How my immediate friends and family react is certainly not unimportant or meaningless to me. The earliest music criticism I received was from my grandmother, commenting on a song I'd written before my age was in double digits. I was certain the thing would change the world of music and the lives of millions.

She said it was "cute".

She was much more right than I was. If there is any remembrance of that piece of song-writing, it remains only that it was cute. The rest of it is long forgotten even by the boy who wrote it, save a couple of lines--and he can't remember at all how it went.

Then there was that year when I was more filled with naïve enthusiasm than today, and gifted my entire Christmas shopping list with a full-to-the-brim CD of originals. It may be true that they were accepted with strained smiles and atta-boys designed to encourage my enthusiasm (or at least shield me from embarrassment), but I have no illusions that they were received by anyone with any more genuine appreciation than if they had been handed a pair of red Christmas socks...and enjoyed just as often (once or less) before being shoved to the back of the sock drawer. Out of a mixture of guilt and pity.

So it means a lot to me when any member of my most apathetic yet reachable audience has and can name and sing (or dance) along with a personal favorite. That's very good indeed.

No, the most unreliable audience response comes from those with something to sell.


Last edited by Tangmo; 02/23/21 01:14 PM. Reason: proofread
BIAB 2021 Audiophile. Windows 10 64bit. Songwriter, lyricist, composer(?) loving all styles. Some pre-BIAB music from Farfetched Tangmo Band's first CD. https://alonetone.com/tangmo/playlists/close-to-the-ground