the road with artists and she'd be like, Don't drink that alcohol until after the show, you know, because that was one of the things she talked about, things that could affect you, like drinking alcohol during singing. She talked about how the myth of like just drinking a bunch of water right then is gonna do it for you. It doesn't in that moment. Water takes two hours to reach your vocal cords, so you have to make sure you're like hydrated. And then she said, she said, you gotta have your like eight basically glasses of water a day. But anytime if you want to have like a shot of alcohol or a cup of coffee, you have to add another cup of water on. So for any dropping thing, you have to add another cup of water. So you have to always pretty much keep yourself hydrated at all times. So that's why I got my dolly cup here. I don't know if you can see it. Dolly, um, but anyway, and it's sparkly. I love sparkles. It's a dolly cup, of course it's sparkly. And it's got a wig on and probably a large chest and long fingers. It's a very large cup. Wait, anyway. Put unintended. If I was on the right page, I'd give you some applause. Anyway.

ADHD And The Social Media Grind

42:15

Well, can you tell us a little bit about Nashville feedback versus your dad's feedback? So who's the tougher critic and you know how do you deal with it? Oh man, okay. So feedback. Let's see. Well, I don't know. My dad is uh, I'm trying to think of how to answer this right. I mean, he's very much on my side. He's always singing your praise. Yeah. Is he tough on you? Um, he he kind of gets on me like with so with social media, I've really had a lot of struggle with consistency for a very long time just because I have ADHD. I mean, I think pretty much everybody does. I don't know, but I thank you, iPhone. Yeah, I know, I know. Thank you, social media. So you should put a warning on the iPhone and just be like, it comes with ADHD. You know what it wouldn't stop a soul. Yeah, yeah. So so for me, I'm a person that when I have like a lot of things to do, I kind of just shut down and like don't do anything. And that's a thing with with ADHD. So there are times where he really has to kind of be like on me about certain I think. Make sure you post today, like make sure you make a video, make sure you get on Twitter or X or whatever, and you know, share this and that. Uh, so he is on me in that way. Uh, I think with my singing talent and everything, he's just on on my page with that. Like he he's proud of me for that and and thinks that I do a good job with that stuff. And then the industry itself, you know, I haven't gotten any direct negative feedback. I just haven't gotten opportunities that I'd hope to have gotten by now, I guess. So I don't know if it's just them not saying whatever if there is an issue or whatever. But I think that it's just a hard thing all around to kind of, you know. Well, you've performed in all different kinds of venues.

Broadway Crowds And Tip Jar Reality

44:23

What crowd is the hardest twin over? Uh well, I think it's a lot of times it's the rowdy crowds, maybe just because they're they're not really there for the music, they're just there to party and drink and be drunk and we're background music. So, and then especially in a place where you have to run the tip jar and you are dependent on tips. I don't think a lot of people realize that when you play Broadway, Broadway's, you know, iconic. Everybody thinks that Broadway is the place to play. But the venues on Broadway they pay a little bit, but it's a small amount. And the majority of your money actually comes from the traditional tip jar. It's not a tip jar like we would think if you go to a a show in Nebraska. We're talking about a jug that people pass around like a drinking tradition. Yes. So let me just ask, does that tip jar give you enough money to be able to live a you know typical life? Yeah, I mean, it so it's just a thing that's never guaranteed. It's always hit or miss. There could be days where we leave with like $10 each, or there could be days we leave with $100 or $150 each. You know, I played Legends Corner before and came on with like $250 total, you know, with the like $85 base pay. I mean, some of the base pays have have improved back in the day. It was like $30, $20, like Tootsie's and some of those places. Yeah, it was bad. So they've improved quite a bit on them, but it's still not uh enough to live on without the tips. When it comes to you know, making it in Nashville, what do you think are the things that are misunderstood a lot?

