I would like to apologise to anybody I have offended, upset or angered. I mean no harm or malice.
Tact is not one of my strong suits and the fact that I have strong views and am outspoken does me no favours SOMETIMES.
That said I must explain my position and to a certain extent defend it.
I am passionate about music and have strong views on politics and religion.
I am from a country that has a different culture from most who contribute in this forum. Traditionally the USA has always been more right wing and deeply religious than the UK especially the country music fraternity that seems to dominate the boards.
As I am more left wing and have stronger anti religious beliefs than the average Brit then it is hardly surprising that the sparks fly occasionally. I do not bear grudges however and there is no malice or ill intent in the things I say. I am just stating my opinion which is usually different not negative just different.
Sometimes I am deeply offended by what I see as narrow minded political and religious dogmas I am also offended by people who do not have the same high expectations I have and apparently are quite happy to accept mediocrity. Perhaps I should ignore it and bite my tongue however I was taught to speak up for myself and question everything I disagree with. If I think something is wrong I will say so.
I have been accused of being negative. Well nothing can be further from the truth. I am a very positive person. You have to be to survive in my business. There is always somebody trying to muscle in if they think they can get away with it.
Recently comments in threads have been rubbing me up the wrong way. I cannot stand ass sucking "yes" people who say nice things just to try and create a good reputation or suck in with others.

There is a big problem with the music industry in that too many third raters are making it. If we were more honest then we would see this admit it and fight it. Condoning it welcoming it or supporting it is totally alien to me. I set and demand high standards and cannot understand why other musical people cannot. If a thing is not up to scratch I say so. I do not care if it comes back to bite me I state my case. It amazes me how a forum with so much talent can be so apathetic about this. "JIM you are a dinosaur if people achieve fame and success they deserve it and must have talent or be doing something right" has been said to me.... well it just does not wash.
I am too old in the tooth to not recognise impostors when I see them. As for being a dionosaur I try to keep abreast of the times as we have to play chart stuff in most venues. I have enough experience to know a good song and talent when I see it or not as is the case.
As for bringing people down I fail to see how I am doing this. I have contributed positively to technical forums and am sure have helped people overcome problems with my advice. The same with the MP3 and critiques I am never negative. My observations are usually on the mark and my advice is usually very positive. I may be a little more honest than some but I view that as a positive and would rather state the problems a piece has in a constructive way than lie and say I liked it and it was a brilliant piece of work. A lot of people regularily do this and this in my opinion is far more negative than any contributions I will ever make. Perhaps these people should be pointed out and chastised. They are the real negatives.
I call them positively negative.
I have also been asked to justify my pedigree and qualifications to justify my position. Well I was going to give a long list of my achievements but on second thoughts I decided not to.. except to say that I am a pro singer and make enough money to not need a day job for most of my life. If you doubt this then come and see me perform. Success is not always metered by cuts or record deals.
I will try to stop hijacking threads. In return I ask all JPFs to do likewise and think. Lose some of the apathy set the bar higher not just for you but for others especially those who are in the top echelons. Please do not lie just to be nice.
One parting shot that kinda proves my point I cannot understand why so many so called musicians and song writers spend so much time on a thread talking about American Idol IMHO a glorified Karaoke competition with pretty mediocre singers. Standards must have got lower because of this type of thing. The more you are bombarded with crap the more likely you are to start liking it and accept it AND LOWER YOUR OWN STANDARDS ACCORDINGLY.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=687727&songID=5238055