Everett,

The thing that people find when they come around (not move) Nashville is "Hey this people are ALL just like me." It is called "Finding their tribe." ALL WRITERS ARE Insecure, self aware, shy, nervous, etc. ALL of Them. That is why they write their feelings down in music, so that speaks for them.

People look too often about music and Nashville in particular as if it is all important to get known, get cuts, get rich. And that is so small a part of it. It is about getting to know and being around people just like yourself. Most people will never go anywhere. Even great ones. That is just life.

How many businesses that are started every year fail? About 80% of them. How many people who play the lottery actually win? Less than one per cent.

So all that fame and money and stuff is so fleeting and rarely happens, you can't look at your musical journey in terms of "making it" based upon radio hits, or things like that. I know tons of "local" heros that have good music, fan base, and make very decent livings. But they come to Nashville to soak up the creativity and be a part of a vibrant society.

I have never, ever, ever, met a hit writer that ever made money a primary part of their musical journey. Tomorrow night in Cincinatti I am playing with two of them who are good friends of mine. Will Nance has had about three George Straight number ones and a recent Brad Paisley number one. The other is Danny Wells, who wrote "These Days" a huge Rascal Flatts number one and "Check Yes or No" a huge George Straight number one.

I have known these guys for years, long before they got successful. And they are exactly the same now as they were then. They want to share their music with as many people as they can. They want to write songs that make the world sing along. That is the point. Making money or getting hits is actually pretty far down the line. It is in the back of everybody's mind, to be sur. This is business. But it is simply not the determining factor.

You have to separate the facts from fiction in business. Just like a store or a resturant, you have to know what your competition is doing, but you spend the most amount of time developing and distributing your own product. That is what we all do. Some people are hit writers because they make great product. Some are lucky but they had a hand in getting the right product into the right places at the right time.

Everything is about upping the level of your odds. You co-write with people, bring them into your songwriting universe, you up the level of your odds. You meet people who like you and want to pass your music along, whether they are publishers or pluggers or just the general public who want someone they know to hear you, that ups the level of your odds. You build upon one song, one co-write, to other songs, other co-writes, solo songs come in when you have the back doors open.

And then it is so much up to the fates, luck and outside influences you NEVER will have anything to do with, you can't worry about that stuff. Only worry about what you can do.

So shy? Join the club. Everyone is. Everyone is afraid of rejection. Everyone is scared of their music not measuring up. Everyone is scared of failure. That is all just part of it.

MAB