1) I can't sing or write songs. I have no plans to try it and DEFINITELY won't subject the rest of the world to it if I do.2) Yes, I've been guilty of making jabs at singer/songwriters. Very unfair of me considering many of my favorite musicians/singers, folk or no, write a considerable portion of their own material (Norman Blake, Gillian Welch, Paul Geremia, Freakwater, Jean Ritchie, Townes Van Zandt, Hazel Dickens, etc.) and perform it very effectively. I have tried more recently to focus on the good ones and not jump to negative conclusions when I hear the term.
I'm convinced that part of my problem is college, where everybody seems to want to air their angst and be patted on the back for it. I've been to numerous concerts given by performers whom friends loved, only to find some kid whaling away on a guitar and howling. What goes through my mind?
1) I don't play solo guitar in public because I'm awful, but I'm still better than [said performer]. Is there an Eleventh Commandment I missed, "Thou shalt play only harsh percussive guitar"?
2) I'm good friends with [said performer] and I KNOW that her life is not that hard. A little college-years confusion and growing pain does not constitute a hard life.
3) [Said performer] watched too much Disney as a child or she wouldn't have written seven astonished songs about relationships that didn't last happily ever after.