Friday, April 25, 2014

Is Ghost Singing An Epidemic?

Ghost singing, the act of singing melodies for another artist as that artist. Similar to ghost writing. (Not Ghost Riding). There have been numerous reports of artists "ghost singing" as other artists. And, the reasons have varied widely from other obligations and family trauma to just plain not being able to sing. This this has reportedly been practiced for decades, having someone who sounds close to the original artist sing on a couple tracks due to sore throat or illness. But, things have started to get out of hand. Recently a prominent hip hop artist became sick during their tour and had a person of Mexican decent take the stage for him. Most of the audience was fooled, but a few members of the audience was suspicious because Dr. Lil' Dogg Cainz didn't seem to have his usual flow. On another occasion the famous metal group, Killer Katapillars had the one of the singers of the lesser known pop duo, Sweater Vest Boies fill in for a few shows in Germany. But, the most blatant in my opinion was when Justin McCreedy and the Loney Cat Blues Band had Miranda Underwood fill in on the title track to their new album, Sure Beats Beatin' a Rug On Monday. Personally, I'm a fan of a lot if these bands and artists. And there's plenty more out there doing this. But, this really needs to stop. Do you think Frank Martin ever had Sammy Sinatra Jr. fill in for him because of sore throat? Or The Artist Formerly Known as Archbishop using Mitchell Jackson to run a song through the recording grinder? (Although that may have worked). With what I've recently learned I won't say no, but I sure hope not. 

Next week, Ghost Politicin'