Elaine McMilian

The performing arts most often see artists working with artists. A sole, lone artist singing on a street corner is one exception. Rehearsing, practicing alone, could be a familiar routine to you. But when you take it to an audience, "put yourself out there" as performers say, the art form involves collaboration and sharing. Elaine McMilian shares her instruments.

Her instrument is her voice, consisting of flesh, air, and spirit. There's physicality to one's voice, a set of muscles, a literal anatomical structure to the singing voice. Singers know this even if they don't know it. Singers sing from a spiritual place too; an intellectual side of performance honed with practice, experience, an orchestration of the senses, memory, experience, and more practice. Opportunity to grow as an artist is often a function of one's willingness to bring the art out of one's studio and into the light of day for others to see and hear. Willingness necessitates risk, confronting uncertainty, but when one practices well, and practices with others, realizes the beauty of the temporal nature of the performance and basks in the beauty of a moment, thinking about risk becomes irrelevant.

Elaine writes songs. She writes what she knows, which makes her songs audible diaries with a quality of subtlety and suggestion that allows an audience to weave their experiences into the mix. Her lyrics, poetry really, anchor the melody and her delivery is clear and emotional. Some singers mask their words, mumble, and growl with a raspy flutter (like her favorite band's lead singer, Eddie Vedder). That's their way. But Elaine works to make it literally clear to let you savor each word. That clarity enhances the sharing, for when songs fly out into space, despite copyrights and ownership, the song becomes a shared entity we can hum and even play on our own. She understands this.

Elaine performs and collaborates with other artists. She sings with a group called the Brannock Device (that's the contraption used to measure your foot). A few of her friends, Scott Easterday (guitar, vocals), Rick Schupp (drums), and Jason Beers (bass), give an ensemble-richness to Elaine's songs which she also performs solo. Yet even when solo, you'll observe Elaine working with the sound person, and hear her give thanks to other songwriters, as well as the venue staff. That's part of her sharing. She will read this and wince, hoping for a list below of everyone in the Kansas City music scene. Sorry that list's too long. And it's less like a list and more like tapestry with artists as the colorful threads. Their colors blend, cross, connect, influence, play, and listen intently.

Elaine connects artists with artists. Because she goes out to support other performers from an audience vantage point, she's often in the position to introduce people to people. As a show producer she's been instrumental in gathering artists, who otherwise would never have collaborated on stages. Willing to back-up with her instrument as well as her friendship, she's known as someone willing to give harmony and colorful texture, artist to artist. Her giving nature has been enriched over the years due to the giving of others. Artists must manage the delicate balance of being available while creating and practicing in seclusion. With the balance, there's the literal art of being available, maintaining an open, approachable outlook. As a producer, Elaine has organized musical events, booked shows for musicians, and engaged with the staffs and owners of every venue in the city. She knows the landscape but more important, she knows the people, and takes time to constantly learn more.

Elaine describes the artistic community in Kansas City as a rich, diverse, multi-generational and talented family. In Kansas City, the many art forms, and people who create them, blend together, and she's both a part of that blending process, as well as one who actively nurtures the blend. She appreciates the deep history of this place, the people, and the artistic flow. Like many artists here, she is genuinely of this place. For those of us working to make this our place too, she's a welcoming spirit who brings people together on the stage...of life.

...this artist writes, performs, collaborates, connects, and shares...

Elaine is a Spring 2010 Artist INC Fellow.

Visit Elaine McMilian's website here.

Photo by Rachael Jane.

Elaine McMilian was born in Independence, Missouri. She is a graduate of the University of Missouri, Kansas City (UMKC) with a degree in Poetry. She serves as the UMKC Conservatory Music and Dance Academy's program manager; facilitating music and dance teachers to give lessons to students of all ages while connecting with local schools and the community. Elaine actively performs in the Kansas City area. She has recorded two albums, collaborated with local artists on their recording projects, and operates a representational service for artists called EME. In 2012, Elaine plans to record her third album of original works.

Written by Tom Ryan, 2011.