The Beginning:
Years ago, a young man who was among the youngest in a huge family, took to the family business like a fish to water. The family business was... and is music, and that young man's instrument of choice was the drums. He was so amazing at it that at 7 years old, he was traveling the world. By 10 years old he'd seen most of the world more times than he could count. His unwavering ambition led him from the lush, green paradise of Trinidad and Tobago to the harsh, bright lights of Las Vegas where his career continued to flourish as well as his bloodline.
His name is Bonny Bonaparte and so is mine. Bonny Raphael Bonaparte II to be exact. Pleased to make your acquaintance. I myself am in the family business, but I (sort of) promise not to make this blog entirely about myself. I've done a little light traveling in my career. I've even got a few thousand fans on various social networks. Nothing like my dad though. It's almost like trying to make it out of a shadow that doesn't even exist in my genre. I'm a singer. I'd like to think I'm pretty good at what I do. My dad can sing too, but he's always behind a (drum) kit. I'm the sultry figure standing up front trying not to mess it up. One thing among the plethora of skills I've rightfully acquired from my awesome dad is "Crowd Control." I'm pretty damn good at it, but I had no idea until I had to rock my first show without him.
I've played on almost every stage in Vegas, thanks to Bonny Sr. and every show progressively dealt greater responsibility to me as a performer. At first it was all about keeping the harmonies. No big deal. Just stand here next to my dad, listen for my part, and don't let puberty get the best of me on these notes. But eventually I was standing next to the keyboard player, and then the steel drums, and the bass player... Wasn't long before I found myself in front of the guitar player, and the bass player, and the drums... and everyone else in the band. I had gone from looking out of the corner of my eye at my father to using my own judgement as to how I was doing, and what's worse I had to remember all of the lyrics as opposed to just a few words every few seconds or so.
His name is Bonny Bonaparte and so is mine. Bonny Raphael Bonaparte II to be exact. Pleased to make your acquaintance. I myself am in the family business, but I (sort of) promise not to make this blog entirely about myself. I've done a little light traveling in my career. I've even got a few thousand fans on various social networks. Nothing like my dad though. It's almost like trying to make it out of a shadow that doesn't even exist in my genre. I'm a singer. I'd like to think I'm pretty good at what I do. My dad can sing too, but he's always behind a (drum) kit. I'm the sultry figure standing up front trying not to mess it up. One thing among the plethora of skills I've rightfully acquired from my awesome dad is "Crowd Control." I'm pretty damn good at it, but I had no idea until I had to rock my first show without him.
I've played on almost every stage in Vegas, thanks to Bonny Sr. and every show progressively dealt greater responsibility to me as a performer. At first it was all about keeping the harmonies. No big deal. Just stand here next to my dad, listen for my part, and don't let puberty get the best of me on these notes. But eventually I was standing next to the keyboard player, and then the steel drums, and the bass player... Wasn't long before I found myself in front of the guitar player, and the bass player, and the drums... and everyone else in the band. I had gone from looking out of the corner of my eye at my father to using my own judgement as to how I was doing, and what's worse I had to remember all of the lyrics as opposed to just a few words every few seconds or so.
It's like being thrown to the wolves and all of your training leading up to now suddenly means absolutely jack. It was like sustaining cardiac arrest for 15 to 20 minutes at a time, depending on which Medley we had to play. But the feeling of hearing the crowd scream, jump and wave at my command was like discovering the key to the universe and I was in the driver's seat. Suddenly I wasn't so nervous and when it was time to take five, I didn't want to stop.
My dad has since moved on from Las Vegas and continued being the most sought after musician in the industry. You should see my Facebook full of other musicians reaching out to him. I, on the other hand, am just starting to watch my fans slowly build and my opinions become the topics of conversations. But now I know that all I need is a stage, a few minutes to kick the nerves, and the crowd to jump and wave, and I'll be as amazing as I was taught to be. So in my beginning, I'd like to start by saying thanks, Dad. I know how to be great because of your example. Here goes nothing. Check out my song on Youtube. And on Jango. And on Amazon. Aaaand on Monster Music. And And And on Facebook for all my other stuff.
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