We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Peggy Lohr a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Peggy, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.
My optimism absolutely came from my sweet, funny mom! Her name was Felice ( which means happiness!) and she always loved that and lived that. She was a Pollyanna, always seeing the glass half full. It wasn’t that she had an easy life. She grew up during The Great Depression. It’s that she always appreciated what she had and found humor in every day things. She was always my hero!
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’ve been a professional singer for over 50 years. I loved singing as a child growing up in Dallas. In college I joined show choirs. After college, I began following my dreams and eventually went to Hollywood. I wrote all about my fabulous singing life in my memoir Howdy Hollywood that was published on Amazon in 2023. Since then, I’ve performed my Howdy Hollywood show with my pianist husband Bill over 50 times. I’ve been thrilled to see the success of my book and how much joy my stories bring to my audiences. Currently I perform occasionally with my husband’s trio at a darling wine bar in Dallas named Stoney’s Wine Lounge. We also do lots of cabaret type shows for various senior communities around Dallas. They are truly the sweetest audiences! We have a show for every season, every decade and every holiday! We will be at Stoney’s on December 19th from 8-10pm with our holiday jazz show and at The Sammons Center for the Arts on March 19th with my “ History of Broadway Show” as a part of their spring cabaret series. I feel so lucky every day to still be able to perform at all these great venues!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The first thing that comes to mind is that I’ve never met a stranger. It always helped me in my long career to be able to easily talk to people. As I think back, so many wonderful things happened to me in my career from just starting a friendly conversation with a stranger that led to big things.
The second thing was that I was able to work all the time because my skills were diverse. I could read music and do studio sessions. I knew jazz tunes, pop tunes, broadway tunes and country tunes, so I was able to perform with different bands at lots of different venues.
The third thing is that I have a pretty easy going personality combined with a strong work ethic. That ( along with some singing talent) helped me get hired continuously. Being dependable and agreeable in this business is everything!
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
The number one obstacle for me right now is my age and strength related things because of it. I still feel like I have a lot to offer but know that I don’t look 30 any more. I can still sing well and give a great performance… and I can usually still bring a big audience. If I can get the client to hear us in person and especially appreciate the music , I’m confident of success. I’d really love to find a little jazz club north of Dallas, and I’d love to book more private parties. I also wish Dallasites would start a house party performances kinda thing.
Like everyone else in the world, my New Years Resolution is to work out more and stay healthy!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lohrmusic.com
- Instagram: Howdy Hollywood
- Facebook: Bill and Peggy Lohr Music
- Youtube: Bill Lohr channel
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