I guess I'd have to honestly say yes to feelings of being taken advantage of by someone locally who had done a similar deed.

I go out of my way to try to sing obscurities that, to my knowledge, no one else in the area is singing or has sung. I mine them by excavating through piles of old, crusty, warped, cracked, scratchy, chipped recordings. When I find one that is to my liking it is cause for celebration because they're usually found via a great deal of effort on my part. Now, I know well enough that these are not my compositions. They have been written and recorded by someone else, but in most cases the songs have fallen, like so many have, into obscurity. At least, if others are singing them, I certainly don't know about it. One of the biggest differences between one of my performances and what the next local guy sings is the songs we each choose to play. Granted, we each bring a certain quality to our performance of any given song that is unique and not easily imitated by another. So, even if someone did copy my set list, song by song, because he appreciated the same kind of music, and could not easily find the same songs elsewhere, chances are his approach to the same song would not be identical to mine. I have a tendency to not imitate so much as interpret the material I find.

I also have performed many songs written by a very good friend who spends most of his time out of the country. He's a very fine writer and I have received permission from him to both sing and record his songs. Over the course of time songs slowly change from the way we initially learn them. Nuances creep in and alter them. For good or bad the songs we sing adopt changes that we consciously or unconsciously bring to our adaptations of another author's work.

A long time ago, I worked up an old song that I found on one such forgotten record. I really didn't think that anyone else would be the least bit interested in this song. It was a quirky little love song. But then, I over heard a friend and some of his pals working on a version of the very same song. He had learned it via my interpretation. I was, at once, both surprised that he/they thought enough of the song to consider it worth playing (I was still unsure of my own ability to pick a good one) and amazed at how differently it sounded from my version that I had taken from the record.

The one case I mention at the start of my post though is not of this variety. It was not a song I dug up, but rather one that I learned from a good friend. His friend wrote it, and the song was a local hit in the geographic area where it originated. I moved away from the area (half way across the country) and brought it with me. It became kind of a signature song for me. Many folks enjoyed it and requested it. Then I heard, via the vine, that another local fellow was singing it. I've never heard him play it. So, I don't know whether he gives credit to the actual author or if he thinks it's my song. I initially felt a little ripped off. It's kind of like stealing someone's thunder. It's eroding one of the primary distinctions between individuals who all happen to share a similar geographically locality. If everyone begins to play each other's set lists, and one performer becomes simply the carbon copy of any other within the area, things can easily get stagnant. (Have you taken a close look at what the music, movie, animation, video game, or auto industries have been trying to peddle as creativity? It's a joke! But, that's a whole nuther thread.) Fast forward a number of years, I find out that the author has given permission to a popular group to perform the song. They do it on national television and get a standing ovation. Meanwhile, I've been thrown out of at least one festival and a couple of establishments for performing it. Hmm, it must be my interpretation.

This song was a local hit for me, but as can happen, I got kind of tired of the requests to play it. I've yet to actually hear the other guy perform it, but I've moved on to write a song or two of my own that I enjoy playing as much, if not more. I've unearthed even more gems from that forgotten stash of records that invade my room, and came to the realization that life's too short to get slowed down by petty distractions like feeling possessive about a song. I've had a good run with it, now it's the next guy's turn to have at it. There are many more songs out there waiting to be discovered and rediscovered than there is time to do so in my brief visit to this reality. If your love is creating music, then let that be your focus.