All about that voice? The importance of choosing a great singer

Now that we are a few years into the Honey + Stone story, which began in September 2016, I thought it time to write about my greatest passion of all – the sound of a great soul and r&b vocalist.

I have spent so much of my life intoxicated by the sound of not only great vocalists, but great voices. The select few that may not necessarily be the best technical singers, though many of them rate highly in the realm of technique,  it’s the ones that for me, have that magic, that tone, that rasp and honey to their sound. Essentially this translates to a deep emotional experience that is transcendent, magnificent and devine.

Now granted, we all feel this divinity from different styles of singers. Some from metal, rock, jazz etc…but for me it has always been the soul singer that has moved me the most. Ray Charles, Anita Baker, India Arie, Anderson Paak and so it goes. I wish I could remember the first music documentary that I watched on ABC when I was about 12 years old. While watching this documentary I remember first falling in love with the power of song and how it felt to have the hair stand up on my arms all of a sudden, just from a particular melody, phrased in a particular way. I remember that many of the old songs featured in that documentary were not just blues songs but old traditional spirituals as well. Songs that folks would sing as they worked away long hot days in the fields.

Jump forward to 2016 and I was in a rehearsal room getting ready for a WOMAD performance with Radical Son. It was here that I first heard Josue Vilches sing. From that moment onwards we became close and a little later that year he became the lead out artist for Honey + Stone. Shortly after Honey + Stone was lucky enough to begin working with Michael Duchesne and little later Ben Goldstein.

Now I could rave on for hours about how much I love these guys and their voices, but what really matters is the fact that I think so highly of these guys as artists and singers that I would back them to be completely comfortable on any stage, anywhere in the world and deliver supreme vocal performances every time. This here is how I quantify their ability, their magic and my belief in them.

This brings us to the fun part where we begin to chat about amazing singers like Josue, Michael and Ben, delivering outstanding performances for your wedding day, engagement party or private function. It also brings up the important question of ‘why prioritise choosing a brilliant wedding singer for your special day’? The answer is simple for me and has two parts to it. The first part is because your wedding day is certainly one of the most emotional days in your life and your wedding singer will be a huge part of interpreting the feeling of the day and putting the golden touch on the soundtrack of your memories, especially for your walk down the aisle. The second part is because in most cases you and your loved ones will be listening to your wedding singer for an average of 140-180 minutes of live music. So we say ‘make your 140-180 minutes of live music awesome with a knockout voice.’ From there you can’t go wrong. People are immediately entertained and excited by world class vocalists everytime they hear one. We all carry these precious memories into our future set to a golden sound. 

Ben Karsay | Creative Director and Founder
Honey + Stone Music