Name: Bonnie Montgomery
Nationality: American
Occupation: Singer, songwriter, composer
Current release: Bonnie Montgomery's River is out November 3rd 2023 via Gar Hole.

If you enjoyed this Bonnie Montgomery interview and would like to stay up to date with her music, visit her official website. She is also on Instagram, Facebook, and twitter.



Do you think that some of your earliest musical experiences planted a seed for your interest in your voice and singing? How and when did you start singing?

Yes, fortunately, I was born into a music-centric family and live music was an everyday part of life growing up. My grandparents started a music retail business on the court square of my hometown in the late 1960s, so our family was a hub for musicians in the community, and we were involved in all the community events and county fairs, etc ...

My grandfather had me singing in front of the Kiwanis Club when I was 3. That's also when I started singing in front of church and began formal piano lessons.
 
If you're also playing other instruments, how does the expressive potential of these compare to your own voice?

For me, singing is the most expressive thing I have ever experienced and the pure expression of vocalizing conveys more emotion than any words or movement or painting could ever communicate.

I think learning to sing in other languages while I was in school for opera gave me so much more freedom and room for expression of the soul than just singing in my native language. And of course, I think singing on a vowel with no words is also extremely powerful.

I wrote a Vocalise for soprano, bass, piano and steel guitar called "Song Beyond Words" and I feel like it expresses more emotion than anything I've ever written. Here's that:
 


What were some of the main challenges in your development as a singer / vocalist? Which practices, exercises, or experiences were most helpful in reaching your goals – were there also “harmful” ones?

After I finished my Master's degree in music, it was challenging to find my voice and sing in a way that was authentic to me and me only. I had been singing under the baton of so many conductors over my seven years of formal music study that I was lost in focusing on their vision or just the perfection of my vocal technique.

Letting go of all the formalities while still using good technique AND at the same time expressing my inner emotions in my own songs (which were coming out in country formats) was really interesting. But I finally feel like I've found that sweet spot. This song "Cruel" is an example of me learning how to use my voice in the studio.

It was recorded over a decade ago - and you can hear some classical-ish techniques and vowel placement taking over sometimes:



And here I am on the upcoming album, with a decade more of experience singing into PAs and microphones (Of course, I was singing completely acoustic in opera school and projecting in a totally different way than I would with a microphone.).

I think all my singing on the upcoming album "River" is finally a full expression of my voice and my natural style of delivery. Here's an example with my song "River":
 


What are the things you hear in a voice when listening to a vocalist? What moves you in the voices of other singers?

I think authenticity and emotion are the most essential elements I look for in a vocalist, and I love that - even in a singer that has a limited vocal range, and might not be using proper vocal technique at all.

But I absolutely love a strong, rich, clear, powerful, technically accurate and unique voice that has a command over their range and pitch. I love a crooner! And in male voices, I love a baritone!

How would you describe the physical sensation of singing? [Where do you feel the voice, do you have a visual sensation/representation, is there a sense of release or tension etc …].  

I love this question! When I sing, I feel my voice throughout my whole body, from the feet to the crown of my head. But mostly, I physically feel sensations in my chest, head, and neck - but I love the buzz that certain tones make in the resonators of the face and forehead the most.

Sometimes I imagine the tone shooting out of my third eye like a laser beam, ha! It's such a full body experience to sing and there's no other instrument like it, because essentially it is the body, the mind, the psyche, and the spirit.
 
What kind of musical settings and situations do you think are ideal for your own voice?

I think completely acoustic with no amplification is my best and favorite setting. But, that's nearly impossible in a lot of the spaces where I perform. Of course, with the band, it's a necessity to be amplified.

I adore singing in big beautiful theaters and halls, where the setting is like another member of the band. But I also love a noisy honky tonk, with people two stepping on the sawdust floors and beer bottles clanking.
 
Strain is a particularly serious issue for many vocalists. How do you take care of your voice? Are the recipes or techniques to get a damaged voice back in shape?

Vocal rest is the one and only real medicine for a truly damaged voice, which is so so hard for us singers! We love to talk! But regular rest and hydration is essential to good vocal health. And of course not screaming and straining the voice is important, as well as warming up atleast a little before singing!

I have a magic throat spray I make as well that helps with any congestion or hoarseness - it's base is colloidal silver, and you add about 10 drops of these essential oils - clove, orange, cinnamon, eucalyptus, rosemary and oregano - and put it in a spray bottle. Spray generously when you need it!! It's magic!
 
How has technology, such as autotune or effect processing, impacted singing? Has it been a concrete influence on your own approach?

I despise autotune and I love that Aretha Franklin was asked about it in an interview and didn't know what it was and laughed at the question.



I like to hear the nuance in pitch, say, in Etta James' voice and I absolutely hate what autotune has done for modern music, and the fact that a great recording artist no longer has to be a truly great singer - for lots of reasons, but autotune is mostly to blame. I think it has also changed the average listener's ear and made a general acceptance of quality in singing much lower than it was, say, in the 1960s and before.

Here's an example of one of my tunes called "Desert Flower" that isn't precisely pitch perfect, and I like the intimacy that it gives:
 


Motherese may have been the origin of music, and singing is possibly the earliest form of musical expression, and culture in general. How connected is the human voice to your own sense of wellbeing, your creativity, and society as a whole?

As a vocalist, of course I think singing is the end-all, be-all of musical and human expression and I personally think all people can sing - and that singing together breaks down the barriers that keep us all apart.

For me, singing is like breathing and it is an essential part of my well-being every day.