This may be unnecessary and unwanted but doing the wrong thing never stopped me before. smile

MAB aka Marc Alan Barnette aka (in some circles) as Nashville's Networking Guru was sort of criticized in a post on here recently. I've seen it happen before and just thought I'd offer some observations. Hey, I have no where else to offer them today!

I welcome Marc's involvement here. He doesn't say much I haven't heard him say before but what he says is important and every week there are people who never heard it before. I know he has a consulting/mentoring/teaching service he offers and I've never taken advantage in it but it sounds like a positive thing to me. I haven't taken advantage because of (1) money, (2) stubborness, (3) ego, (4) lack of ambition, and (5) I spent five years in Nashville and know enough (for me). But I think it is a very beneficial service he offers.

One reason Marc may seem like he "discourages" people about moving to Nashville is because he knows how many come there thinking they have what it takes. You don't know unless you've been there. Of course, I went there and was able to make a living in the music biz for a couple of years but most can't. I was only able to do it because of the existence of the Nashville Network. They aren't there anymore.

It shocked me the first time I went to a publisher's office and saw what I had always heard of: tapes sent in from outside Nashville stacked from floor to ceiling. Within two days of being in Nashville, I learned my neighbor was a singer who appeared on Ralph Emery's early morning show, my landlord was a man who had backed John Hartford (wrote Gentle On My Mind) on the Today Show, my first boss outside TNN was a singer and guitarist on a 20 year quest for fame and fortune that never came. So when Marc talks about the abundance of people seeking success, he ain't lying or kidding. And, chances are, though we might be great, you, me, and even Marc, aren't gonna get a hit record. We might write a hit song but that that's just part of the battle.

I don't always agree with everything Marc says or the way he says it but most of it is right on. He seems like a perky person to me and I'm a curmudgeonly type person so there's a natural disconnect there. But I remember a post where Marc talked about getting "down" a lot too. Us creative old folks do get down a lot.

So I just wanted to sort of give a shout out in praise of Marc. It just seemed like a good thing to do.