Singing Baritone, Longing for Lead

I grew up on country, oldies, and southern gospel music. The latter, while illiciting a giggle or two from some as I share my affection for it, still holds a near and dear place in my heart. I remember watching as numbers of gospel quartets came through our church over the years, some better than others. We had some come and they performed with tracks, offering up their encouraging blends country soul and gospel twang. Others came with a full band and, as much as you could in an independent Baptist church, rocked the house. But, what set, and continues to set southern gospel music apart from others in my mind is the stellar harmonies that some of the groups could create.

I remember being a little kid, laughing and smiling as the bass went low, the tenor went girly-voice high, the lead soared with power, and the baritone...Well, what did the baritone do? Of course they did something, didn't they? Somewhere in my memory I recall them getting a token solo or two but within the mix of everyone else their voice seems to fade the quickest in memory. The baritone (and as someone who is a huge fan but not necessarily a true student of music, I acknowledge that this may be entirely incorrect) seemed to be the glue that drew the pieces together. His voice hid among the others yet created that platform that helped things to blend into a smooth harmony, one that was simply surreal.

I've found myself feeling like the baritone as of late. I just feel like I'm sort of blending in, really in all phases of my life. Yet, deep within, I long to stand out, to be that charismatic lead singer or at the very least the quirky bass or tenor. I want to do something that matters, that makes someone sit up and say "Whoa!". I consider my writing and ask myself why anyone would even want to read what I have to say. Why would they? And then comes the proverbial question, "

Who am I?"

Now, faithful three, let me first say that I acknowledge that I am someone and that my faith informs me that within the eyes of God that I am indeed someone who is loved and cared for. Yet, tell me that you haven't longed to be that celebrity of sorts, that person surrounded by friends and admirers? I know, I know, a lot of it has to do with perspective. In fact, we'd probably be surprised by who really does look up to us, who thinks highly of us. But, either way, I'm feeling sort of baritone lately. I suppose that what I can do in the meantime is to sing with all my heart, to practice and practice, and work my hardest at glueing those other parts together so that when my solo comes, I'm ready.