At my wedding, my baby brother was Michael’s best man. I remember when Michael told me he was going to ask Corey to fill that role and I got all teary. Corey and Michael have been buds since Corey was a little guy. Corey looked great standing beside Michael at the front of the church and I’ll never forget how special it was to have my sister as my maid of honor and my little brother as the best man… the only member of our family that wasn’t standing at the altar was my poor momma because my dad officiated our ceremony!! :) We had an AWESOME wedding day and Corey had fun but he was stressed the whole time
because he knew that being the best man meant that there was an impending toast lurking in the distance. Corey has shared with us on multiple occasions that he loved our wedding but that he spent the majority of the day worrying about speaking in front of 400+ people! I feel him on that one…. that’s A LOT of people to get in front of when you’re not the loudest, most outgoing member of the family!!
I’ve always been the most outgoing sibling… Emily is ACTUALLY the LOUDEST when it comes to shear vocal volume and Corey is the quietest. After knowing that about the three of us, it would make sense that when I was little, was the child who would stand on stumps at parks and sing for whoever would pass by and listen to me…. I was one of those kids. I quickly started singing in Church and then at school and everyone knew that I loved to SING at an early age. I was the “singer” in the family….. until recently.
I think everyone has a hidden talent to some degree… but Corey REALLY has a hidden talent. My immediate family has known for a LONG time that this boy can SING!! How do we know? Because he BELTS it out in the shower… but as soon as he hears the floor creak because we’re all trying to listen through the door… he stops. Emily and I have tried to record him secretly… we’ve tried to coax him into singing with us on road trips… we’ve even threatened him with the whole “You have a GIFT!! And you need to SHARE IT!!”… but nothing ever worked!! He just doesn’t like to sing in front of people… and that’s ok:)
So as we were planning Joe and Emy’s big day, I jokingly mentioned to Corey that he should sing. After thinking about it for about .5 seconds… he said no. I wasn’t shocked buy that response… but then I had an idea… what if we RECORDED him singing?! What if Corey and I sang a song for Joe and Emily’s wedding day and just played the recording?! Much to my surprise… Corey AGREED!!!! So two months ago… in the midst of our crazy wedding schedule and Corey’s strict class schedule, we made time to have our song recorded. One of our sweet friends from church was available to record us and I’m SO thankful for his time and hard work! Clint, we owe ya friend!! (Ps. If you need something recorded… he’s the man for the job! :)
So Corey and I sang together for the first time EVER…. and the recording played while Joe and Emy danced their first dance together as husband and wife. Not only was this a special wedding moment.. but it was such a cool moment for our family because now the secret it OUT!!! I’m not the only songbird in the James clan!! Corey has a BEAUTIFUL voice… and I’m just so so proud of him! I’m been sharing this with everyone because I’m just so excited that we made it happen!!!
Now, I’m a bit of a perfectionist… and any musically inclined individual will hear this and immediately know that I’m flat in 3 parts… it’s not perfect… but it’s perfect to me. Why? Because I’m singing with my little brother and I’ve been wanting to do this for YEARS!!! So while I hate sharing stuff that isn’t 100% my best, I really want to share Corey’s voice and so I’m making an exception this time! :)
Corey, this was such an amazing thing for you to do…. I know it’s outside of your comfort zone (and I’m about to make it worse by sharing it to the masses but oh well!!:). I love that you did it for Emy anyway and we both know that it meant the world to her. Thanks for singing with me:)… and thanks for finally showing the world what you can do!! For a kid who has never EVER sang in front of anyone…. has NEVER recorded himself … and has NO training whatsoever…. this sounds pretty AWESOME!!!
Enjoy our little rendition of All of Me By: John Legend:)
Click Here to Listen!
Thanks for reading!
— Katelyn
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