The life of a VoiceOver Recording Artist in 2015 is never boring. I mean, no sooner do you think you have all the answers, than they change all the questions!

In the early days of the craft we were all called ‘Announcers’, as we all tended to speak rather loudly, with perfectly pear-shaped, authoritative tones… think preachers, teachers, parents, carnival barkers and military sergeants.

In 2015 not so much.

Consumers today worldwide are more savvy. And the delivery method has become more personal. The big box styled TV set of the 1950s has given way to personal,  pocket-sized screens … and the tinny, brittle speakers have given way to earbuds and headphones.

All that being said, today’s blog is all about mixing it up – as Airlift Productions and I toss an audio potpourri that helps to capture the changes, and runs the gamut from newly-produced radio ads and audio books … to a soliloquy!

This week, tasked to amp-up the crowds at a local night club, like the old radio days – where shock jocks would walk a fine line between good taste on the radio … and the unemployment line – the very first word out of my mouth is (OMG) “S-E-X!”   (well, now that I have your attention….)

*** Airlift Mike talks (sort of) for “Legends Encore” ***

Like I said, never boring.

Back to the 1950s for a second. Not only were all TV sets huge pieces of furniture dominating your living room, all books were found doing a Dewey Decimal System search in a library, trees had to die to produce them, and they were read – page by flipped page.

Today, not so much.

In 2015, we google search and download to our personal digital device (mp3 player, I-Pod, I-Pad or phone) and LISTEN to the printed word – again read and cooed into our ears by a sympathetic, compassionate, yet dramatic voice.

My very first fully-Airlift-produced, narrated and read-by-yours-truly Audio Book is now on the market, and available for download on a digital device near you. But, fair warning, it is not for the faint of heart.

Murder in Coweta County, a true crime drama set in 1948 Georgia, well before Dr. King, Selma and the Civil Rights movement is indeed a shocker. It tackles racial prejudice, arrogant power and southern justice head-on.  Give a listen to just a bit of Chapter 7 through the Airlift Productions microphones here ….

** Micheal Ziants interprets Chapter 7 of Murder in Coweta County ~ courtesy Pelican Publishing, NOLA **

Download the entire “Murder in Coweta County” Audio Book from the krewe at Pelican Publishing across the Mississippi River in Gretna by clicking either of these links.  On sale for a mere $17.60, about the price of a good pizza. And this story will stay with you a lot longer. Truly.

But better strap yourself in for the ride first. And keep your hands and feet inside the car… and your 21st century sensitivities intact.

To wrap-up the  Audio Potpourri, the VoiceOver Recording Artist of today is always sowing seeds for future work.  We create demos to showcase our reach and talents wherein we cast ourselves in arenas within which we’d like to work.

Well, my favorite Rom-Com ever (and I’ve viewed many with the ladies through the years) would have to be ‘Love Actually’.  In the opening sequence, Hugh Grant does this reflective monologue VoiceOver shortly after the events of 9-11, while we watch loved ones embracing at the airport.

Poetic license affords a name change from Heathrow to Louis Armstrong, and for demo purposes, re-casts the V-O with none other than yours truly, and it sounds like this ….

** Love Actually Soliloquy from Airlift & Micheal Ziants **

Airlift Productions & Airlift Mike ~ treating cold, metal microphones like warm human ears … from New Orleans … since 1984.