Groban Lift Listeners With His Music
Kelowna Capital News
September 1, 2004
By Shelley Nicholl
Josh Groban plays Prospera Place and says his high energy
show can't be duplicated onto a CD. Josh Groban brings his
distinctive music style to Prospera Place Sept. 2. He says he
considers his music pop with a different theme.
When Josh Groban sings, you feel like opening your arms wide, palms up, and throwing your head back like Leonardo De Capria’s character on the Titanic.
You can’t help it. His smooth, operatic voice sings “You Raise Me Up” and the arms start going out.
And, if that’s the reaction to hearing his voice on CD, just wait until you see him in concert. Groban is not just a singer and songwriter; he’s a performer.
“The high energy is not something that can be duplicated by listening to the album,” said the 23-year old.
“The audiences have been so supportive and great so far. It’s a great feeling to be spreading music and it doesn’t happen without them,” he said.
“There nothing more rewarding than the interaction and intimacy with the audience.”
With a background (albeit a short one) in musical theatre, combined with a gracious, energetic demeanour, he knows how to please a crowd, made up of fans who call themselves Grobanites, Josh heads and Grobies.
“It’s mostly female, but there a lot of men out there, too. The age range has broadened. It’s so different.
“The last couple of nights I’ve seen young kids, like four or five, getting up and dancing and going nuts and their grandparents going nuts and everyone in between.”
Groban, who performs at Prospera Place Sept. 2, as part of his international tour for his second album, said expect a few surprises in the show.
Groban’s success is intriguing given his music doesn’t fall neatly into a specific genre. His blend of classical and pop music hasn’t yet found the usual catchy one-word label music reporters like to attach..
“I’m a journalist’s worst nightmare,” he joked.
“I like to stay out of a specific niche. I wouldn’t label it at all. People find out it is what it is. I consider it pop music with a different theme.”
The influence of musical theatre is evident in how he fearlessly explores his music.
“One of the beauties of musical theatre is you can do one character and then take another completely different role. I don’t like being tied down. I tell a story in a different way. All music is, is a universal story.”
His 2003 album called Closer has tunes in English as well as French, Italian and Spanish—all languages the Los Angeles native has worked on through the years.
Music has been instinctively part of Groban his whole life.
“I’ve always loved music. Since I was a year old, I’d play piano and sing.”
His parents took him to Cirque de Soliel and had pop and classical music around him. He started formal voice lessons when he was about 15 and was getting ready to head to school for musical theatre when his life took a startling turn at 17.
He was asked by music producer David Foster, who knew Groban’s voice teacher, to fill in for fellow tenor Andrea Bocelli with Celine Dion at the Grammies.
Groban was going to turn down Foster, not because he was afraid of performing in front of millions—Groban isn’t afraid of much—but because he wasn’t sure he could sing the song perfectly. A self-proclaimed perfectionist, he said he works furiously to get his songs exactly right.
In the end, Groban sang with Dion and the whirlwind began. He’s performed at the Superbowl in a tribute to astronauts, at the Salt Lake City Olympics and at the star-studded We Are the Future event in Italy this spring. He’s been interviewed by Oprah (one of the most requested guests), Rosie O’Donnell and Rolling Stone magazine.
“It’s very overwhelming at times,” he said. “I have to learn very quickly to adapt to situations very quickly.”
Despite being launched a little faster than planned, Groban said he was always focussed on the path into the limelight.
He said he may try Broadway or opera, when the time is right.
In the meantime, he’s trying to keep his feet on the ground, even if they move at a more hectic pace than most.
“My family is grounded and so humble. They’ve inspired me to look at the big picture.”
“It has been about starting slow and bringing it up and not forgetting the important things.”
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