In 1998, I went to play the famous Bluebird Café in Nashville, TN. If you’ve never been there, the atmosphere is intimate. It’s dark and cozy, and it only holds about 90 people. Many stars were discovered there; Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney, and Keith Urban to name a few. At the time, I thought about moving to Nashville and making it as a songwriter. The Bluebird Café was the place to go and judge where I stood against every other aspiring songwriter. It still is.Every Monday is open mic night, when all the amateurs get to showcase their talent. When I showed up the turn out was huge. There were people in line from all over the country, some had just gotten to town that day! I didn’t make it to the stage that night, but luckily I was still in town the following Monday, so I was assured of playing then.
When I got my chance to go onstage, I was nervous. I played two songs to polite applause. The thing is, songwriters pull for other songwriters. They aren’t the ones in the spot light generally; unless they also happen to be an artist, and the general atmosphere was “let’s support each other and listen to some great tunes.” It was an amazing experience.
I saw and heard some impressive, and some not so impressive, singer/songwriters during the two Monday nights I was there. Some songs were so well crafted that I could already hear them being played on the radio, they were that good. Some were just plain forgettable.
Of the roughly 100 songs I heard (50 songwriters singing two songs each), I placed my songs somewhere in the middle of the pack. Though there were mostly country songs sung (I was more a pop/rock songwriter), songs are songs to me. I was better than average if I broke it down by genre.
It was a big lesson. I thought I’d come in there and people would be blown away by my songs and I’d be discovered. Granted, this probably wasn’t the best venue for my material, but it was still putting my work up against the best.
I’m sure every Monday night half of the songwriters on the stage at the Bluebird Café are playing it for the first time. Many people have the same dreams. I bet a lot of them are the best songwriters in their hometown. When you line up against the best of the best it’s not so easy to stand out. It shows how tough competition is.
It’s good to be confident in your abilities. Playing the Bluebird Café didn’t make me think any less of myself as a songwriter. It presented me with a great opportunity to see what other songwriters are doing.
If I hadn’t gone, I wouldn’t know how I stacked up against other songwriters. We all want to know that we’re competent. Performing at the Bluebird Café verified that I was. If you never measure yourself against the real world how will you know whether you’re on track, you need an adjustment, or you need to try something else entirely.
It’s like those singers who audition on American Idol who have been told their entire lives that they’re talented, but when they can’t sing and they get rejected they are shocked. There’s no better barometer of your talent than going up against others who do what you do. It can reassure you or it can open your eyes.
That being said, there’s always someone out there who can do what you do better than you can, but they can’t do it exactly like you. That’s the thing. You bring your talents to the world, no matter what they are, in a special way that no one else can.
So, don’t give up when it seems like you aren’t succeeding or aren’t stacking up against others the way you think you should. If you are being the best version of you possible, that’s the best you can hope to accomplish. Others will flock to you for that.
Way to go Greg…that’s a pretty cool story. Now I want to hear the songs you played. Keep on Keeping on!!
Thanks Rob! I’ll have to get them on YouTube or Soundcloud or something. Another goal for 2014!
Sticker and flier up the town, and play open mikes frequently. A music lover or not, you definitely should not miss out this creative piece of history.