Jenni Moore by Jenni Moore Based in Portland, singer, artist, and America’s Got Talent star Jimmie Herrod makes his living performing solo shows, regularly appearing as a featured vocalist with Pink Martini on tour, and leading co llaborative performances like his upcoming pair of shows with the Oregon Symphony.   Led by Oregon Symphony's Principal Pops Conductor—the conductor responsible for an orchestra’s pop music programming—Jeff Tyzik, DIVAS: Jimmie Herrod Salutes Jazz, plays January 24 and 25 with the Oregon Symphony at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. “I'm excited to sing stuff that people don't think I would sing,” says Herrod via Zoom. “Especially, like, pop stuff. You know, most people know me for singing ‘Tomorrow’ from Annie.”  Known for his vocal control, technical prowess, and impressive renditions of bold song choices showcasing his range—like “Pure Imagination” and “Glitter in the Air”—Herrod says the symphony world is “a really big space for me right now. It's a unique environment because you're kind of always doing a different show,” adding, “and as somebody who just loves music, that's super preferential. I would rather it be different all the time.”  His upcoming performances with the Oregon Symphony are a chance to hear Herrod debut songs he’s yet to sing for an audience. “A lot of people have heard me sing one or two songs a lot, with Pink Martini over the years,” he says. "This is a show of mostly stuff I've never performed. So you are gonna get a standard here or there, but the arrangements are new. You're also going to get something that's kinda Judy Garland-ish; you're gonna get a Janet Jackson cover in this show. You're gonna get a Madonna cover. You're gonna get a Miley Cyrus cover on this show.”  Even before becoming a finalist on America’s Got Talent—getting Sofía Vergara to invoke the golden buzzer after a Herrod’s performance of “Tomorrow,” from Annie, and singing a duet version of “Defying Gravity” with Idina Menzel—Herrod had already been putting in the hours, paying his dues as a working artist right here in the region. Herrod remembers the hustle well, especially after finishing his master's at Portland State University (PSU). “I was teaching, like, one student at the school. I was running around, trying to do little gigs, and I was working the box office at Living Room Theater. You know, trying to do some of everything, just shoestringing it together. And so I'm so aware that, especially with the arts, you just never know,” says Herrod on being grateful to be a full-time working artist.  His latest album, Pretty Is What Changes dropped November 21, and comprises reimagined jazz versions of Stephen Sondheim songs from a handful of musicals–namely, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, Pacific Overtures, Follies, and Sunday in the Park with George. Herrod’s stunning, agile, and dynamic countertenor vocals make these renditions soar, giving them new life. “I came into PSU as a jazz vocal major, and was always aware that there was more I wanted to do outside of just jazz voice.” As he was learning more jazz standards, Herrod says he began to realize “how many of these songs came from musicals and have basically been given a new treatment. A lot of us maybe haven't seen all the shows that these songs are from, but we wouldn't have what're considered ‘jazz standards’ without these musicals.” Inspired by a friend making electronic pop versions of Stephen Sondheim songs, Herrod wanted to do a similar thing. “For me, Sondheim was like this god amongst mortals for musical theater,” he says. “His perspective and his way of writing was really touching to me... I wanted to find a chance to do the same thing, to introduce music to an audience that probably wouldn't listen to it.”  Having joined band in grade school, Herrod began choir in middle school, continuing all through high school, in addition to doing plays and musicals. But, perhaps just as influential was his own household, where Herrod says he and his siblings were encouraged to sing. “My dad also just loves music. And so in my house, just growing up, there was always something playing.”  “When I was in high school, I remember [we were] all sectioned up in choir and my teacher had me in the tenor section. It's kind of a funny thing... I always struggled in that section even though I obviously had a high voice," says Herrod. “I think it actually kinda turned me off from some music, because it was like, I'm struggling to sing along.” “My aunt would say, ‘I remember you singing along to Mariah Carey in the car!’" remembers Herrod. “So I think the characters I gravitated towards were people I could sound like, and who I could actually feel what they were singing. My mom was always like, 'why are you singing up there?' And I'm like, 'because this is what I got.' I'm trying to scrape the bottom, but ain't nothing coming out.” Herrod initially studied jazz and then composition, getting his masters from PSU. “I'm very open minded with music. I see it all as music…. And so now I'm doing a lot with symphonies, hence these shows coming up with the Oregon Symphony. I've gotten to do a number of things with them.” Janet, Miss Jackson if you're nasty. COURTESY OF THE KENNEDY CENTER Now a few years removed from his run on America’s Got Talent (and his appearance on America’s Got Talent: All Stars), this stage of Herrod’s career is more expansive. “I'm trying to release stuff more often. I think most of my career I've been more focused on performance, [though] I've always been really open to anything. You know, you start to get a certain type of call over and over. I think for me, I was doing a lot of jazz gigs, especially when I lived in Seattle. And then that sort of turned into doing a bunch of stuff with musical theater.” Now that Harrod is putting on his own shows, “I can sing whatever I want,” he says. “I’ve always had a naturally high voice, and so I think I've just decided to give myself permission to use the voice I have, not the voice I thought I would have, or that other people thought I would have.”  It’s at this point in our conversation that it becomes apparent Herrod should write a children’s book. “We all have exactly what we have, and that's what makes each of us actually unique,” he continues. “You can use these—alto, tenor, etc.—terms, but there's also just who you are as an individual. And I think, in choosing these songs, there's definitely some of that. It's like, I just like this song. I don't care if it's the hit from the show or not.” For his upcoming shows with the Oregon Symphony, however, he’s not focusing on songs from the album, but rather, it’ll be “a fun show” for Herrod to tackle a unique set of songs that he describes as “stuff I would listen to in the shower that, to some degree, I don't always get to perform. I think people will come away with something like, ‘Oh, this is a very different concert than I thought it was gonna be.’” Jimmie Herrod performs DIVAS: Jimmie Herrod Salutes Jazz with the Oregon Symphony on January 24 and 25. More info and tickets here.  ...read more read less