Swooning Distinct Possibility When Groban Takes Stage
The Arizona Republic
March 13, 2005
By Randy Cordova
Josh Groban sings in a voice that creates gauzy, soft-focus fantasies that capture the hearts of women around the globe. It makes you wonder: When the singer is romancing his lady in real life, does he croon to her over a dinner of candlelight and wine?
"Well, my girlfriend hears me sing enough," he said with a laugh. "No, no, no. That's too sick. I can imagine someone like Antonio Banderas doing that. Not me."
So while fans may envision Groban as a curly-haired, sensitive troubadour of love, he has no problem shattering the image.
"I kind of laugh when I read the articles: 'Groban romances the crowd!' 'Women were weeping!' They build me up like I'm on the cover of some romance novel."
As for the real Groban?
"I'm a huge geek," he said. "I'm not very romantic in real life. I do try special things sometimes, but for me, the nice thing about music is I must have this hugely romantic side that I can only get out in the music."
Obviously, Groban's music is one of those things that women seem to "get" more than men. He reports that women outnumber men at the shows, and he knows they are the ones who report on his every sighting at the numerous fan sites on the Web.
"There is a huge female audience, which is fine by me," he said, pondering the question as if he's never heard it before. "I don't know why that is. It's orchestral music? I know you see more women going to Broadway musicals. . . . Maybe it's because I'm a guy and all the guys are at a Britney Spears concert?"
In terms of his fan following, he's in the classic tradition of such artists as Julio Iglesias and Michael Bolton. That's not due to his formidable vocal skills, but rather to his ability to connect with listeners in a way that they interpret as intensely personal.
Musically, Groban is another story. The vocalist blends pop and classical sounds to create a lush hybrid with elements of both. Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli have enjoyed success on the same path, though Groban adds that whole tousled-wunderkind thing to the mix.
He was only 17 when he first captured the public's attention, singing with Celine Dion at a Grammy Awards rehearsal. Two multiplatinum studio albums followed (2001's Josh Groban and 2003's Closer) and a sold-out theater tour in 2004.
Because of Groban's quick rise, he embarked on that debut tour without a lot of seasoning as an entertainer. At times, his inexperience was visible, and he had to learn on the road.
"I'm still learning," he said. "That's kind of the story of my career: You sink or swim. There hasn't been a whole lot of room for failures. I'd never played a club before and then I sold out a tour? I was scared to death. It's like, 'Now I'm a touring artist. Can I do it?' "
He did it well enough to move up to arenas this go-round. He says hopes to create a theater-style feeling during the performances.
"I love the intimacy of a theater tour," he said. "I want to do that in the arenas, to make 10,000 or 15,000 people feel intimate - that's a great challenge.
"When I see pictures later of when I'm on-stage and see the sizes of the audiences, I think, 'How did I pull that off?' "
He has pulled off a lot in a short time. His classical-lite sound has even scored on radio, through Remember When It Rained and You Raise Me Up. He wrote the former; the latter is a cover of a song made famous overseas by Brian Kennedy.
"I heard Brian's version in a taxi in Dublin three years ago," he said. "An amazing singer, an amazing song. When you do something that's been done already, you don't do an imitation, but you've just got to go for it."
Besides, Groban likes finding songs rather than having original tunes sent to him. It goes back to the image.
"I get these songs and they're not for me at all. The writers think that all I love to sing about is children floating on rainbows. It's like they all have the wrong idea about me."
Writers may, but the fans don't. Especially in Arizona.
"On my message board, there's a section on tours," he said. "There's a thread that says 'Arizona,' and it's more than 100 pages. It's more than any other state.
"The fans in Arizona have just been incredible. I can't wait to get back."
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