What to Sing

I've often wondered if what inevitably causes people to drop out of open mics and performing, and this is particularly directed and singer/songwriters, is the constant need for new material. It takes a lot of work to write songs, and time to create a catalog of songs to perform. I have 35 in rotation out of 110 recorded songs. The ones I don't perform, so far, are either tough to perform with just a guitar, or a little out there for open mics...

Maybe if I do more extended shows...

But I feel for those getting into this and only having a small number of songs and not wanting to play them over and over sometimes for the same people-we tend to go to the same events across the city. It's nice to have something new.

There's also the pressure to be something of a machine when it comes to writing, which is harder than you might think. I go through writing cycles where I write a lot in a short time period, but it's by no means regular, so I'm thankful I have older material to bring out when I feel I've been playing the same stuff over and over.

It also makes me think of how quickly bands and singers come and go either because all they had was that one hit song, or labored to recreate the magic that propelled them into the mainstream consciousness to begin with. Even multi-hit bands, groups, individuals are always dealing with what's next and whether it'll be as good or better or worse than what came before and whether they've had their run and are now consigned to only being remembered for their greatest hits and little later.

Which brings us to the pressure to continually produce "content", soas to stay relevant in the public eye, i.e. one's fickle fans. This is a common bromide now from those who counsel and advise people in the arts, music particularly. But creating something interesting and meaningful is rarely machine like, as I mentioned above, and even those who can, often produce the same thing over and over, with a change here and there to distinguish it from last weeks output.

Sometimes it all seems like too much.

I think I'm rambling.

Take care.

©2020 David William Pearce