Songwriter, filmmaker and actor Adlai Yambao says that he wants to be known for something. What that “thing” is, he’s still figuring it out.
You may recognize him from the Stephen Sanchez concert from the Alaska State Fair in 2024, where Yambao was brought on stage to perform his own song. Yambao made and brought a sign with him to the concert, which read, ‘Can I sing with you?’
“It was such a cool opportunity, and I completely blacked out,” he said. “I know for a fact that I was kind of about to cry a little bit. I never sang in front of an audience that big before.”
He performed his original song, “Amy,” inspired by Amy Winehouse and a dream he had about her. Yambao is a major fan and says Winehouse came to his home in a dream, and listened to him sing her song, “Tears Dry On Their Own.” In the dream, he recalls Winehouse wearing a red sweater; in the song Yambao wrote, he sings, “you are wearing red like a rose.”
Yambao says he likes to sing jazz, as well as soul and rock, but mainly songs and artists that leave him with a feeling. He’s inspired by artists like Amy Winehouse, Michael Bublé and Frank Sinatra.
Growing up, Yambao’s mother put him in voice lessons from Mitchell “Big Mitch” Tubman — a radio personality who was also a voice coach and mentor for several American Idol contests. Tubman passed away in 2014 when Yambao was still taking lessons.
“There was this one time I remember singing to [Big Mitch], and I had this shirt on that said, ‘I am the bomb,’” Yambao said. “I wore that shirt to my voice lesson one day, and I remember coming in and he said, ‘What does that shirt say?’ And I said, ‘Oh, it says that I’m the bomb.’ And he looked at me closely and he said, ‘You are the bomb.’”
Yambao says he recently wrote a letter to Tubman, thanking him for taking the time to teach him and for apologizing for not being the best student.
“I wrote down, ‘Your advice for singing still sticks with me to this day,’” Yambao said.
Sam Davenport is a writer residing in Anchorage. She's a leo and a plant-person, and loves spending quality time with her dog, Aspen. She is a Real Housewives fan and has been called a Bravo historian.
