Sorry Joseph don't mean to go after you . You Play real good. I just dont like Lains politics from across the pond. [He's a good player also]
I don't get a lot of respect on line either as most pickers are rockers. Maybe they respect my skill level but most musicians don't comment on other musicians music, for the most part. So what? That doesn't mean squat. I play for me. If someone else likes what I do, GREAT!! Just one comment by another musician is reward enough.
I had a ton of offers to play in bands when people heard me play again. But that will never happen, I had quit because I didn't like playing most covers all the time, or the drunks, or most of the places we gigged. It ruined music for me. I had become a guitar slut instead of a musician. That took the love of playing from me and was the reason I quit. So the point is this. What does any of that matter? I see a lot of guys playing clubs that just don't look like they are having that great of a time.
Do you play for the enjoyment of playing or for attention? I am as happy picking up a guitar and amusing myself in my bedroom as I would be on a stage somewhere. Yeah. The "box" says "I play for my own amusement"
Perhaps even happier because I can just get down wif my own bad self and not care about performance. For me, it's freedom not to have to play. Not to have to be somewhere. And not to have haul and set up my gear.
As far as this town, there have always been killer pickers lurking around every corner. One local band made it to American Bandstand with a national hit. Some made it big time like Tommy Bolin, but a lot of others who I considered better never went anywhere with their music. Tommy paid the price with a drug overdose. This town is pretty well known for good pickers. Rock, Jazz, Country, some in every genre have made to some point on the national level.
It takes time to find good musicians who want to jam , but they are around if you look. Take music for what it is. It is a gift to you, no one else. It's your baby. Love it, don't diss the part of it that doesn't go the way you want it to. Eventually that will leech into the part you enjoy. Don't look for financial rewards. Don't look to be a mega star even in a small town. Just love music for what it is, a very special skill not given to most.
Or learn to make really cool guitar faces and play air guitar.
They're the ones who are really appreciated now days.
).
