As per the purpose of this thread--Earnest wanted to tell singer/songwriters what he thought they should do. No one asked for his advice. On re-reading his post, it seems even more sanctimonious and condescending than it did initially--perhaps he did not mean it that way, but he didn't make a lot of new friends on this outing--

Most singer/songwriters give more than they get back, they write, practice, study their crafts, and work a day job to pay for lessons, instruments, recording, and the incidental costs of performing--my point, both to Earnest and to Ron, is that, even when the results are less than stellar, the effort and expenditure is greater than your suggestions presume--

The thing is, the less experience you have, the less developed your talent, and the less money you have to through into it, the harder it is.   Be glad that people want to entertain you, and don't give them such a hard time--sooner or later they may decide that it isn't worth it to play for you--