Once a Trucker, Now a World-Class Opera Singer

Posted on January 1, 2008. Filed under: Music |

Watch Carl Tanner’s interview at YouTube.com.
View Carl Tanner’s website.
Hear Carl Tanner singing “O Holy Night” on the Today show.
Newest CD: “Hear the Angel Voices”

My friends Bruce and Kyoko invited me along to a New Year’s party at Carl Tanner’s house.

Carl Tanner has had an interesting life. He grew up in our northern Virginia area. Carl studied voice at the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music in Winchester, Virginia.

After obtaining his degree, Carl Tanner went to trucking school. He then drove an eighteen-wheeler for about seven years.

Carl also moonlighted as a bounty hunter, tracking down people who jump bail. It’s not a very safe job since the fugitives eluding the courts often carry weapons. A bullet just missed Carl Tanner toward the end of that career and he knew his “number was coming.”

One of the stories I like the best about Carl Tanner is that he was singing opera while driving a big-rig truck on Interstate 95 one day and a woman in a nearby convertible told him that he had missed his calling.

The other story I really like about Carl is that his parents never got to see him perform as they both passed away before he really “made it.” So he always buys two seats for his parents at each performance. Knowing that made me like Carl before I even met him.

My friend Bruce went to school with Carl. Quite a few of the people at the party were from Carl and Bruce’s high school days. According to Wikipedia, Warren Beatty, Sandra Bullock, Shirley Maclaine, Gena Rowlands and Forrest Tucker also went to Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, VA.

It was a very nice party filled with very warm people. The best part of the evening was when Carl and several of his stage friends sang opera and songs from musicals. Hearing such rich voices is a pure joy.