I've been thinking - not always a good idea! I read a comment by Don Firth about navel gazing singer/songwriters - who differ from hypnotists only by the fact that the latter can usually reawaken their audiences. I have often read similar comments from Art Thieme and Joe Offer. I get their point OK. Teenage traumas and the complexities of Joe Soap's emotional turmoil do not always engage me either.
Two weeks ago I did a support for the brilliant Cologne singer/songwriter Johanna Fassbender. I played reasonably competently, but compared to what followed I looked a bit like a bricklayer coming on before a sculptor. She genuinely moved and excited the audience - and English is her second language! Her songs are completely personal and about the turmoil of her own life. In a nutshell, she represents everything we 'Catters usually loathe about the "introvert songwriter". Yet her set was stunning. What makes the difference between people who can pull off this sort of thing and those who can't?