I have been receiving even more feedback than usual (meaning from complete strangers on the street even, rather than from professional musicians and other friends) that I should turn professional. Umm, musician, not curb-crawler (I know how we think around here!). I finally have the nerve to do it. I'm not talking about jumping up on a stage and immediately expecting to make money, but I know that I could do that within a short time if I wanted to. Well, I DO want to, finally. I'm looking for ways to pick up like-minded people because although I have nerve and a heck of a voice and repertoire, I do not feel that I am best marketed as a solo act. I need some balance so that this is fun rather than scary and so that maybe a career will take off instead of getting lost in a museum.

My repertoire is almost entirely traditional and maritime-related. I don't want to venture too far off from that. The problems are 1)finding like-minded people who are not already otherwise engaged or not interested in performing, and 2)finding them in a semi-local locale.

I know I can hit some coffeehouses, but how likely am I to "score?" What kind of sessions (round-robin sorts of things) are likely to yield what I'm looking for? I need quality to match my own, and most likely I need at least one person who can play an instrument. I can scour the Mystic Sea Music Festival, but I've been doing that for several years now without much success. The like-minded people I have run into there are from NYC, and are 4 hours away from me, plus are into their own thing now. Mystic staff members are so into their own thing I can't even get hired down there despite my credentials. I've worked at Kendall Whaling Museum, but the only musicians there are otherwise engaged. I have no ties to the New Bedford Museum, am I missing people up that way? For what I have in mind, I don't really need someone who knows their maritime history/music cold, but I do want someone doing something that jibes with my "vision." I'm not even looking to do strictly maritime, but it is my own background and mission. (Meaning, a mix of similar genres that yields something interesting and fun would be welcome)

I am in Rhode Island. I know most of the folk music scene around here, and if there are folk of my persuasion around here they're hiding pretty well. I'm willing to look as far afield as Boston and New Haven...Anyone have ideas as to hunting grounds?

Geez, I feel like I just wrote a personal ad. Gotta go wash my mouth out with Lifeboat Soap... :-)