Originally Posted By: Guitarhacker
One example is a Charlie Daniels song called Saddle Tramp.


If I heard you play Saddle Tramp, you could easily identify me as the one in the front row standing and cheering wildly.

Then again, I'm not the one hiring you, so I understand what you mean. My thing about playing music that makes ME happy is 180 degrees opposed to how you get a band booked. A dream set that I would assemble would include the whole suite of Ballet For A Girl in Buchannon from Chicago's second album, but people would only understand Make Me Smile and Color My World because that's what they heard on the radio. That kind of thing would result in those callbacks that never come. I just don't see the value to being the one guy of 6 in a band who hates every song played and plays with a long face instead of a smile.

I LOVED playing in the rock band. I then LOVED playing in the Motown band. But that was over 25 years ago, and the "What makes Eddie happy" focus has shifted away from listening to songwriting, copy music stopped being fun. And some make the argument that seeing a symphony orchestra is "a copy band" because they play classical music from the 1700s and 1800s, but it is obviously not the same thing.

I absolutely understand and respect your perspective though. And I am glad we can discuss rather than argue!

I am using the new 1040XTRAEZ form this year. It has just 2 lines.

1. How much did you make in 2023?
2. Send it to us.