Blakely teacher is just clicks away from national competition.
Everyone has a breaking point.
Finding the point at which the voice “breaks” when moving from high notes to low is the way yodel mavens like Blakely Elementary School music teacher Jeremy Rothbaum produce the elusive vocal flip.
Rothbaum has mastered the knack so well he was a semifinalist in a yodeling contest held Aug. 28.
An online vote will determine which of three Seattle semifinalists – culled from the more than 40 entrants who yodeled last week in an open competition at Westlake Mall – goes on to the national round in New York City.
“The contest is kind of silly but it’s a lot of fun,” Rothbaum said. “Actually, I’d love to go to New York because my daughter, Liberty, wants to see her namesake, the Statue of Liberty.”
Seattle was one of eight U.S. cities where Yahoo! Yodel Challenge contests were sponsored by the web service company to benefit the Boys and Girls Club.
As a seminfinalist, Rothbaum received a $500 prize.
But to get a shot at the $10,000 first prize and the chance to star in a Yahoo TV commercial, he needs to get Bainbridge Islanders onto the Yahoo Yodel web site by Sept. 14 to cast a vote.
Rogers at heart
Rothbaum first became interested in yodeling as a high school senior listening to Hank Williams and Jimmie Rogers’ recordings in the mid-1970s.
“I liked the sound of it,” he said, “and the feel.”
Practicing by the side of the road, Rothbaum developed his own style, a sound he characterizes as “high, bubbly and sweet.”
Although the tradition of Alpine yodeling developed as a way for sheep and goat herders to communicate, Rothbaum says he likes to yodel alone while driving.
“The trick is to do it in tune, though,” he said.
Although he favors the blues yodel that most often consists of a simple “flip” at the end of a musical phrase, Rothbaum chose to perform the showier “cowboy yodel” for the contest.
He saw notice of the contest the day before the event and swiftly brushed up his act.
Like the other contestants, Rothbaum gave the “Yahoo yodel” featured in the company’s TV commercials and did a minute of “freestyle” based on early country musician Slim Whitman’s yodeling.
But Rothbaum also staged his song with a prop that won him points for the “star presence and style” that, besides vocal ability, were also criteria.
“My big gimmick was twirling a lariat,” he said. “That separated me from the pack.”
Rothbaum says was surprised by how many good yodelers turned up at Westlake Mall. And, after listening to online sound clips from other cities’ contestants, he is convinced that Seattle yodelers out-perform the others.
Being tapped for the first round of the contest has already changed his life, Rothbaum says.
“It sort of came out of nowhere,” he said, “and now my life is a little crazy, because for the last two weeks I’ve been mobilizing friends and family trying to win votes.
Like any candidate, Rothbaum has crafted a stump speech to win over the voting public:
“I’m a longtime yodeling booster,” he writes. “I’m outgoing and fearless and the 450 kids I teach would love it.”
* * * * *
Hear the Yahoo! yodel contest clips online and cast a vote for island yodeler Jeremy Rothbaum at promotions.yahoo.com/yodel. Deadline to vote is Sept. 14. Information: 842-3441.
