For those just starting out in the music business, you must measure you progress in small steps. Everything in manageable; the largest aspirations can be accomplished by planning and moving forward at your own rate. I’ll tell you my story; maybe you can learn from it.
It is hard to believe that only a year ago I was just getting my toes in the water regarding performing again after a thirty-year hiatus. I had begun a year before that with a single song and quickly adding two others; at the time I was thinking that if I do get to play an open MIC somewhere I would have three songs ready. Small goal indeed; but my first milestone.
I practiced those three songs hundreds of times. My primary goal was to have an acoustic show with lots of humorous songs built in. I waited and watched my song list grow slowly. I search the internet for funny songs. It took a long time to build my list because I utilized a Zen approach to my performance. I was less concerned about performing an accurate rendition of the covers that I was playing, and more concerned about utilizing my particular skills and talents. I wanted to personalize each piece—put my own spin on them. Everyone knows many players who can accurately depict and reproduce the songs that we have heard over and over. My plan was to provide a fresh view of these songs.
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