Redefining Making It In Nashville

46:10

Um, well, I think when people think of the of the term making it, it's kind of like, oh, you know, CMA's, Grammys, Opry, you know, the big thing, like making it is like this big record deal and this big thing. And that is usually the first dream. I mean, that was my dream many years ago. I mean, when uh when I was 11. I mean, that was my dream all the way through, you know, and then moving here. That's what I thought was gonna happen. And I think that nowadays you can make it in different ways, especially with like social media, because you can build a very loyal fan base and you can have income, uh, monetizing, you can sell merchandise, you can have people buy tickets to shows if you book those type of shows, which I need to start doing. But you can really, but you really can have a good career and and kind of make it, where I think that everybody thinks making it is like you can't walk into Walmart without people knowing who you are. I don't know if I really want that now. Maybe at one point in my life I might have been like, oh yeah, I'll sign autographs while I'm buying my toilet paper. No, but yeah. So yeah, I think that that's the main misunderstanding. Like, because me being 44, uh, what are I really just telling you all that? Anyway, twice now in the beginning and once the yeah. Uh well, anyway, you know, me not being a spring chicken in this industry, people are kind of like, why are you still trying to do this? You're old now for this industry, like you're not gonna make it, you know. And I'm like, well, I mean, I in a different way kind of have made it. I mean, I get to do music full time, it's not the biggest income at the moment, you know, it has to build up more. I have to get to that point where people are actually giving me shows that tickets need to be bought, and and you can get to that place. So I'm really, really kind of building up still to that. And when I say I told me so, you know, those are the things that I see in that in that future, but also I want to play on the granularity, and I know that at one point it seemed like you had to be a signed artist. Now you don't have to. There's like so many people not signed, and I know so many people that play on that stage, so I just feel like there's like the what is it, seven degrees or whatever. You know, I feel like somewhere is it six degrees, somewhere in there, this can happen for me, and so I know I just I have to trust that it's gonna happen. So Miss Tiffany, what was it that Karen said last night? We had a guest on the show last night. Keeping the faith, you gotta keep the faith. I thought about that too, yeah. You have to touch it. So you've been to the Opry several times. You get to go backstage and hang out at the Oprah. You've got a lot of connections with the Opry, even though you haven't performed on the stage itself at this point. But being there, standing on the stage, getting to go backstage, you're you're feeling it and you're putting it out into the universe. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like a manifestation thing. We talk a lot about that, my dad and I, and you know, we talk about angel numbers and all these things. It's almost time. Oh, it is almost time. I send them to my daughter every day. Oh 1111. Yeah, see, that's me and my dad. We do that all the time. Dad'd be like, 1111, 111, 222. Well, hey, as we start winding down, I wanted to ask you one

Fitting In On Broadway And Gratitude

49:49

more question. You mentioned playing on Broadway, and you know, it's hard. You gotta work for pay, you gotta work for tips, you gotta do all that stuff. We had Jay Bragg on the show uh a few weeks ago, and he talks about the challenges that artists have on Broadway these days, about having to conform to fit in. Do you feel like you have to conform to fit in? Uh, the clubs that I play, which are in that circuit of the stage legends, it used to be second fiddle, that they closed that one down. Those ones, I don't feel that pressure so much. I get to do country music, I get to do 90s and earlier. I love to do that kind of stuff. I mean, I'll throw in like the 2000s, like the Miranda Lamberts and the Little Big Towns of the Carrie Underwoods, you know. But I don't feel a huge pressure there. I feel like if I was to go over and play it like Kid Rocks or uh Bon Jovi's or places like that, uh, you know, there may be a little bit of a different vibe going on, and that's kind of when you were saying, like, about the places that maybe aren't my favorite, it'd be those types of crowds because they're just very rowdy. So they don't force you to play a certain playlist or anything like that. Not that I've experienced. Well, you've been on the show once before, you know the process. We give recognition to somebody who may work behind the scenes or support you. Is there anybody else that you would like to shine a little light on this time? Hmm. Well, I think I I probably said my dad last time, right? How could you not say your dad? Feel free to say your dad again. Well, yeah, I mean, he's a pretty constant, you know, he's a consistent supporter for me. And I I kind of feel bad I never really bring up my mom. I mean, my mom does support me as well. She's just not like all, she's not a very like open out there person. She's always believed in me as well. She's always believed that I deserved to make it. She kind of has a little bit of a hard time getting around nowadays. She's just with some health issues and stuff. But before that, she was at my gigs all the time back home. And she is just as big of a supporter, but just not as loud of a supporter as my dad. So really both of them. And I have friends, of course, my producer Brandon. Man, it's so hard to like go through this, but okay. He is so, so my boyfriend Britt, his sister is Heather, and Brandon is her boyfriend. So, yeah, so it's kind of like a family thing in a way, and it just so happened that you know, I have a talented engineer producer who's sort of like in my family-ish. So it worked out really well. So I have a pretty good support system of people behind the scenes and in, you know, in front of the scenes. So I'm very blessed for that. Very nice.

Release Date And Final Thanks

52:40

All right, folks. We've done it. We've reached the top of the hour, which does mean we have reached the end of the show. If you've enjoyed the show, please tell a friend and Miss Tiffany. If you have not, tell two. Tell two. You can reach out to all three of us over at jfranzi.com. We will be happy to keep this and any other conversation going. Miss Stephanie, my friend, we cannot thank you enough for being here. And we would like to leave the final words to you. Well, thank you so much for having me. Once again, I have a song that is out May 15th. That is I told me so. And I hope that you will all go and stream it. And I hope you follow me on all the social medias because I'm on all the places, and I'm just so grateful to be here today. And thank you guys for having me. That's awesome. All right, folks. Well, thank you. Thank you all for being here tonight. Have a good night.