At least that's what Steve Sowden, one of the newer members in the group, says.
The singers from Australia spend 10 months on the road per year. Sowden said that can be intense.
"I've got no wife at home, no children, so I feel like I can do this," he said. "I saved myself some pocket money, so I can see a bit of the world."
The Ten Tenors will perform tonight in Greeley, Colo., at the Union Colony Civic Center, and Saturday they will be at the Cheyenne Civic Center.
"The Ten Tenors have been together over 12 years now," Sowden said. "The original members met at university together. They needed beer money for the weekends, so they did corporate gigs, and they sang at restaurants.
"People seemed to like it. They got a group together and did their first full tour in Australia."
When you think of tenors, classical music comes to mind. And that is part of the Ten Tenors' set list. But they also like to mix it up.
"The tradition since we began is to (do that)," Sowden said.
The group also performs songs by Queen, Simon and Garfunkel and the Bee Gees.
And depending on the concert's location, they may throw in an extra song or two. In Germany, they sang German songs as encores.
Sowden said the German audiences loved it.
"They didn't know (the songs) were coming, so it was fun to see the reactions," he said. "We change the show slightly, depending on where we are. In America, we'll sing a Simon and Garfunkel song. American crowds enjoy that."
The Ten Tenors have gotten used to their busy touring schedules through the years. They do 150 shows annually.
"It does get wearing, living out of a suitcase. But that's our life," Sowden said. "It's what we do, so we deal with it.
"We get to see amazing cities. I know we've been in a lot more American towns than a few Americans have. We're lucky to see so many beautiful places."
This is Sowden's first U.S. tour with the group.
But the travel is a double-edged sword. When a member gets married or wants to focus on or start a family, he usually leaves the group.
"A couple of years ago, a member got married, and I auditioned and snagged a spot," Sowden said.
He added that David Kidd, who left the Ten Tenors at end of last year, had been touring since 1998. It was just time for Kidd to move on, Sowden said.
Keeping all of that travel in mind, the tenors have to take extra care with their voices. They don't do a lot of rehearsing while on the road.
"We rest our voices for the show when we're doing six, seven or eight shows a week," he said. "We want to rest up for (those)."
Occasionally a tenor will get a night off and can watch the show.
"We are the Ten Tenors, but we carry a spare in case someone breaks a leg or misses a flight. So occasionally you get a night off," Sowden said. "If you miss a show, you write notes and help the guys out. But there's not a lot of strict rehearsal time."
Their voices are their tools.
"It's how we earn our living," he said. "We have to get enough sleep, don't drink too much Budweiser and take it easy.
"When we're doing eight shows a week, we can't stay up all hours of the night and party too hard. We have to be sure that we're singing with the proper technique, that we're being sensible and we're looking out for ourselves physically."
When the group has time off, Sowden said, members want to spend time at home with their families and loved ones.
The Ten Tenors have had some interesting travel experiences. They are hoping their boss will let them have a day off to ski in Colorado.
"We've been to some pretty amazing places," Sowden said. "Last year we took in South Africa. It was beautiful and was different than anything that I've ever seen.
"We've been to Paris and Rome, and that was amazing. We sang in the middle of the desert for the King of Jordan. It was bizarre, and we got rained on."
Ten Tenors in Cheyenne
When: March, 1, 7:30 p.m.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m., auditorium opens at 7 p.m.
Where: Cheyenne Civic Center, 510 W. 20th St.
Tickets: $55, $45 and $37. Call 637-6363 or go to www.cheyenneciviccenter.org.
Source: Wyoming News
