I am freaking out on the inside.
Ok, so maybe I stole him for a night, but OH, what a night it was! Have you ever had a dream so big that you’ve made peace with its constraints which are limited to the boundaries of your skull, realizing that the likelihood of it ever happening in real life is just plain crazy? Well…that’s where I was with this crazy dream of mine until the unthinkable happened. You see, Angie Aparo was one of my lyrical, musical heroes. If you don’t know who he is, well, he is one of the best songwriters of our time (in my opinion), and his voice is so magnificent, it will chill you to your core. His album, The American, is one that I played on a constant loop for years. The song “Cry” and “Freeman” were covered by Faith Hill, and Tim McGraw, respectively. Faith won a Grammy for “Cry”, and deservedly so. Angie’s version, however, will always be my favorite.
Now, to the good part! It had been some years since I listened to Angie, but he had just released a new album, and so before I dove into it, I wanted to go back and listen to the old tunes again (you know how you watch all of the movies that precede a new one in the franchise?) So, as I started listening, all of the emotions I had that were tied to those songs came flooding back. I literally was in tears listening to those songs, and so on a whim, I did something.
I had been working hard on my music and growing my social media following for a while. Twitter was up to 20k followers, and I was spending a lot of time connecting with those followers and enjoying the rewards of the popularity I seemed to be getting for my music. On that evening of digging back into the Angie album, I decided to tweet about it. Here’s a screenshot of what went down:
Ok….NOW….after I completely lost my sh!t, I set out to make this show happen. From that point, there were a flurry of messages sent back and forth on Twitter, an exchange of phone numbers (OMG…I had Angie Aparo’s number in my phone?), meetings with the club owner of the bar we chose, and BAM….just like that, we were on the schedule to play a show…together. Guys, I am not kidding when I tell you that I had dreamt that exact scenario in my mind time and time again throughout the years. Not only the dream of playing a show with him but singing the song “Cry” with him. I had watched video footage of he and Faith singing it together, and I would always imagine myself in her place. And guess what? It happened.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post and share this experience with me. I am excited to tell you that I will be playing ANOTHER show with Angie in the next couple of months! I’m sure I’ll get to sing “Cry” again, and next time, I’ll send you the entire song, for free!
Thanks again for taking the journey with me.
Lana
Lana and Angie Aparo
I am so happy for you Lana. A dream come true.
Thank you, Jan! It was an amazing experience for sure!
wow. This is incredible Lana!!! I hope your music continues to grow and grow. Unfortunantly, my brother had a brain stem stroke after he released all the videos on you tube. And I forget what producer he has. Maybe you can take some of his songs or pieces of his songs and create something magical. If you would like his contact (phone number) let me know!
Congrats again! Scotty Maddux
Hey Scott! Thank you so much for commenting! It was an amazing night. I am so sorry to hear about your brother! Send me your brother’s youtube link. Thank you for thinking of me. I hope he continues to improve and get back to writing and singing.
Lana read this
Hey Lana. You know the best thing in being in music is – it’s in your soul and we all have dreams. I’m soooo glad your dream came true. I know (don’t laugh) I played with a polka band for 28 years and my dream was to play with just one Grammy winner. We went up to the Catskills for a weekend to do a polka fest weekend. I ended up played with a Grammy winner the whole weekend his name is Walter ostenak. That was my dream and I more or less shit my pants. Then we played up in NE pa for a polka day two polka bands and then jimmy sturr arrived in Kenny Rogers old bus. I ended up playing with them for two sets. This time I more or less just said f it and whatever was gonna happen let it happen. Lol. But in having one dream come true I ended up with two dreams and played with amazing people. I know polka music. Lol. After that happened we ended up making 3 professional cds and did a tv show and our first cd was nominated for a Grammy. Another dream. So keep dreaming girl. In this industry u gotta kick ass and put hrs of time into it but it does pay off. Keep dreaming Lana cause me being from a small no name town here on PA it happened to me. 👍👍
Rob, I love your story! Thank you so much for sharing this with me. It gives me such encouragement and inspiration to connect with people in this way. Hey, Polka is cool…don’t go feeling uneasy about revealing that. Haha. I am in awe of your journey. Wow!!
Great Thanks for sharing !
Thank you for reading my story, Tony!
Cograts
What can I say.. except GREAT.. I bet you were fly’en high that night. I get that way when I am putting my Christian music events together. Meeting the musicians before the event, on a personal laid back one on one moment. The crazy thing is once away from the lights and stage. Then really seeing who they really are and where their hearts are. That is when the magic sets in being real friends. Love your music. Keep reach for the stars. Just never loose your grounding..
Hi Bill,
Thank you so much for your thoughtful words. Yes, to be able to meet and connect with musicians in a relaxed setting is really special. Thank you again for your support and kind comments!
What a dream come true! I can only imagine.
It sure was, Scott! What was so surreal is that I had always imagined singing that song with him. : )
What a wonderful experience that must have been. Your voice sounds so good on the video, you hate to see it end! Well done.
Thank you so much! It really was a dream come true. I appreciate your kind words. : )
Lana White
Brilliant
Thank you, Billy! I hope you are well!