My dad was (is!) a singer. I've been singing since I was a little girl, when he brought home a P.J. Proby record* and told me if I could learn the song, I could have some pocket money. I was four - I didn't know what pocket money was but I did want to please Daddy, so I learned. He couldn't have given me a better example. I grew up having no fear of notes: high notes, low notes, loud notes, slurred notes, 'straight' notes and notes loaded with character. I learned by example and I learned from the best.
I was gigging by the time I was 12, mostly as a 'guest artist' at Dad's shows. He never told anyone I was his daughter. "Stand or fall on your own merits" was the message. It sounds harsh, but he was teaching me a valuable life lesson. And happily, I rarely fell.
At 18 I had the choice of drama school or starting work in the industry. I chose the latter. You could in those days. (c 1857). And that's when the fun started. I worked in bands, in theatre, as a session singer, and in orchestras. I learned to arrange vocals (and boy was I rubbish at it at first!), I sang everywhere from the local pub to major rock venues and stately homes.
There followed minor record deals in The USA, Europe and Canada (but never in the UK), when I was writing my own material and seeing a fair amount of success with it. I had my own band and we had a ball for a few years. At the same time I started doing a lot of tours backing up 'names', and as fate would have it I ended up touring with P.J. Proby - one of the original bad boys of rock n roll and for my money one of the greatest singers of all time. In 2005 I also toured with The Sweet Inspirations, who were Elvis Presley's back-up vocalists in the 70s. They were generous, fun, very rock n roll, and they christened me 'The Ria Deal' - now that's an honour!
I've done a great deal of work in theatre as a vocal coach since the early 2000s, and have had the privilege of working on some genuinely epic productions including The Life and Times of Nicholas Nickleby, War and Peace, A Tale of Two Cities, Playing for Time and Coram Boy. They all come with their many memories but Coram Boy wins as "the one where I had to teach The Hallelujah Chorus to a room full of non-singing actors in one afternoon." I love this kind of work and always relish the chance to do it!
In recent years I've done a lot of theatre-revue and cabaret shows, with the likes of my great friend Alex Weatherhill, who is a producer, performer, musical director, arranger, vocal coach and awesome counter-tenor. I appeared with him in his show "Swing it on Broadway" many times, and once had to dep for the mighty Chrissie Hammond with three hours' notice - that was a stressful day - it ended up being more "Wing it on Broadway', as I recall... As I always say, I've been lucky enough to sing everywhere from the local pub to the London Palladium, and it is a privilege to still be able to work professionally as a performer.
Currently I'm having a ball performing with and arranging for 52nd Street, which is a four-piece vocal group in the style of The Manhattan Transfer.
Since 2008 I've been the musical director for Voices Unlimited (known locally as "The Mighty VU") which is a giant vocal group - I loathe the word 'choir' when applied to them as it conjures up all the wrong sounds and images - which regularly sells out theatres in their local area. They are a joy to work with and I get to indulge my passion for harmonies and butt-kicking vocals.
I started work as a private vocal coach in 1984. At that point I was pretty much just passing on what I knew, in common with so many other grass-roots teachers, but the work soon led to a passion for research and discovery when it comes to all things vocal, and that's a path I still follow to this day. Eventually it led to the founding of VIDLA (Vocalist International / Distance Learning Academy) which trains singing teachers and singers all over the world, both online and in person. Developing and improving VIDLA has been one of my passions for some years now and I hope and plan to see it evolve further over the coming years.
I underwent formal teacher training (Cert.Ed: Further, Adult and Higher Education) at Wolverhampton Uni, and then went on to take a series of offshore degrees** in contemporary vocals. I spent ten years doing a B.Phil, a Master's and a PhD via distance learning, and was lucky enough to have as my academic advisor Dr. Greg A. Grove, previously of San Jose State University. His standards were terrifyingly high, and knowing that he was going to be assessing my work gave it an extra kick each time I handed something in! I thoroughly enjoyed those ten years burying myself in research but the fact remains that qualifications don't mean a thing in a classroom - results do!
So here we are - I've been lucky enough to work as both a performer and a teacher my whole adult life, in a field about which I am hugely passionate. I hope that this, more than anything, is what rubs off on my students. It's the passion that keeps you driving for success; it's the technique that gets you through your journey safely.
* For the very young, a 'record' was a bit of black vinyl with a hole in the middle.
