Press Release:    March 2007 - Musician Goes Where the Wind Blows

 

“They call the wind Mariah”, as the song goes …. And so, for this newly transplanted Floridian, Mariah Picot, she certainly has been feeling at home in the middle of all these storms.  “I was stuck on the ramp to I30 for over ½ half an hour in the rain and wind.  I felt like I was back in Florida in a hurricane.” 

 

Over the last few years, the Florida storms have affected the economics of the musicians in the panhandle:  One of Picot’s agents in Fort Walton Beach decided to retire; another agent has mentioned that corporate work may begin to return, but our songbird did not want to wait and heretofore, decided to fly west to Dallas.

 

Whether we blame the weather changes due to a higher power, or climate change, Picot has always followed the wind, allowing her intuition to guide her artistic journey as an ever-evolving life as an artist.  She has been an actress/singer/songwriter/vocal teacher and music director and pianist.  “There are times when I felt disconcerted about having my hand in so many areas, but I have now realized that it has been leading to something far greater than I have ever expected,” she says.

 

“I found her on the Internet,” says agent Bill Ware, our very own long time Dallas agent and entrepreneur.  “I needed a piano player to do a job in Florida.  She was listed on a web as a singer.  I figured singers know piano players.  I lucked out:  she also played the piano.  It turned out the person who originally brought Mariah to Florida from Toronto 8 years ago was also named Ware – how uncanny.  We were both immediately intrigued.”

 

“I totally fell in love with her voice.   I discovered not too long after, that she also has a unique talent and gift for teaching voice,” says Ware.

 

Mariah Picot graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Opera from Queens University in Kingston, Ontario.  “I got my Actors Equity Card very soon after I graduated.  I always thought I’d be in the theater,” says Picot,  “but as life would have it, I had some unexpected head winds, but if you know how to ride the currents, you soon learn that the biggest challenges are your greatest teachers.

                One such challenge was when I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue.  My dreams of a big theater career vanished almost immediately.   I then switched my focus to voice and piano, which eventually led to songwriting.  I studied with a teacher who taught me to teach for over a period of 10 years.  Her name was Carol Forte, a colleague of Cornelius Reid in NYC.   I soon discovered that what I learned in my undergraduate program as a voice major, had not only accelerated the tension which was already existent in my body but I also could not sing with ease.  I have always thought that singing should be a totally organic and effortless experience.  What an incredible relief when I discovered the Reid Method.”

 

Picot has been on a healing journey for quite some time now, and she deeply understands the connection of the psyche, body/mind emotional connection to the process of singing.  That is one of the reasons why she has been able to assist a lot of people to sing easily and effortlessly by allowing their voice to develop without forcing or pushing, and feeling the vibrations not only in their throats, but within their whole body.  Mariah admits, “Music has certainly saved my life.”

 

“People come to me for a lesson and whatever is going on in their Life shows up.  If they are ready and open, an incredible journey and process of discovery starts to unfold.  They start to find their creative core by finding the true center of their voice.  People have admitted to me that they are often distracted by the busyness of their lives, but by their active participation in this process of getting to the core of themselves has healed them.  And you don’t have to spend hours and hours in therapy to get results.  This process of singing will ripple out into your life.”

 

“As a person matures, their voice can develop a particular pattern or habit, that is hard to change.  This can occur with people of all levels of artistic participation.  In order to get rid of this pattern, or habit, one may start to manipulate the sound (consciously or unconsciously) so that it sounds “good”, but in order to change the foundation, you need to go to the basement where you can touch and see what it is you are needing to change.”

 

Mariah is in the process of deciding where in the Metroplex she will land.  In the meantime, she flies to people’s homes to teach.  One of her visions is to build and develop a choir of singers who have been trained in this manner. She is currently helping the folks at Unity of Cedar Hills to build their choir.  She enjoys teaching teens and adults as their vocal instruments have matured enough to work with at this stage of their development. 

 

Here are some comments from some of her students, who feel very strongly about Mariah’s facilitation of their vocal training:

 

“I feel like I had waited my whole life to find a teacher like Mariah who I trust to help me find  the voice I always knew was inside.”  

                                                                                                Roberta Carothers

                                                                                                Owner, Vision Quest Gallery, Panama City, FL

 

“Since I’ve studied with Mariah, I’ve gotten back the high notes I had when I was in college and gained a lower range that I never had.”

                                                                 Tim Hollis - Registered Piano Technician, Panama City, FL

 

Richard Kent, who tends bar at Landon Wine Bar in McKinney where she sometimes appears Friday night, said the first time he heard her. “She has an incredible voice.   There are some voices that you just feel.  They just hold a tone and resonance that gets you in your heart and soul.”

                               

So wherever the wind may blow, this Mariah may be landing for a while in the DFW area. She is currently in Grapevine. If you would like to heal and transform your voice, feel free to contact Lucid Blue Music at 817-488-3789.

 

“It may or may not be evident in everyone’s eyes, but there is a huge block of ice under the tip of the iceberg  which is keeping the whole artistic industry afloat. These are the working artists in every arena, and on every level of expression.   Some musicians eventually give up because this artistic life can be very challenging.”  Ware, who has been in the industry for 35 years has seen this a lot.  He is pleased to add someone like Mariah to his roster who has found a way to inspire and help people unravel their artistic dreams, and to never give up.

 

“This method can be a very deep and internal process”, say Mariah. “A wonderful side effect is:  you inevitably find out who you are.  And in so doing, it becomes easier to take a stand for your own creative integrity and expression.   People can fall through the cracks if they don’t fit into a category, and the arts get put in a box for the sake of marketing.  But  artists are finding creative ways to break down these barriers. Certainly it’s easier when you know who you are.  The eternal creative spirit always wants to find an outlet.”

 

If you are a young singer, veteran singer, public speaker, newscaster, or someone who use their voice in a variety of capacities, learning and experiencing this process with Mariah to transform your voice is life giving.   Allow your voice to be fueled by the presence of you, touching your vocals chords with the winds of change. .