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"Because a work of art does not aim at reproducing
natural
This is a tale of talent fashioned and shaped from friendship, tragedy, and compassion. Unlike many musical talents that pursue their first recording project with visions of multiple homes and a Mercedes Benz in the parking lot, Beth Cryderman Moss debut recording, simply titled Just Beth, was born from the tragic loss of her best childhood girlfriend, Vicki Cahoon, from breast cancer last November. Consisting of nine cover songs that showcase the emotive range of Beth’s beautiful voice, and range in style from the wistful memory of Me and Bobby McGee to the bluesy edge of Mustang Sally, with a dash of Patsy Cline, bookmarked by the transcendent homage of No One Else on Earth and Angel, proceeds from Just Beth are being dedicated to the American Cancer Society for breast cancer research. But while the painful loss of her friend provided an impetus for this project, Beth Moss is an undeniable talent that shows us clearly how the ripples of one life can magically affect another. “I’ve always been a singer messing around,” explains Beth, “but my friends & family encouraged me to take it further. As hokey as it sounds, my Mom got me involved in Karaoke, which opened doors for me in the sense that I’d always have these heart palpitations and sweaty palms whenever I would come close to singing publicly, and singing Karaoke helped me fight that to the point where I actually started to enjoy the audience response I was getting.” “The reason I recorded the CD is that my best friend since the age of 12 passed away in November of breast cancer,” continues Beth. “I started this project almost as therapy. Originally, I wanted to record something and thought I could bring the breast cancer issue along with it, but the response I’ve been getting has shown me that so many people have been touched by this terrible disease, that it’s pushed me into more active avenues.” Thus far Beth has raised close to $900.00 for the American Cancer Society for breast cancer research, and the response to her debut endeavor has been overwhelming. “I’ve probably sold over 400 copies since March of this year, “ notes Beth, “and being from the small town of Melvin, which has a population of 150 people - no, make that 151 - Lisa just had a baby last month,” laughs Beth, “discovering all the attention this project has received is truly inspirational.” Growing up and living in Melvin, Michigan informed much of Beth’s bucolic yet soulful vocal sensibility. “Melvin is about 35 miles northwest of Port Huron. There is a party store, a tavern, and a post office, and everybody knows everybody. Usually I sing at the golf course outside of Melvin, which we call Melvin Heights, and I’ve been asked to appear at a lot of local events.” Although Just Beth contains no original material, Beth says her next project will focus on originals. “The turn I take with music that I sing is towards soulful & bluesy oriented material - anything that develops emotion in the heart, so Blues is where I am headed.” “I’ve been messing around with my own material with a band just starting up called The Bottom Feeders,” she continues. “They’ve invited me to sing with them and we’re trying some of their original material. We will be performing at Showcase 2000 at Tuscola Joes on the corner of M24 & 46 in August, and I’m both nervous and excited about it.” “I’m still keeping my options open for any kind of music that comes along,” notes Beth. “This guy in our area wrote a song about me and my friend that passed away, from the perspective of watching from the outside the two of us as we went through her ordeal.” Obviously, the death of Vicki had a powerful impact upon Beth, visible as her eyes start to tear with still tender and raw recollections of her passing. Does Beth feel she would have pursued her recording project had her good friend Vicki not died? “I had the idea of this CD in mind for the last couple of years,” reflects Beth. “But when you have your best friend die at 36-years of age, you start to wonder what tomorrow will bring in store. I mean, what is tomorrow? A year ago she was happy and healthy and we were partying our asses off, and now she’s gone. “ “It was two weeks later that I made the decision to record. I decided that the words ‘could, would, should’, were not going to be in my vocabulary anymore. “ “Vicki suffered immensely. She had inflammatory cancer and it spread so fast you could actually watch it. She underwent heavy-duty chemo which put it in remission, but it did its own damage along the way. The cancer spread along her spine, into her lymph nodes, down her legs, and into her rib cage and lungs. She had a pathological fracture in her arm during her last days. The cancer had eaten from the inside out and she didn’t even know it. Her body was literally