Page 18 - BiTS_11_NOVEMBER_2023_Neat

SS: It's natural. In fact, I studied with a Juilliard teacher. I studied privately with
her, and she begged me to go into opera. She said with the power and the range,

because I have over five octaves, she said that's just a God-given gift and your voice
is so well suited for opera. But I was a rebellious teenager already trying to write
songs. I hadn't written any good ones yet, but I really felt that that was my destiny.

I didn't have the discipline to go into classical music, and I didn't have the passion
for the music, but I appreciated learning how to use my voice properly. I knew that

would be important.

BiTS: Okay. Now tell me. Sari, how
you got picked up by Mike Vernon.

It's a fascinating story, I think.

SS: Well, it's one of those things
that is an impossible coincidence

because I had gone out to the Blues
Challenge in Memphis. I wasn't
competing. I wasn't scheduled to
perform, but I wanted to be there

to give support to some of the
other artists that I knew would be

there, and most of all, I just wanted
to be a part of the community. But
I was working with someone at the

time. He was not exactly managing
me, but he was acting as an
advisor, and he said, look, you are

a nobody and until you're a somebody you're a nobody. You do not belong going out
to Memphis, and, of course, my immediate reaction to that was, you're right. I'm a
nobody. What am I thinking? Then the next morning, I got up, and I thought, you

know, I think it's about community. This is not about being anything else than being
supportive for other people. It's not about me and I got on a plane a few days later
and I went out there and ran into a friend who said, hey, are you going to the

luncheon today? They’re honouring industry people. But the luncheon was
expensive, and I said, no, I really can't. That's kind of my budget for food for the
week. But then I thought about it. I thought I'm here for the artists. Why not be here

for, you know, the people behind the scenes? You know, they deserve our support
too, so I went. At this luncheon, Mike Vernon was giving an acceptance speech
because he was honoured with the Lifetime Producer award. A lifetime achievement,

and there were other people that were being honoured, like record company of the
year and producer of the year and agent of the year, and I thought, wow, all of those
people, at this point in my life could be very helpful. I’m such a terrible networker,

the only one I really wanted to meet was Mike Vernon, and Mike said he was retired