Hey folks from MISSISSIPPI,
The "kick off party" was last night and I got to meet a lot of the festival orgainizers and a lot of the people involved here. It was kind of funny because I know about half of the artists on the festival and they were all pretty surprised when I just showed up out of the blue. Tina and I spent most of the night, having the hit writers talk about me, and introducing me to principal people as "YOU'VE GOT TO GET THIS GUY ON HERE!!!" That is a nice feeling. My Buddies "Tommy Barnes (Indian Outlaw) and Jim Femino (Just got Started Loving You) were my biggest supporters and it was great getting to hang out with them.
A big deal was seeing my friend KAREN REYNOLDS here. Karen is from Knoxville, and did that radio show that put the songs of my co-writer on so his "dying sister could hear those songs on the radio." And of course the sister was a hypocondriac and NOT dying! But Karen was a gem and has become a good friend. Her being here is something of a miracle. Last week she was feeeling some shortness of breath and blacked out. Then she spent a week in the hospital and nearly died due to a blockage in her heart. They also told her that she would never sing again.
A week later she is here and onstage. A great story and I'm so glad to see and hear her. She sounded great.
We had to get in early because Tina is working over here in the hotel room which is why I am in the hotel lobby typing this for you. In a bit I am going over to the main hotel where everyone stays and start my little move to get on the festival next year.
The reason they do it here is that Elvis used to come over here and stay in this one hotel.He could rent out a bunch of rooms and go to the beach, and be as low key as he could be as Elvis. The main hotel is where he stayed and his room is the main hospitality room. Looking forward to seeing that. Will let you know how it goes.
The main shows are tonight and there are about seven different venues all within a pretty close proximaty to each other. So it should be easy to walk to them all and I will be pulling some surprises on people. I hope some might get me up to do a song or two,which is why I have my guitar with me. Have guitar will travel. Be prepared.
RiDawn, thank you so much for the kind words. That was a great description of what is going on and thank you for the plug for my services. I am very proud of you and what you are doing. And I want to kick those "discounters" in their teeth when you hit full stride. I believe you will.
I am very much for the "little man/woman" trying to do this writing thing. Getting cuts and deals are not the most important thing. If I can help guide someone to get outside of themselves, make strides in the right direction and prove some naysayers wrong here and there, that is what I am about.
And there are a lot of stories.
Last night I spent a lot of time talking to a really nice guy. He is 75 years old and "should have made the Nashville trip years ago." He talks about all the things he thinks he could do if "only given the chance." That is the problem, most of us are never "given the chance" and we have to be prepared to find ways to make our own chances. We have to find our own spots and be great when they come our ways.And we have to be on top of our game. Most people never realize where the game IS. I tried to do my best to explain it to him. I feel I'll probably hear more from him in the future.
We are having a pretty spirited discussion with Justin on one of his songs and I hope he will bring it here to continue it. One of the main reasons we do this thread the way we do is to go "behind the song' and find ways to help everyone. Justin is trying hard to be in the thick of things and is to be saluted in his efforts. He is working with artists, finding more all the time and making great strides. But the more he does it, the more he realizes how much it takes to really be a part of this game. The bar always gets higher and you are always trying to top yourself. If he brings the discussion over here that will be cool, but he has contacted a few of us privately and gotten some feedback. That is what this is about, building those friendships. All of you seem to be doing that. Thanks for being here.
MAB