His life is good, so Avant guard is down

Myron Avant, a multiplatinum R&B singer, will perform Saturday in the “Love & Laughter Tour” Part 1 at the Orpheum Theater in Omaha.

Avant is known for Billboard hits “Separated,” “My First Love,” “Read Your Mind” and “Karma,” a song he redid with rapper Lloyd Banks.

Avant called us from his Cleveland home last week to talk about his acting and music careers. Here’s what he had to say:

Q. How’s it going?

A. I’m about to start working on a new album. I just finished up a play, called “Love of War,” with a wonderful cast. I’m going on tour July 20. So it’s kind of busy. Right now, I’m taking time off for my son.

Q. How old is your son?

A. He’s 6.

Q. I didn’t know you had a son.

A. Yeah, I try to be the best father that I can. I’m gone most of the time so when I come home, I feel like I’m playing catch-up. My whole perception on life has changed.

Q. How’s life in Ohio?

A. It’s good. I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. I started working here at a package company called No Problem Packing. But it was definitely a problem. I didn’t want to be doing that all my life. So I talked to a manager from Chicago, who asked me to try my music thing there. So I tried my hand at music, and it’s been a blessing.

Q. Musically, who did you take after?

A. My uncle. I remember being 5 and listening to his singing group. He would always tell me that I had a beautiful voice. He really drove me to pursue music. Oh, just being around him and watching him step.

Q. Was he with a vintage R&B act?

A. Yeah, it was like five of them, a group similar to the Temptations. It was amazing. They were known around the neighborhood for their performances. He just couldn’t shake the local Ohio thing. At the time, there were lots of groups in the area like the Levert Family and the O’Jays.

Q. Any other music influences?

A. My mother had me listen to music — guys like Smokey Robinson and Sam Cooke. I always looked at music as a hobby. I never thought it would be a career.

Q. Did you study music formally?

A. After high school, I attended the Cleveland School of Arts. But I didn’t study music there. I studied drama. I wanted to be an entertainer and act the part.

Q. Tell me about the play “Love of War.”

A. It was very interesting. It’s a different kind of acting. I did a little spot on “One on One,” a (UPN) TV show. When we messed up, it was, like, “Cut! OK, second take ... third take ... 14th take.” When you’re on stage, you can’t cut. You have to bring the energy all of the time. People paid their money and expect it to be right. It’s just like singing, although it’s easier for me to do my music on stage because people know the lines. They have to believe in the character.

Q. Any other notables in that play?

A. Karen Malina White (“The Cosby Show”), Carl Payne (“Martin”), Miguel Núñez Jr. (“Juwanna Mann”) and Khalil Kain (“Girlfriends”). We all came together as one family.

Q. How was the play, Mr. R&B guy?

A. Totally different. It was hard because I didn’t want to be intimidated by all of the actors. But they made it cool. I also didn’t want people to come to the show and say “Oh, he does a great job singing but a horrible job of acting.”

Q. What do you think of comedians or rappers who turn actors?

A. It’s truly a blessing. Look at Jamie Foxx. He always had a wonderful voice, but he wasn’t accepted in the early stages of his career for it. So he took a different route. I always tell people “Sometimes you have to take a different route in order to get to where you want to be.”

Jamie loves music, but he made more money telling jokes and acting. He always wanted to come back to his first love, singing. So you’ve got to love his whole vibe and hunger for music.

Q. And rappers?

A. Well, we are poets. We’re living a dream every day. We have to come up with something different to say every time we drop a new album.

Q. What kind of moment were you in when you penned “Separated”?

A. I was in a relationship when I wrote the song. I wrote it to be a poem. You look for different ways to express yourself when your heart is broken. I was really hurting. So I decided to write my emotions down.

My manager at the time told me I needed to make it into a song. I was young then and didn’t think people wanted to hear about my growing pains. But when I released the record I was, like, “Wow” ... I didn’t realize it was at the pulp of how people were feeling. So many people thanked me for making real music.

Q. How does your ex feel about it?

A. I don’t know, but I thank her. Hopefully, she’ll read this and know I appreciate everything she did. She made me a better person.

Contact the writer:

444-1075, j.loza@owh.com