"Last Name" sung by Carrie Underwood is the most contemporary song I performed for my recital. I grew up listening to John Denver, Kenny Rogers, Willie Nelson, Glen Campbell, Crystal Gayle, The Mandrell Sisters, and Dolly Parton. The country stars that were on TV and the radio, the more mainstream 1970's stuff. So, when I think of country music, those are the artists that come to mind. That is country music to me. So, when preparing for this recital I had to explore other decades to see what was out there. I had already become a devoted fan of Patsy Cline in my early 30's, but I hadn't found too many country artists beyond the 1980's that resonated with me. Even when it comes to rock and pop music I am an old soul. But, I found a track that was an acoustic version of "Last Name". I like Carrie's voice and thought it would be fun to try it out. And it turned out to be a real showstopper. One bit of trivia, I don't think this track was meant to be a vocal track. If you notice in the first verse just before the chorus I have to elongate my phrasing to fit the lyrics in. The guitarist added some extra counts in there, but I found my way around it. Again, the main reason I chose this arrangement is because my voice is very different from Carrie's and I didn't want people to automatically associate this version with hers. That is a tip when doing covers, find an arrangement that veers from the original or come up with your own arrangement and then it becomes more about your interpretation and hopefully the audience will not continually compare you to the original artist while you are singing. Enjoy!
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