disintegrating within her skin, yet she was amazing throughout the whole thing. She was scared, but always kept her sense of humor right until the end. I figure if she could go through something like that with as much humor and class as she did, then I could proceed with this project. She inspired me.” What does Beth feel the biggest challenge is presented by music today? “Probably the fact that I am coming from an infantile experience in the sense that I’m really an ‘infant’ when it comes to music. I’m learning a lot as I go and I think what I see a lot of is close-mindedness. Folks pick a certain genre of music and don’t open their minds to other formats and different styles of music.” “If you look at the newer bands today like Limp Bizkit and Offspring, there are so many things I like about their music, yet I’m a pretty positive person. And I think if kids rule out something just because it doesn’t have a dark side to it, they close themselves out to other avenues that could breakthrough into more positive emotions.” “I’m a Karaoke Queen,” laughs Beth,” but people don’t see that. When I sing a song I put my own spin on it. I love to get with musicians to experiment and take a cover song to a new extreme, kind of like re-creating the wheel with a different sound and shape.” “My personal battle is trying to find those people that I click with. So many bands have been playing awhile, and then they see this girl come along thinking she can sing, so a big issue is how to gain respect without being overbearing. I’m thankful The Bottom Feeders have taken my under their wing, because I really want to knock their socks off!” Though she began her career singing Karaoke, Beth does not enjoy entering Karaoke contests very much. “I don’t want to sound like the person that sang the song before, and as a judge I think that’s what they look at, “ she reflects. “Imitation is not my bag and I think people are scrutinized for the wrong reasons in Karaoke Contests. If you feel what you’re doing and enjoy the music you’re singing, it will all flow naturally. That’s why I’m not into contests, although I have won a few and even met The Bottom Feeders at a Karaoke contest.” Just Beth was recorded by Michael Romska at his Critter Tracks Recording studio. “He has a well equipped studio out of his home,” notes Beth, “and basically I just called the guy closest to my house that I found on the Internet. It was a very comfortable experience. We hung out for awhile and just took it one step at a time. I didn’t know how to get from point A to B on this project, and Mike just broke it down one song at a time. Before I knew it, I had a nice collection of songs.” Beth says she is pretty close to selling her initial pressing of 500 copies, and wasn’t certain she would get that far. “I didn’t have any expectations,” she states,” and figured that the 150 people in Melvin might buy it, but with help from the Sanilac County media word spread to Tuscola County, and now here in Saginaw County. WKCQ did a medley from the CD and my Sandusky station plays it upon request.” “The positive feedback has pushed me further to do the most I can to raise more money for this endeavor,” continues Beth. “Anne Parker from the American Cancer Society in my region is arranging a presentation and I will give whatever funds I have raised from the CD to her in October, which is Breast Cancer Month. That is also the anniversary of the last time Vicki and I rode together. That was the last time she rode a horse. Horses were her life & passion and we used to ride with a group called the Bunkhouse Trail Riders.” “Apart from the music, I would like to say that people should take care of themselves and make sure they check themselves out,” concludes Beth. “Vicki might be alive today if she went in sooner. She didn’t realize what was wrong with her and didn’t have insurance. The American Cancer Society has a screening program now for people under-insured or those that don’t have insurance, and people should call them. Don’t let not having insurance stop you. She died because she didn’t have insurance and it’s ridiculous.” “People should also know that cancer doesn’t always appear as a tumor,” adds Beth. “Vicki’s looked like a rash, like her skin had been through a fire. She never correlated it to cancer and went days and months like this, until her back started bothering her. Then one day, she couldn’t get out of bed and finally checked herself into the hospital.” It is said that music is a power force of healing. Given the sparkling and inspirational heights of Beth Moss’ voice, compounded by the powerful emotional experience absorbed, she has also demonstrated how it can be a powerful force for progress and change. I urge everybody out there to purchase her beautiful CD, which can be obtained over the Internet at www.greatlakes.net/~beth.
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