** Let's be clear here - offshore degrees means 'degrees that are not accredited in the UK'. What it doesn't mean is 'degrees that don't involve doing any work'! My formal teacher training took place over a two year period here in the UK, and then the degrees were done via distance learning, but not with a UK institution. It has been suggested by a tiny number of snarky people in the industry that no work took place in being awarded those degrees, and that they were bought off a mysterious shelf somewhere. The fact is, I can prove otherwise. Thus, those people are quite welcome to either become much better informed, or to stick their opinions where the sun don't shine... What's that Twitter hashtag? Oh yes... #justsaying
I was gigging by the time I was 12, mostly as a 'guest artist' at Dad's shows. He never told anyone I was his daughter. "Stand or fall on your own merits" was the message. It sounds harsh, but he was teaching me a valuable life lesson. And happily, I rarely fell.
At 18 I had the choice of drama school or starting work in the industry. I chose the latter. You could in those days. (c 1857). And that's when the fun started. I worked in bands, in theatre, as a session singer, and in orchestras. I learned to arrange vocals (and boy was I rubbish at it at first!), I sang everywhere from the local pub to major rock venues and stately homes.
There followed minor record deals in The USA, Europe and Canada (but never in the UK), when I was writing my own material and seeing a fair amount of success with it. I had my own band and we had a ball for a few years. At the same time I started doing a lot of tours backing up 'names', and as fate would have it I ended up touring with P.J. Proby - one of the original bad boys of rock n roll and for my money one of the greatest singers of all time. In 2005 I also toured with The Sweet Inspirations, who were Elvis Presley's back-up vocalists in the 70s. They were generous, fun, very rock n roll, and they christened me 'The Ria Deal' - now that's an honour!
I've done a great deal of work in theatre as a vocal coach since the early 2000s, and have had the privilege of working on some genuinely epic productions including The Life and Times of Nicholas Nickleby, War and Peace, A Tale of Two Cities, Playing for Time and Coram Boy. They all come with their many memories but Coram Boy wins as "the one where I had to teach The Hallelujah Chorus to a room full of non-singing actors in one afternoon." I love this kind of work and always relish the chance to do it!
In recent years I've done a lot of theatre-revue and cabaret shows, with the likes of my great friend Alex Weatherhill, who is a producer, performer, musical director, arranger, vocal coach and awesome counter-tenor. I appeared with him in his show "Swing it on Broadway" many times, and once had to dep for the mighty Chrissie Hammond with three hours' notice - that was a stressful day - it ended up being more "Wing it on Broadway', as I recall... As I always say, I've been lucky enough to sing everywhere from the local pub to the London Palladium, and it is a privilege to still be able to work professionally as a performer.
Currently I'm having a ball performing with and arranging for 52nd Street, which is a four-piece vocal group in the style of The Manhattan Transfer.
Since 2008 I've been the musical director for Voices Unlimited (known locally as "The Mighty VU") which is a giant vocal group - I loathe the word 'choir' when applied to them as it conjures up all the wrong sounds and images - which regularly sells out theatres in their local area. They are a joy to work with and I get to indulge my passion for harmonies and butt-kicking vocals.
I started work as a private vocal coach in 1984. At that point I was pretty much just passing on what I knew, in common with so many other grass-roots teachers, but the work soon led to a passion for research and discovery when it comes to all things vocal, and that's a path I still follow to this day. Eventually it led to the founding of VIDLA (Vocalist International / Distance Learning Academy) which trains singing teachers and singers all over the world, both online and in person. Developing and improving VIDLA has been one of my passions for some years now and I hope and plan to see it evolve further over the coming years.
I underwent formal teacher training (Cert.Ed: Further, Adult and Higher Education) at Wolverhampton Uni, and then went on to take a series of offshore degrees** in contemporary vocals. I spent ten years doing a B.Phil, a Master's and a PhD via distance learning, and was lucky enough to have as my academic advisor Dr. Greg A. Grove, previously of San Jose State University. His standards were terrifyingly high, and knowing that he was going to be assessing my work gave it an extra kick each time I handed something in! I thoroughly enjoyed those ten years burying myself in research but the fact remains that qualifications don't mean a thing in a classroom - results do!
So here we are - I've been lucky enough to work as both a performer and a teacher my whole adult life, in a field about which I am hugely passionate. I hope that this, more than anything, is what rubs off on my students. It's the passion that keeps you driving for success; it's the technique that gets you through your journey safely.
* For the very young, a 'record' was a bit of black vinyl with a hole in the middle.
** Let's be clear here - offshore degrees means 'degrees that are not accredited in the UK'. What it doesn't mean is 'degrees that don't involve doing any work'! My formal teacher training took place over a two year period here in the UK, and then the degrees were done via distance learning, but not with a UK institution. It has been suggested by a tiny number of snarky people in the industry that no work took place in being awarded those degrees, and that they were bought off a mysterious shelf somewhere. The fact is, I can prove otherwise. Thus, those people are quite welcome to either become much better informed, or to stick their opinions where the sun don't shine... What's that Twitter hashtag? Oh yes... #justsaying