TALES...YEAR IN REVIEW SPECIAL

[Editor's Note: Apologies for the late submission, folks--but things have been hopping lately. We will be back on regular schedule again next week. Thanks for your patience! CRH]

Have you ever run across an ad like this in your newspaper?--"SINGERS! CHRISTIAN or clean country...Nashville record labels now signing contracts and holding FREE one-song auditions...Bring backup (Karaoke) cassette, CD, guitar, keyboard, or sing without music. NO calls, bands, or choirs." (Plainview Daily Herald, Wed. June 27th, 2001) At the sight of these ads, aspiring musicians begin to salivate. BUT IS IT REAL--OR TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE? We at the Suite decided to try to find out for you! Like a number of musicians out there, I'm sometimes in search of a few opportunities to expand my talent. So I was curious to see what this was all about. It seemed like nothing out of the ordinary at first--but I have now found that there could be more to this deal than one could bargain for. The agency is, according to the information one receives at this "orientation meeting," Fowler All Night Sings based in Nashville, TN. Dr. Jimmy Fowler is the man that apparently runs the outfit and claims to have started singing at the age of 10 with Wally Fowler, founder of the Oak Ridge Boys and the All Nite Gospel Sings. Here's some of the information on the sheet that we received as a part of our registration (thankfully, free): "Over 300 top name Gospel and country singers got their start over the last 50 years on the Fowler All Night Sings or TV shows. We hope the new generation of Fowlers (Dr. Jimmy) can help." He also claims to have been an impressionist who has been highly in demand by a number of movie and TV people. What does the process look like from the inside? Very innocent on the surface, of course. Not much is promised at first except a chance to get a professionally produced tape of your performance and a chance to go on to the final round--which will occur next week. Two things, though, are suspicious about this--one, the place in which this "showcase" is being held (namely a local hotel INSTEAD of a major venue within the city such as the auditorium of the university or other prominent place). Oh--and the second catch? Dr. Fowler would appreciate it if you could get several of your friends and family to buy tickets at $20 apiece (in which he makes YOU--the artist--be the salesperson). And the more tickets you sell, the more songs you might get to sing on the showcase. After this initial registration and orientation, participants are then asked to come back the next week (about 45 minutes early at least) in time for the "showcase." (This reporter, acting undercover, did not attempt to sell any.)

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