Singer songwriter to lead masterclass

THE VOICE: Caitlin Smith will be guest artist at the Cross Creek Blues Club night in Tauherenikau and lead a masterclass in singing in Featherston.PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Kiwi vocal coach and singer songwriter Caitlin Smith is to headline in Wairarapa for the Cross Creek Blues Club before leading a masterclass in singing in the region.

Club spokesman Rod Lawrence said Smith, who has coached hundreds of singers including soloist Anika Moa and vocalists from Auckland band Nesian Mystik, will be guest artist at the monthly club night at the Tin Hut on November 5 ahead of leading a singing tuition session at the Anzac Hall in Featherston from 10am to 1pm on November 8.

Smith was born legally blind, according to her biography, and since "seriously" launching a singing and songwriting career in 1997 had won a reputation as a talented jazz singer and respected vocal coach for professional singers.

"When I was at university I did sort of sing with a jazz trio, and a punk band, but I gave up the study of formal music and did a Masters in politics instead.

"I still wanted to be aware of the world that I was living in rather than just dissecting different cadenzas. So I did let singing slide for a while."

Smith had years later developed laryngitis, tonsilitis, and nodules on her vocal cords, the latter being an affliction that alone often forces professional singers to retire. After enduring three weeks of "complete vocal silence", she had to learn to sing all over again.

The daunting experience inspired her to teach.

"That's the reason I teach now, because I had to go through the process of fully understanding the instrument," she said.

"The whole thing about singing is you are your instrument. So I have to understand how my voice works and how I can make it work better. It is very, very psychologically bound. If I sing and I'm upset and tense and depressed, I lose my voice. It's really interesting."

Smith said the voice is the best indicator of health and well-being - a "barometer of the soul" - and her drive as a teacher centres on "helping as many people as possible to find their own voice and write what they need to say".

As a solo artist, Smith has performed with the Auckland Philharmonia and at several international jazz festivals including the Manly Jazz Festival and the Thredbo Global Music Festival.

Her music has been compared to the slightly off-beat songwriting of Carole King and at other times of the late night lounge singing of Norah Jones.

As well as jazz, Smith had launched forays into country music with songs such as Wayfaring Stranger and Tennessee Waltz, and great reiterations of 1960s pop songs such as Happy Together and 59th Street Bridge Song. Smith's debut album Stick A Fork In It was released in 1999, In A Blue Vein followed in 2000, Aurere in 2004, and Stories To Tell - The Thorndon Project and Down To The Rind in 2013.

Entry to the Cross Creek Blues Club night on November 5 is $5 and entry is free to the singing tuition masterclass at the Anzac Hall in Featherston on November 8.