The Tribute Lady Part One

Susan D. Wiseman, known on the internet as "The Tribute Lady" is shown here with our son, SPC David Dale, US Army.David is due to ship out overseas in the near future. He is an M1A, Abrams tanker. "It Is The Soldier" is one of Susan's tribute songs, written in honor of David. We are very proud of him, both as a man, and as a soldier, who is willing to risk his life for our country.










THE NAME...TRIBUTE LADY

I guess that I can take the credit for tagging Susan with that handle, but that's really who she is; The Tribute Lady. The name has stuck. People all over the world know her by that name; She has written many tribute songs, and paying tribute to people, both living, and dead, is what she does. It is a little amazing to me is that she has touched the hearts of thousands of people, but if you go out on the street, and ask anyone if they have ever heard of her, they would probably say "no". Another different aspect of Susan is that she has never made a plan or agenda to be where she is today, in the world of music, other than to make a vow to God (at a very young age) that she would go and sing anywhere that He wanted her to.

When I married this woman almost 21 years ago, I was soon thereafter exposed to her music, which I found most intriguing, to say the least; since I had a background in commercial music, I immediatedly invisioned her selling the music, or becoming a very successful song writer. Little did I know that she had already turned down more than one offer to sell her music, and was very discriminating as to the future of any of her songs.

I then became involved with her in the raising of her 4 children, and even though one left home at an early age, we devoted the next 2 decades to the lives of our children. Susan continued to write songs, but our priority during that time was strictly to our kids.The songs written during that time were mostly dedicated to the love of God, family and her children. Because I had been a professional trumpet player, I still played in churches, and also did some "gigs" with local bands to help supplement our income.

We put our kids through private Christian schools, and the cost was almost like paying fo a college education for each one; we struggled; I remodelled houses on the side, and we struggled, but we also invested in the lives of our kids; we did girl scouts, boy scouts, and church activities; we struggled; we almost starved; we almost lost our house, but we lived through it, and God Almighty never left us; He saw us through all of the tough times, and we would both do it again, a million times; maybe some things a little differently, but our family, along with God, came first.

HER GIFT OF SONG

It took a while for me to fully comprehend Susan's gift of song; I knew that she loved music, and even though she was untrained, that her talent for verse and writing really nice melodic lines was real. What I failed to understand was that she is an inspired song-writer, and unless she feels that certian leading, she will not simply purpose to write a song. In fact, she has said many times that she can't purpose to write a song; she can only write when someting inspires her, and moves her heart and soul.

HER EARS

I noticed, very early on in our relationship, that Susan probably has some form of relative pitch. A person who is born with perfect pitch can hear a tone, and instantly know what note on the keyboard it is, i.e., if you play a "d". that person knows that it is a "d". Also, their ears are perfectly in tune with music, and anything that is even slightly out of tune really bothers them.

Relative pitch is similar to perfect pitch, but that person has to hear a note and identify it first, and he or she can hear and identify all other notes played , from that point on. Although Susan is untrained, she has the inate ability to hear notes and tune her voice to them. She is not a powerful singer, but has what I call a pretty voice, that exudes sincerity. When I first heard her sing, I could tell that she had a voice in there, but she sang out of tune, and I just dismissed that as her not being a strong singer.

A huge revelation occurred to me when we purchased the keybooard/sequencer that she now writes and performs all of her music on today. Upon hearing her first song written on the instrument, I noticed immediately that she sang vastly more in tune than before. My musical mind began working "overtime" to analyze the difference, and what I believe is this...when Susan composed, played and sang her music on the old "rinky dink" piano, which was out of tune, she sang out of tune, as well. Evidently, her ears homed in on the tones from the new keyboard, which is perfectly "in tune", and her singing voice immediately improved, and her intonation is excellent. Because she is not a trained singer, she does sing out of tune occasionally, but on her recordings, you can hear her adjust an "out of tune" note. Why? Because she hears it, and apparently doesn't consciously adjust the note, but because she has a "good ear", she unconsciously adjusts the note.This indicates to me that Susan has "relative" pitch.

HER TEARS

For various reasons, Susan has cried a lot in her life; some from heartaches, some from being unduly mistreated by people, but many of her tears have been shed from the compassion that she has for others. Most, if not all, of her tribute songs are the direct result of the emotional impact that the life or death of the individual(s) have had on her. Many requests have come to Susan to write a particular song for or about a person, and she has had to politely decline them, stating that unless inspired, she cannot possibly purpose to write a song on her own. Conversely, when an event or person touches her heart, the songs literally pour out of her, along with her tears. I have seen her cry for days, in the process of writing a new song that had come on her. Until the song is completed, it is hard to empathize with her reason for crying, but when the recording is finished, I too, cry along with her many times. It is then that the heart of the matter is revealed, and Susan's incredible compassion flows through her music. One prime example of this can be seen and heard on a site called http://herhometownheroes.com