A Star Is Born

Elyse and Collin (my niece and her boyfriend) came to stay with us this weekend so they could attend a seminar/workshop. It was held by several LDS recording artists (example, Tyler Castleton, Jenny Phillips, Hilary Weeks) to teach people about the business. There were classes on how to write the best fireside, how to get into the industry, writing music, etc. They learned a ton and came away very excited and with a plan of action. Elyse has a beautiful singing voice and Collin is a composer and plays pretty much any instrument you put in front of him. The highlight, though, was Saturday night. Elyse got to have (well, paid for) the privilege of having a recording session with Tyler Castleton. I got to go along for support. We didn't expect anything great, just that he'd be nice and give Elyse some advise on what she could improve upon.

Everyone who had a recording session, sang the same song and there will be a winner, who will get to sing this song on the next EFY CD.

So Elyse gets into the booth and starts to sing. I was sitting in a chair right outside the booth looking at her, but I could see and hear Tyler (you know, cause we're on a first name basis now) and the technician, Daren (who made sure, when I told him he'd be mentioned on my blog, that I'd spell his name right), to the right of me. Collin was in with the guys. Collin told me that Tyler started to check his email and then stopped cold as soon as Elyse started to sing.


I kept hearing Tyler and Daren, marveling over Elyse's voice. They kept comparing her to Celine Dion! So they have her sing the song once, then ask her to sing it again, but like she's telling a story. Elyse sang it again and I got goose bumps. I started to get all teary eyed, cause she just nailed the song. And I could hear Tyler and Daren talking about her. They couldn't believe what she could do in such a short time. They said what they got out of her in 20 minutes would normally take hours with other singers.

Then Tyler asked Elyse to come out of the booth and over to the piano. Collin said that Daren said,"This should be interesting. He doesn't ever do this." Tyler asked Elyse what her favorite hymn was and then had her sing it. The he just grinned and said that he just wanted to hear her sing it!

He talked to Elyse for a while about her plans for music and told her to call him next time she was in town, because he wanted to do something with her! Then he gave Collin his card and circled the best phone number to contact him at! We were totally blown away!

Yes, we are dorks and got a picture with (from left to right) Daren (spelled correctly), Elyse, Collin and Tyler Castleton.
I always knew that Elyse could sing, but sometimes I wondered if she was really as good as I thought she was or was it because she's my niece. So to hear these guys raving about her just really blew me away. Elyse was pretty pleased, too! I think she has a pretty good chance of winning this contest! I'll keep you posted!

Go, Elyse!!