My friends, it's been a very interesting year thus far... and it's only February! Having been a member, then a moderator on this site, I feel I can share this with you...

Do you believe in fate?

All my life, in one way or another, I've been trying to do something musical. It's been a dream of mine to make a living using the voice God gave me to front a band or do anything involving music. I've been singing onstage since I was 8 years old. I had that kind of family. My dad played guitar and sang with us, my brothers and sister all sing and play, and we've been doing it forever.

When I was fresh out of high school, I made a valiant (if somewhat misguided) effort to "make it" by moving to the big city and joining my friend David in San Diego, and then my brother, Marty, in Los Angeles. Without going into the whole story - the short version is it obviously didn't happen. A lot of close calls, some "maybe's" and some "almost's", but that was it. I came to the conclusion that talent is a dime a dozen. There are a lot of very good singers out there, and there's only so much you can do - right time, right place.

That finally happened for me a couple of weeks ago.

I was in Las Vegas because my boss had a room (for one night only) that he ended up not using, and didn't want it to go to waste, so he offered it to me. I have tons of family in Vegas, so one night in that room and the other night at my cousin's house will be fine for me! I took him up on it, and off I went. I had no plans to sing, or anything like that, it was just hanging with my cousin, try my luck at a few casinos, etc... Typical Vegas trip.

My cousin, John, and his wife and two other couples were going to catch this Old School concert for Valentine's weekend. I didn't want to be the 5th wheel, so I stayed and visited while they went out, with a promise to meet them later for drinks at one of the casino bars. At around 11:30pm, he called me saying they were headed for the bar, to come and join them. I told him I'd be there in ten minutes.

After he called me, he went to the bar and there, sitting and chillin' out, was the group Tierra. This was one of the groups he had just seen in concert, along with Rose Royce, The Delfonics, Denise Williams and others. So, as my cousin usually does, he walked up to them and told them what a great job they did, and that his cousin (my brother) owns a club in San Luis Obispo county, and if they were interested in performing in that area he could get them in contact with each other, etc... Typical Johnny stuff! They thought it was a good idea, and Rudy Salas, the leader of the group, gave him his contact info for setting up dates. John then said to him, “Oh, my cousin, the brother of the one who owns the bar, is on his way over here and he’s got a great voice, you should hear him sing”. I’m sure they all rolled their eyes as, I’m sure they’ve all heard this before… a million times before.

I had no idea this conversation was even taking place when I saw my cousin at the Alligator Bar in the Orleans Casino. I walked up to Johnny and greeted him with a hug. He said, “Thomas, this is Tierra”. And there they were, chillin’ at the bar! I shook their hands and said something like, “Wow”. Pretty deep huh? Then he said something like, “Oh, this is the one I was telling you about with the good voice, bust a song out cuz!” I looked at him like he was crazy, “You want me to sing right here, in the middle of a casino, at this bar with everyone walking and standing around?” He said yeah, and then so did someone from the group, so I obliged. I sang Who’s Loving You, a very soulful song made famous by Smokey Robinson, and then even more famous by the Jackson5. I noticed while I was singing that they started smiling and giving each other these ‘knowing glances’. After I was done, they came up to me and told me what a great voice I had, and how nice that was. I said, “Oh, I know this one too”, and starting singing the beginning of their hit song, Together. When I got to the chorus, they started singing their harmonies! I actually got goose bumps on my arms when that happened! I’m not exaggerating when I say it sounded incredible and magical – I felt it, and they did too!

After more congrats and a comment by Rudy, who told me “You have this great quality and control to your voice”, and after noticing that one of the wives of one of the band members was video recording me, Rudy said, “Actually, we are looking for a new lead singer because our current guy is getting ready to do something else with a side project he’s been working on, and we’re going to need someone else to do these tours with”. I wondered, what the hell? (I started looking around for Ashton to see if this was some elaborate episode of ‘Punk’d” or – for you older peeps – Allen Funt from Candid Camera!).

I’m thinking in my head, why are they telling me this?

