Donald Braswell Has Been Singing Professionally

A lot was made on America’s Got Talent of Donald Braswell not singing professionally for 11 years since tearing a neck muscle. Well, it turns out that he has sung in what could be considered a professional capacity. Below’s the story from My San Antonio:

Incidentally, a couple of people who saw the performance Tuesday said they were confused by the suggestion Braswell hadn’t sung on a stage for 11 years.

After all, he did perform not too long ago in a San Antonio Symphony concert staging of “Camelot.” He’s also part of the local Three Tenors.

To be fair, I did hear him clarify on the show that he hadn’t sung professionally for 11 years. When I spoke with him, he explained further.

“Professional to me is performing for an audience in a professional environment and to be able to earn a living from it, make it your career.”

That hasn’t been the case since his accident. However, he hopes this opportunity in front of a national audience on “Talent” will help him recapture a singing career.

Meantime, he’s already had the chance to distribute a CD he made less than a year ago, called “New Chapter,” to several of the “Today” show personalities, including host/newswoman Ann Curry and weather personality Al Roker.

In case you missed it, Braswell appeared on the third hour of “Today” Tuesday morning. Curry and Roker also seemed impressed by his story and the faith it took to attempt a comeback.

If you’d like to hear selection from his CD and order one, go to Braswell’s MySpace page.

The fact that he sings with some pretty much professional groups in San Antonio cuts into his story a little, but it’s still remarkable what he was able to do. The problem for me isn’t that his story might be fake. It’s that his singing isn’t even the best opera singer on the show. That means he shouldn’t get voted back in. Unfortunately, I think I might be outvoted.