Conversations with Judy Rodman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Judy Rodman

Hi Judy, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Raised in a family that always made music together, I learned early to sing lead and harmony as well as play piano and guitar. My father’s day job was air traffic controlling, so like service brats we moved around the US, gathering various musical influences along the way. I began my professional vocal career at the age of 17, singing jingles in a recording studio in Jacksonville, Florida.

From there, I moved to Memphis, Tennessee where I joined the staff singing group at the William B. Tanner jingle company. I also began doing background vocal work on country, black gospel, R&B and rock records in various Memphis studios including Lyn Lou, Hi Records and Ardent. Some became big Billboard chart toppers. Simultaneously, I was a member of a popular cover band comprised of studio players and singers. I married the drummer, John Rodman.

With the birth of our child, I became very ill, requiring a 3-month hospital stay during which I sustained a serious vocal injury from an endotracheal tube. A couple of years later, we moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where I began working as a session singer with top background groups on indie and major label records. I had recovered most of my voice on my own but started lessons with Nashville’s beloved vocal coach Gerald Arthur and gained more voice than I’d ever had. I learned the value of professional vocal coaching.

4 years after moving to Nashville, I was working with Tommy West as a background singer for Ed Bruce. We chatted about songwriting, I played him a few songs I’d written in Memphis and a year later became the first signed artist with MTM Records, the label he formed with Alan Bernard and Howard Stark. I then had their first #1 record (Until I Met You) and won the Academy of Country Music’s ‘Top New Female Artist’ award. Lots of touring, media appearances and awards followed.

It all ended when MTM Records unceremoniously closed down. I turned my focus on songwriting and co-wrote a number one record for LeAnn Rimes called “One Way Ticket (Because I Can)’. I continued doing a lot of studio production for my demos, as well as session singing on various projects.

One day I was asked by a fellow session singer, now touring with a legendary pop band, to help her hit a note she was having trouble with. That was the genesis of my vocal coaching work. After digging into research and working with many kinds of voices, I found my niche helping professional singers and speakers resolve issues, conquer strain and maximize communication skills.

I am now active in all the roles I’ve ever worked in, including singing, studio track and/or vocal production, songwriting and public speaking with workshops on the music business, songwriting and the professional voice.
I also have musicals I’m co-creating with Darren J. Butler, including ‘Runaway Home’ which recently received standing ovations at NYC industry readings and, we hope, will be in full production soon.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The struggles are in the story. In a nutshell, they center around health issues and music industry changes I had to navigate.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Though I do still create myself, my main focus these days is mentoring other creatives… singers, speakers, musicians and songwriters on stage and in the studio. To be effective, I combine the experience I’ve had in these fields plus a constant curiosity and eagerness to learn what’s new in music trends, as well in how creative work gets visible and financially sustainable in the marketplace. I call my teaching method ‘Power, Path and Performance’. What my vocal coaching is known for is setting troubled voices free from problems and limitations, protecting voices from damage and increasing messaging impact. I also am an expert at studio singing of all kinds. My primary clients are ‘voices with messages that matter’.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was a curious kid interested in not just music but also astronomy and science. One of the places I lived as a child was Cocoa Beach, and we could see the earliest man space flights go up from our backyard. I thought I might want to be either a research scientist or an astronaut. I also loved to create fiction stories and make music with family, friends and in school. Turns out music has a lot of math in it!

Pricing:

• Vocal lesson 1 hr = $130
• Vocal lesson 1/2 hr = $65
• Studio backgrounds = AFTRA rates
• Studio production = contact for estimate
• Vocal training courses = see website

Contact Info:

• Website: https://judyrodman.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/judyrodman
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/judyrodmanvoice
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judyrodman/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JudyRodmanvoice
• Other: All Things Vocal blog & podcast https://judyrodman.com/blog/