The Bar's Only Question Is...

  ...will ten people pay to see you play on a weeknight?

You may never be rich or famous, but consider yourself a success if:

1. You are writing original material

2. You can get others interested in playing it

3. You don't have to pay them for the privilege

4. You can get a gig in a bar

5. The bar invites you back and...

6. You're adding fans that aren't your friends to your fb page and...

7. You haven't given up after the age of 28 when everyone's hormones and wallets are telling them, "Enough."

....we played everything too fast, but otherwise, ok. Photos by LC Varella:

The Poet, The Musician, and The Singer

...are three different people. It took me years to understand that they don't necessarily understand each other.

Most commonly, musicians and singers view songwriting as something they can do between exercise workouts.

Sometimes a well-written song is the last thing someone notices in the presentation of an artist. I've played with musicians that don't get me at all.

I've sat through countless horrible modern classical pieces where someone has treated a poem as something that could automatically be "songified" as if they just had to apply some opera scales to it.

However, a good song cuts through. I'm reminded of that old joke:

Little girl asks mommy, "why don't I have a penis like Johnny?" Mom replies, "Honey, as a woman....you'll be able to have a penis anytime you want one." 

A good songwriter can have good musicians anytime they want 'em...