Another Open Mic

I played at another open mic last night. Sang five songs on my acoustic guitar:

Fishing in the dark (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band)
Ain't Nothing About You (Brooks and Dunn)
Landslide (Stevie Nicks)
Wishing on a Star (a song I wrote)
House that built Me (Miranda Lambert)

Boy, it was hot in the hot seat! But I still had a lot of fun. After my set, someone complimented me that I have a rich, resonant voice and articulate the words well. He said he sometimes has a hard time understanding some lyrics when people sing, and I couldn't agree with him more.

I played around 7:30 to a dinner crowd that was a nice audience. I propped open my song book, just in case. I really do need to practice without the cheat sheet more.

Last night was kind of an impulse thing, but I have decided if I want to do this more, I need to practice as much as I can in between. I also want to write more songs.

***
One of the guys who looked about 50-something said he wants to cut enough CDs to retire on. He was serious too. I thought, what are the chances, but heck, if he wants to go for it, good for him!

For me, it's just a release, a chance to get up in front of people and share my love of music. Would I want to do more public performances someday? Sure. But I'm not betting my IRA on it.

Do I Want It Badly Enough?

I looked into the possibility of performing at a local event, but they are already all booked up. I wanted to do it badly, but didn't really check into this early enough.

Do I want it badly enough?

Do I want it enough to...

...learn my songs without a cheat sheet?
...look into performing opportunities?
...sacrifice time I would spend on family and writing to improve my guitar playing and singing?

My answer is, honestly, no.

But I have so much fun performing for others, it would be so cool to have the stage officially to myself for even an hour.

It's a scary proposition, putting yourself out there for people to criticize and judge. Already, I have gotten some criticism on my youtube channel. Nothing terribly mean. Not everyone's gonna like me, I know, but it still stung.

Do I want more of this?