BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Buffalo native Cami Clune has spent the last decade perfecting her performance of the national anthem, a journey that led her to become the official singer for the Buffalo Sabres two years ago.
As the Sabres make history by heading into the playoffs for the first time in nearly 15 years, Clune allowed me to go behind the scenes today to see how she prepares to sing for the energized crowds.
"This isn't even a playoff game yet and there's so much energy, so many fans," Clune said. "I've never seen so much traffic, honestly, it's crazy. It's just really cool. The fans are showing up and it's exciting."
Clune, who also performs at Buffalo Bills games, sings both the American and Canadian national anthems. She began singing the anthem when she was 12 years old.
"I've been doing the anthem since I was like 12," Clune said. "It's kind of one of the first thing that got me singing for bigger audiences."
"Such an honor to perform the national anthem," Clune said.
Before stepping onto the ice, the full-time musician balances her schedule with weekend gigs and teaching at a theater. She handles her own hair and makeup before games and follows a specific warm-up routine.
"I'm a full-time musician," Clune said. "I gig out on the weekends, sometimes I also teach at a theater, and I just kind of do my makeup and hair and do my, practices before and start the game."
"I do have some warm-ups that I do, some vocal warm-ups usually I just use a YouTube video that I've used for a long time, and I just kind of run through the anthem a few times," Clune said. "I usually do it once in the car, once in the bathroom when I get here, and then I like hum it a bunch before I go on."
Clune said singing the anthem is mostly muscle memory at this point, and she prefers to keep her version traditional to honor the country and its framers.
"I like to keep my rendition pretty close to the original because I like it to be, respectful and yeah, so I do add a couple little things here and there, but it's really mostly just muscle memory at this point," Clune said.
The former "The Voice" contestant said she feels incredible support from her hometown.
"It's just so incredible," Clune said. "I mean, Buffalo is my hometown, and to be able to kind of represent all of us is really, really cool to start the game. The city has always been so supportive of me, whether it was when I was on The Voice, through my gigs and my original music."
In addition to her anthem performances, Clune creates original music available on streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
