Everyone has something they're especially good at, a specialty of sorts. I'm not too sure what mine is, although I make an exceptionally good Chocolate Mousse. Courtney's is definitely singing. He is amazing, and I'm not saying that because I'm biased.
Well before we were together, we were at a party at Squish's house and he burst into song, most likely about something silly or instead of speaking the answer to a question. Soul Buddy and I looked at each other, behind the back of a rather inebriated Long Haired Boy and raised our eyebrows. "Wow, he can actually sing!" one of us mouthed to the other. It was a big old nothing moment at the time, a moment of surprise and we were definitely impressed, but the moment faded away into the night like so many others. Now, it's the moment I first heard my love sing.
Until that point I had no idea that he had been in bands, one of whom we were fans of, but only after he had left it. Courts has a reputation I can only dream of as a singer, one where he gets asked to do guest vocals for existing bands. He doesn't even have to be in a band to get to go on stage and for every person who exclaims "Oh my gosh, I had no idea you could sing!", there's another nodding their head knowingly, in on the secret all along.
He's into metal, and metal only, but that doesn't mean he growls. Courts passion is power metal, he sings clean vocals and reaches ridiculously high notes without resorting to falsetto. I guess the most well known example of similar vocals for anyone scratching their heads and thinking 'Power what?' would be Iron Maiden, most everyone has heard 'Run to the Hills', a god awful song but an example all the same. Courts would hate this comparison, but he screams like Sebastian Bach, who I'm a huge fan of. It all amounts to something very sexy, and I'm the only one that gets to take it home.
I understand if you don't want to listen to 7 minutes of some other chicks boyfriend singing, but skip to 3m20s for a cute bit and around 4m20s for a really good scream. Or search, erm, 'Manowhore' on YouTube for more!
I did just that on Saturday night, after Courts and some friends did a Manowar tribute gig at the Thirsty Dog in Auckland. The silly boy wasn't happy with his vocals but he did an amazing job. Squish and Lobster were there, and a work friend turned up and stood awestruck next to me as Courts lifted the ceiling. Soul Buddy and her Mister turned up half way through, racing to see him after a family 21st, and Mister was rather impressed having not completely understood SB's excitement initially.
As much as I love his singing, I hear it all the time. The best part of the gig for me was seeing everyone else's faces appreciating what I already love. Courtney's singing is one of the main reasons our Europe trip has an end date (along with debt and furbabies) because his reputation doesn't yet follow him internationally. One day it will.
What does your other half do that you are most proud of, that fills you up and has you wanting to tap on everyones shoulder asking 'Did you see that!'?
