Originally Posted By: Jon Thomas
I just want to share a little story that happened to me a few weeks ago.

Once a month or so I like to attend a local open-mic night, strictly for songwriters - no covers allowed. Small place, nice people, mostly friendly faces, but always some new ones as well. It's a nice atmosphere. You get good songs, so-so songs, and even some occasional bad songs. It's all good. It's just a nice place to be.

So, it's my turn. I go up on stage, and I play a new song - as I usually do, I always try to play something new. Now, I am not a good performer - I don't have a great voice, I'm just a barely decent guitar player, but that's ok, it's a night for songs and songwriters, not for performers, you know what I mean. So I never expect a strong reaction for my "performances", but musicians are there, and they let me know what they think about my songs, and they are usually very nice.
But this time it seemed a little different. While I was playing I noticed a little more "intensity" than usual in the way some people were listening to me, and nodding, and in the end applauding. Nice, I said to myself, they seem to actually like this song. Nothing too unusual. People are nice there, and they usually like my songs, or at least so they say, more or less.

So I get off stage, and in a minute a guy comes close to me. He's a regular, not really a "friend" of mine, I would say, but for sure a nice guy and a good musician. He's about my age, about 50 or so, grey hair, wife, kids and everything. Good songwriter too. I did notice something unusual in his face, but with the low lights I couldn't tell what it was right away. "You know" - he says - "I only cried twice in my life for a song" - and that's when I noticed that his eyes were red, and he still had tears coming down his face - "The first time was when I heard, 30 years ago, a certain song from U2 - you know, I grew up listening to them ... and the second time was ... tonight, while listening to your song. You made me cry, buddy ... don't do it again!!!" He laughed and hugged me.

I was shocked. It never happened to me, ever, to get such a strong emotional reaction from someone listening to a song of mine. Wow. What an emotion for me! What an incredible feeling! I couldn't believe it. I know it was only one person, and it never happened before, and it will never happen again, but boy was it such a nice, warm, beautiful thing to experience for me!
That short conversation will stay with me for the rest of my life.

So, my final thought is: tell people about how you feel about their songs. Be honest, but also be nice. If you liked their song, tell them. If their song moved you a bit, tell them. If their song made you think or made you smile or made you cry or made you dream, tell them. Be open. Be kind. Don't hide your appreciation for other people's songs and works. Openness and kindness are great things.

That's all. If you have similar experiences, share them!!! It would be nice to hear them, I think.

J.


That is a beautiful story and a very powerful reminder of why we write music. Thank you for sharing this with us Jon!

Cheers,
Joe