OK, Split got me thinking about a subject I wanted to post for a while but didn't know how to phrase it. So, I'll just do my best and hope you all can figure out what I'm trying to get at.

How do you know you're good? I mean my Mom, (God rest her soul), was always very supportive as are most of my relatives and friends. But sometimes I feel I'm sounding great then later on I think I'm sounding terrible. Now, over the years I've had a number of complete strangers, who had really no reason come up to me and tell me anything, that they enjoyed my music, thought I was a great singer, wanted to know how it was to be a fulltime working
musician(LOL), bought my CD, Thanked me for playing "their song" etc..
Now, does Neil Young, Paul Simon, James Taylor or any of the other great singer/songwriters go home at night and pour a beer and say "Boy, am I a great singer/songwriter or what?" Or do they finish their last concert/next CD and wait till somebody writes nice stuff about it or a million folks buy it before they feel they are doing good at their job?
Just wondering. What do you think?

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Steve West
Steve's Website

I cannot even imagine wondering about such a thing. "Good" and "bad" and everything in between are such maddeningly subjective judgements that it does one no good to even worry about it. Who cares? WHY care?

Here are 2 better questions: 1) Does what you do entertain your listeners? 2)Does what you do please you?

Steve,
You asked how we feel right?
I often feel that the best is what I've just written, our craft is one in which we employ what we've learned along the way each time we start to write...A great song stands the test of time though..even with our own work...I can go back and play something people used to love 15-20 years ago, and play it now and it's still friggin' good! I mean I write all the time and have for years, what I notice as I mature as a writer is that I write really good songs more often now than before, you see I am an optimist so I rarely dwell on negativity, no time for that...do I ever think I suck,no, do I often get humbled by awesome players and writers, yes, do I think I'm good, yes, do I think I'm great,probably never will...there's too much to learn, and not nearly enough time to learn it...looking at what others accomplishments can be both discouraging (how the hell did they do that ,and do it again and again) and encouraging (if they can do it, so can I)...I tend to try and be encouraged and to try and somehow measure the quality of some of my writes to the very best writers I know or know of...after all that's who we compete with for cuts...Moker

Hi Steve, I too make my living through music. Though I don't go around wondering "do I suck" or think"wow, I'm really great" I do occasionally have the old paranoia that "the music police are gonna find me and throw my sorry ass in jail & it'll be all over when everyone finds out." All kidding aside , I have a couple of ways that I barometer my abilities.
First, I know that I work very hard at my craft and whether I play for one person or hundreds, I always try to give it my all and sometimes that is enough, especially when I'm getting paid for it. LOL... And another thing is that I truly believe it is a gift like "something working through me to reach other people" I have had some pretty weird things happen to me that have proven that beyond a shadow of a doubt. I work w/the elderly (my day job) and people at all stages of Alzheimers. I cant tell you how many times a song has brought someone totally out of their "shell" One time a woman who had been in a coma for weeks and was near death, opened her eyes while I sang the old song "Always" at her bedside in a nursing home. Her family burst into tears then took me outside her room & told me that was her & her husbands wedding song. I had no idea, but I'll tell you one thing; those kind of moments let me know I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. That women passed on a few hours later. And though I know these are extraordinary instances, I have come to expect some kind of connection even when I perform in clubs , concerts , and in writing.
My music makes people cry tears of joy at weddings, tears of grief at funerals , and dance like crazy fools when playing with my band at gigs.
I think the more you believe you're where you're supposed to be , in the moment; the more confidence you gain and the better you get at your craft. And you wont worry if you're good enough. (good as what or who?)
If people are telling you they love your music , your singing, playing , without you asking them then you dont need to question it . If you find yourself doing that all the time , maybe you just need to pay more attention to getting lost in how the music makes you feel. You may find the answer there. Hope I didnt get too carried away.
Play on with abandon!!!! Sue
www.susanlainey.com

[This message has been edited by laineytunes@yahoo.com (edited 06-23-2006).]

Hey, thanks everyone for your replies. I should clarify that I am far from a fulltime musician but have had a number of folks just assume I am and come up and talk to me about it. It does seem interesting and a little funny to me. I'm not really having a crisis or anything about this, I just think I am interested on how other folks deal with the dichotomy of self reflection/critisism and the ego it seems we need to be able to do this kind of thing. Truman, I think we've all done shows where the audience was definately not right for our music and it wasn't very pleasing, forturately that doesn't seem to happen that often but it does and will. I've also seen a number of shows and open mics where it's been painful to listen to the musicians (?) they are so bad. But they seem to enjoy what they are doing though. Are they delusional or do they just don't care about your question #1? Do their Moms think they are great? Does it matter? Maybe you're right, "Who cares?" Maybe me thinks too much. Again, I was just wondering.

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Steve West
Steve's Website