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Singer Marysue Proveaux uses entire body to convey emotion behind music | StarNewsOnline.com
This past New Year's Eve, Wilmington singer/songwriter Marysue Proveaux performed with The Avett Brothers at the Asheville Civic Center. She did not, however, sing or play her guitar.
Instead, Proveaux interpreted Avett Brothers songs in American Sign Language for deaf people at the concert.
Her interpretation goes far beyond the mechanics of sign language; she uses her whole body to convey the strumming of the guitars and the emotions behind the songs.
As one concert-goer commented on a YouTube video post of the performance: “I like the way you move to the music and your emotion you put in it. I can feel the words.”
“Awesome” is how Proveaux describes interpreting for The Avett Brothers.
“It's a mixture of music and signing,” she said. “That's what I want to do with the rest of my life. I love it.”
Proveaux learned both music and sign language as a child.
“My dad is from Georgia and played in a band; I got my music from him,” she said. “My half-brother (her parents divorced when she was 2 and her father remarried) was born with a severe neuromuscular disease and was deaf and blind within six months. (He later died.) I was never able to communicate with him, but I had friends who were deaf and I learned sign language from them. I think it was my way of feeling better about my brother.”
Proveaux, 44, grew up in New Jersey and has been on stage since she was 5 years old, she said.
“I was a singer in my first garage band when I was 11,” she said.
After living and playing in Florida for a few years in her early 20s, Pro-veaux decided “that I wanted to do music full time.”
She started to write music and began traveling to Nashville, where she came under the guidance of Mary Matthews, a music promoter and manager.
“Mary introduced me to musicians, songwriters and producers, and I began to write and record my songs,” Proveaux said.
“I believe in her gifts,” Matthews said. “She's a very talented singer and songwriter. Her skills at music and signing are an intimate byproduct of her journey as a person, musician and (sign language) interpreter. She is very compassionate and considerate, and that comes across in both her singing and in her signing.”
In 2003, Proveaux recorded a CD titled “Wishing on a Satellite.”
One of the songs on the CD, “Coming Up for Air,” garnered her an award in a Billboard Magazine songwriting contest.
It's difficult to pigeon-hole her music.
She's obviously country, but you can also hear rock, pop, and rhythm and blues in her recordings and live performances.
“I have very eclectic tastes in music,” she says. “I like Stevie Wonder, Miley Cyrus and Patsy Kline almost equally.”
In 2003, Proveaux enrolled at a local community college in New Jersey and took a course in interpreting American Sign Language, which she completed in 2006.
She and her husband decided to move to Wilmington, which is the home of one of her closest friends.
“I called local schools
and asked if they needed sign language interpreters, and they said, ‘Come on down.' ”
She has taught American Sign Language at Brunswick Community College and currently is an interpreter for deaf students at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and also attends school there.
She will graduate from UNCW this summer with a degree in English literature.
This past New Year's Eve, Wilmington singer/songwriter Marysue Proveaux performed with The Avett Brothers at the Asheville Civic Center. She did not, however, sing or play her guitar.
Instead, Proveaux interpreted Avett Brothers songs in American Sign Language for deaf people at the concert.
Her interpretation goes far beyond the mechanics of sign language; she uses her whole body to convey the strumming of the guitars and the emotions behind the songs.
As one concert-goer commented on a YouTube video post of the performance: “I like the way you move to the music and your emotion you put in it. I can feel the words.”
“Awesome” is how Proveaux describes interpreting for The Avett Brothers.
“It's a mixture of music and signing,” she said. “That's what I want to do with the rest of my life. I love it.”
Proveaux learned both music and sign language as a child.
“My dad is from Georgia and played in a band; I got my music from him,” she said. “My half-brother (her parents divorced when she was 2 and her father remarried) was born with a severe neuromuscular disease and was deaf and blind within six months. (He later died.) I was never able to communicate with him, but I had friends who were deaf and I learned sign language from them. I think it was my way of feeling better about my brother.”
Proveaux, 44, grew up in New Jersey and has been on stage since she was 5 years old, she said.
“I was a singer in my first garage band when I was 11,” she said.
After living and playing in Florida for a few years in her early 20s, Pro-veaux decided “that I wanted to do music full time.”
She started to write music and began traveling to Nashville, where she came under the guidance of Mary Matthews, a music promoter and manager.
“Mary introduced me to musicians, songwriters and producers, and I began to write and record my songs,” Proveaux said.
“I believe in her gifts,” Matthews said. “She's a very talented singer and songwriter. Her skills at music and signing are an intimate byproduct of her journey as a person, musician and (sign language) interpreter. She is very compassionate and considerate, and that comes across in both her singing and in her signing.”
In 2003, Proveaux recorded a CD titled “Wishing on a Satellite.”
One of the songs on the CD, “Coming Up for Air,” garnered her an award in a Billboard Magazine songwriting contest.
It's difficult to pigeon-hole her music.
She's obviously country, but you can also hear rock, pop, and rhythm and blues in her recordings and live performances.
“I have very eclectic tastes in music,” she says. “I like Stevie Wonder, Miley Cyrus and Patsy Kline almost equally.”
In 2003, Proveaux enrolled at a local community college in New Jersey and took a course in interpreting American Sign Language, which she completed in 2006.
She and her husband decided to move to Wilmington, which is the home of one of her closest friends.
“I called local schools
and asked if they needed sign language interpreters, and they said, ‘Come on down.' ”
She has taught American Sign Language at Brunswick Community College and currently is an interpreter for deaf students at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and also attends school there.
She will graduate from UNCW this summer with a degree in English literature.