I think the subject has drifted a bit from the original topic line so I hope no one minds that these ramblings drift a little further.

I'm not so interested in being a juke box or playing only what an audience is already used to hearing via the radio or MTV. I actually enjoy some of it myself but those folks have all the coverage they need without my help. I look on what I do musically as a self expression. I've never been paid so much $ as to alter that point of view. I don't know if, at this point, anyone would choose to hire me with the intention of having me perform only a certain genre of music, different from what I'm already involved with, but I guess that's not altogether out of the realm of possibility. It's just not very likely. I've only ever played and sang what I've enjoyed.

As was pointed out by others here, sometimes it works and other times it don't. We could spend all our lives trying to guess at the whys and how comes for the reasons of this random outcome and still never fully understand the answers. The cosmic math involved in trying to calculate such is beyond our reckoning. I've experienced all of the above reactions to the presentaions of my material and a great deal more. My only response is to continue to try my best and hope that things fall into cosmic allignment.

Lately I've tried to seek out venues that offer a more conducive atmosphere to listening. I can make a connection with an audience easier when I know they're listening. When the energy I've created is well received the response of the audience is evident and the cycle is complete. There's nothing like that feeling. You give of yourself and they give back in a continuous circle. Keep that circular transference in motion and you'll have a successful show. The tools you use to create that are the strength of your performance and the quality of your material.

Problems with creating a succesful show can result when performing at venues that do not recognize the need to focus energy on the performances. The club may hire you or your band to play and pay you handsomely but they then divide the attention of the audience by providing other forms of entertainment at the same time, pool, darts, tvs, and other games or distractions. Every distraction can impede a successful performance so it's best to try to minimize them at the outset with contractual riders that dictate your needs for your show.

The little coverage I get for my material comes only from my performance of it. Audiences are transitory and my gigs are few and far between so there's only a slim chance that I'll have an opportunity wear out one of my songs on them. Most of the places I play are familar with what I do already so there's little need to accomodate any requests for new or different material beyond my own explorations.

Even as I type this, I've received a call telling me that I've lost the one regular, once a month, venue where I've been performing for the last year or so. It's a restaurant/brew pub where the focus is primarily on dining customers and not on my presentation. They were a bit restrictive there not wishing me to develope a connection with the audience but rather only wanting my performance as a sort of sonic wall paper. Presenting what I do in that very linear fashion is not very fulfilling and ultimately not a very succesful way to offer my show. Like many other bars they also kept the tvs going throughout my performances, though they did turn the sound down. They also allowed the kitchen staff to play music while I was performing. The open design of the kitchen area allowed that canned music to bleed into the space where I perform. These unpleasantries were something I put up with only because the gig was on a Wednesday. A difficult day to get any sort of work playing. They scheduled me for one last go this month. Beyond that they only offered only casual employment throughout the year. I'm not sure I'm all that interested.