Barb Lyon
Voice Artist

If the client doesn’t connect with the shortlist, nobody blames the talent. They question the person who picked them. Tuesday morning, or really any morning...You open your inbox and there they are. A few hundred voice over auditions for one project, a deadline that was yesterday, and a client waiting to hear who you recommend. Somewhere in that pile is the right voice. Your job is to find it, then narrow everything down to the handful you’ll actually present.

After taking Labor Day weekend off it was a little hard to get back in the groove. Tuesday morning came, I sat in my booth and felt thoroughly unmotivated. So I did what I sometimes do before I hit record: I went surfing around, listening to other people's demos looking for a little inspiration. I pulled up Talent A first. Big name. Touted as a high-booking pro. An expert people turn to. I listened through a few clips and thought, huh. I wasn't feeling it. Not bad, just...

I enjoy art. Not like a collector or anything, but I do appreciate it. I was one credit away from an art minor in college. Personally, I gravitate to the California Impressionists. They make me think of a time when the country was unspoiled, when you might gaze across a vista and see a herd of elk drinking at a stream. I get lost in those paintings.