Dear Guy/ Girl at the open mic with a acoustic guitar,
I understand your dilemma: that drive within all creative people that makes them have to get in front of some gathering of people and demand said people’s attention and demonstrate your “art” for them. I understand this curse, because I share it as well. Okay, so maybe it’s the fact that we are attention-starved Jezebels (not the word I wanted to here, but this is a “family website” – don’t know what I really mean? It’s in The Bible). But what it really comes down to is the fact that you are never going to write a better folk song than Dylan or Woody Guthurie, and the G-D-Em cord progress has been used more than once. So find a different tuning or, even better, a completely different instrument, a new song structure or a unique subject, and do something different. I not sure how much longer I can take the song in the key of G about your dead cat or how the girl broke your heart or the dead girl who broke your heart; whatever it was you were singing about.

Sincerely,
Matt


Posted by
Matthew Byrd