We’d love to have you with us, what a great singer… yadda yadda yadda – on and on. More questions like, where do you live, what do you do for a living, how long have you been singing, how do you keep your voice in shape? We talked for a while, and I told them about me, shows I do, karaoke, etc… and then, after more requests for another song, broke into a Stevie Wonder song where they again joined me for harmonies… it was very cool!

After all the pleasantries were exchanged, as well as my phone number where they could contact me, they started taking pictures of me, group shots with them around me, etc. Isn’t this usually the other way around? They suggested that I get their “Tierra Live” cd and check it out for the way they perform the songs, as it’s still what they do on tour. I told them okay, cool and went to the bar for another beer. Rudy’s wife was sitting there and told me, “That was a good audition”. I said, “Is that what that was? An audition?” She said, “Yeah, and you were fantastic – we’ll be calling you.”

Now my head was spinning. I was on cloud nine. Did that just happen?

Eventually, we said our goodbye’s with promises of them calling me, and off we went to eat and party – and, I guess to celebrate what had just happened. But what had just happened?

The next day, on my way home, I tuned my phone’s Pandora app to a Tierra station, and started listening to what they do. I sang along with the music pretty much all the way home still not knowing what all of this meant, if it meant anything at all.

My cousin called later to tell me he had talked to Rudy, and there was some talk of me, again him being pleased with my voice and he’ll be calling me. I was excited at the prospect of singing with these guys who I had listened to as a teenager!

Yesterday, I spoke with Rudy Salas. He said that while his lead singer isn’t actually leaving the group, he is doing stuff where he won’t be able to be at all of their shows, and would I be interested in being the substitute they call when these types of things happen. I told him, well… let me give you my availability. I’m available for whenever you need me! He said he liked my attitude, and that he’ll be calling me for a rehearsal time in Los Angeles. He also mentioned that they have some dates they might need me at already.

So, what does this really mean? Here’s what it boils down to:

■I am, or will be, officially the new lead singer for Tierra (on call). I guess I’m a substitute lead singer!

■I will be singing lead for a group that has been around for almost forty years.

■I will be singing lead for a group that had a huge hit song in 1980 that was in the top ten on the Billboard R&B chart. http://en.wikipedia.org/w...rra_(group)

■I will be traveling around on tour with a band that has a huge fan base.

■I will be doing what I love to do… for a living!

Is it being in a band called Santana or Aerosmith? No. I’m aware of that.

I know this is not going to put me on MTV or in the pages of Rolling Stone, but it is more than I’ve accomplished this far in my life with music involved. The idea or the fact that I will be doing this with a group that a vast majority of my friends and family are even aware of, or even the occasional stranger that you can walk up to and say, “Hey, have you heard of a group called Tierra?” and half the time they will say, “Yeah, they had that hit song, Together.” Well, that’s enough for me!

It’s me doing what I’ve always wanted to do. It’s me singing on the road to a crowd.

My job is cool to work with me around this schedule. My kids are cool with this, and my son Andres said, “That’s cool dad! I get to tell my friends that you’re the lead singer for Tierra!” I told him it won’t impress his friends, but their parents might be!

Final thoughts – again, this is a dream come true for me. I’ve always dreamed of doing this, and I will jump into this with both feet planted firmly on the ground (or on this cloud I’m currently riding!). For me it’s an opportunity that I’ve been waiting for, and it happened on a whim. I was not running out to an audition to do this. I basically went to Vegas to have a little fun and ended up singing for this band at a bar.

Do you believe in fate? I do. .

That is wonderful news. Bet you still have not climbed down off of cloud 10

I have never heard of Tierra or I may have..... Guess they are more well known in USA.....

If you do get to record in the studio with them.......... you better send me a cd

For those who haven't heard of them. Their picture is quickly shown in the first few seconds of this video - then it goes all lame with the lovey dovey pics. A fan of theirs made it, so... Anyway, check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/wa...Y3iVdWjXpk

Great story & congrats. My Mom was always a big fan of Tierra (heard their music quite a bit). Rudy always seemed like cool peeps.

Awesome, man. Congratulations! As a Latino I remember Tierra alot growing up in the early 80's. I love the song "Together". It was played at most weddings I went to as a youngster and when I hear it it still brings back wonderful memories.