I’ve been hearing a lot of exceptionally great music lately, & going thru some vintage classics to skewer for the parody project I’m doing with Comic Pauline
http://www.youtube.com/pspauline
SO of course, I started to feel really small. Like, “how the heck can my little songs compete? Why should anyone listen to MY songs when there is so much “better” out there?”
Then comes the email.
A friend requested a song I haven’t performed for over 30 years, one I almost forgot about, because he felt it was still relevant. Then Pauline forwards an email about how a fan got her entire office to see one of our performances on youtube, because she found it so hilarious. And another friend emailed a single word about a song I shared last showcase. The word was “Perfect”.
Just as I was feeling like maybe I should quit doing my own stuff so I can help others more, I get encouragement. Helping other artists get placement, encouraging them, helping them with their productions & just taking the time to listen is not enough.
My friend Gilli Moon said “Jimi, you are also an artist too, never forget that”.

Though I may be too old, too simple or not “something” enough to get help distributing what I do to a larger market, I am appreciated in places & by people I may never see or know about. A friend was the program director for a syndicated radio show, & back then, he was allowed to put his own selections into the mix. One of my songs was in there, & sometime later I got a LETTER from a fan in ....Philadelphia.. ..PA..... For a while, I would alternate fan letters & rejection letters (including contest entries where I was not a winner) but soon that stopped, because I stopped trying. I was still writing songs, still sharing them locally, but local acceptance among friends was about as far as I figured I could take what I had done. There are plenty of friends I can pitch for, so I don’t need to go through the pain of rejection myself. Yet, I know that just having one more industry person listen, even if the work is not picked up, means I have been heard by someone who would never have heard it otherwise. It’s an opportunity for the music to breathe & take on a life of it’s own. And once it’s done that, it has the power to come back & visit me again, just as this 30 something year old song is doing now.

I hope to have more available to share soon, & will be pitching for myself again as opportunities arise. I know most of you are too busy to listen, so I won’t ask that of you.

But when I do see you face to face, or we correspond directly, I want you to know that you are relevant to ME, part of my life & I am thankful that you’ve “listened” to my blog & my thoughts, words & sometimes, music.

I am blessed.