Everything I do seems to sound slighty different everytime I do it. I can't get no consistency. ;O)

It's only natural that with the process of creation and mass production being so streamlined as it is today that more of what is created can be pushed out for public scrutiny, er, enjoyment quicker than ever before. With more and more music reaching a wider audience, one that perhaps was previously isolated due to the restraints of technology, the infuences that those songs and tunes can now have on listeners and other musical artists alike on a global scale is mind boggling. Thanks to the webmeisters for that.

As to why some songs or tunes within certain genres of music like blues, bluegrass, etc. sound alike, well, there are only so many notes and therefore mathematically only so many ways to play with them. Factor in the various ability levels of all the players involved and the rate at which learning takes place within each individual, plus the many musical influences that today can be absorbed via modern communication technogurus, some of whom spent millions trying to force feed the masses a particular vibe in the hope of gaining a sizable market share in return and there's bound to be some overlap.

In the ebb and flow of things musical there will always be some on the leading edge of a new wave and others satisfied to continue to play with, or listen to, that which has gone before. I'm not saying we've done it all or that it's all been done before. Each new person brings something unque to the mix that can't quite be duplicated by anyone else. Some folks, especially industry types, love to try to categorize every little thing. It helps them in their pursuit of the almighty $. If you don't fit neatly into one of their categories, they just invent another category. Much of what the music industry does is to try and create desire for their musical products via the domination of production means and distribution facilities. They have access to deep pockets that spend endless advertising dollars to create new and improved flashy exploding bells and whistles, fireworks, smoke and mirrors or whatever it takes to get you to buy their stuff. In the eternal struggle of the haves and don't gots, them what gots get a bigger piece of the $ pie and the have nots are left to knaw on the bones. This attempt by industry to tempt more folks to gobble up their creations or to manipulate what's available musically to masses in this global arena has some problems. One of those is that darn math thing, only so many notes. So they also try to reinvent the past with new faces, much the same as the movie industry has been doing by rehashing old plots and ideas by adding a few new twists recreating old movies for their new crop of actors. They get more bang for their buck by controlling both sides of the musical/entertainment apetite the old and new.

Thankfully we can't all be industry darlings and be so fortunate as to have our tunes and songs pounded out endlessly over the airwaves to the countless masses until the repetition of them forces even the most staunch fan to change the channel. ;O)