One of those things about the Internet -- as lovely and as useful as it has become for day-to-day life -- is that all that electronic information and ease of publishing makes it nearly impossible to keep down embarrassing secrets from the past... like my brief stint in the 1990s with a show choir named the Keynotes. Apparently, some Hollywood reporter dug up some photographs and newspaper articles from back in the day and started trolling around on the internet to research and update the story of the Keynotes. Consequently, just today I've been informed that Entertainment Weekly is going to be publishing a piece about the history of show choirs in the state of Ohio -- presumably cashing in on the popularity of the current television series, "Glee" (the story of a high school show choir in Lima, Ohio) -- and this particular piece is going to include a side-bar story about the Mansfield Keynotes and (you guessed it) its lead singer, yours truly...

April 20th will be the date of publication, from what I understand, when the story should be getting posted on EW's on-line edition. The timing, of course, is coordinated to highlight the end of Glee's second season and the beginning of the Midwest Regional Show Choir Competition, which happens every year in early May. As outlandish as the TV show can be, it's actually based on reality. Part of me is flattered by this attention to my "fifteen minutes of fame" back in the 1990s -- but honestly, most of me is embarrassed. It feels a bit like being forced to walk through Amsterdam's Centraal Station, wearing nothing but a sequined Speedo swimsuit over my midsection and a coordinated bowtie around my neck. So why am I scooping the story here on my own website? Well, the way I figure it, it's better to be open about it and laugh about it -- rather than trying to hide it -- since these things always find a way to worm themselves to the surface, one way or another. And if I can start by setting the record straight here on my own website, it can help to prevent misinformation and magnification of the embarrassing elements of my background in music and performance. Yes, I was in a number of different youth choirs -- including the Keynotes -- growing up. Yes, we did choreography and "golden oldies" from the previous generation's pop culture ouevre (like Glee's New Directions sings soft rock from the 1980s and 1990s, part of our schtick was that we dressed up in 1950s regalia and sang doo-wop tunes to adoring audiences across the Midwest). But that's seriously about the extent of it.

"Frog in a Kettle," for instance, was not the dark and twisted chapter of "my musical career" that so many make it out to be. I wouldn't be at all surprised if this upcoming story is going to rehash a bunch of the old press garbage which said I was merely an opportunist -- riding the wave of the Keynotes so that I could get my own role in a Broadway musical (short as its run may have been), even though the Keynotes kind of fell apart after that experience. This is perhaps a story for another time, but I'll just start by saying that the producers of "Frog in a Kettle" sought me out, not the other way around -- and I even did my best to lobby for the inclusion of other members of the Keynotes. But anyway, that's neither here nor there... I loved my years with the Keynotes, and I'm also proud that I had the opportunity to star on Broadway for a brief season of my life. But I'm also happy to leave those experiences in the past and not get caught up in reunion tours or anything silly like that. It's not a lack of willingness to associate with the other guys from the Keynotes. It's just moving on.

Up until now, I've kept quiet about this chapter of my life because of the hurt feelings, the conspiracy theories, and -- honestly more than anything -- the general social stigma against show choirs and glee clubs (though I've been happy to see public perceptions changing, through recent phenomena of pop culture like Glee and Clash of the Choirs). I confess that I've tried to keep this dustbunny of a history swept under the rug. But if it's going to come out now, I might as well own it, right?

Your laughter and disbelief are to be expected. I deserve it, even, so bring it on. I've probably had it coming, ever since I blew the cover on my friend Todd's experience as a classically-trained tap-dancer. And I've grown up enough through the years that I can now laugh at myself, as is necessary for getting through embarrassments from the past like this.

But don't forget that you've probably got embarrassing secrets from your past, too. As the news of this stuff from the past starts leaking out, feel free to laugh and smile and even rib me about it a little bit. But be nice, please. And if any of my old friends or family members have any video footage from those early Keynotes performances, please be so kind as to burn them and not allow their transmission into the world of YouTube! :-)