Thursday, October 13, 2011

Rejections

A little sad, well a little disappointed tonight.  There is an incredible songwriter's festival that takes place in November every year on the Alabama Gulf Coast......it is the Frank Brown International Songwriter's Festival.
Rick and I have been fortunate to play it twice, in 2001 and 2010.....we had submitted an application for this year, but we received our  "so sorry, but no" note today.  It is quite a feather in your cap to be asked to play, to play twice was beyond our wildest dreams, but selfishly I was hoping for number three.

I should be use to rejections, we have enough to wallpaper a room!  As a songwriter I have submitted song after song after song, for movies, tv shows, cuts by major and not so major artists, for commercials, corporate films, documentaries, ........this business is not for the faint of heart, neither is it for the thin of skin.  I have had "music gods" listen to ten seconds of a song and then slide it back across the desk to you,  we have had songs put on
"hold" (like a great big carrot dangling in front of your nose) and then never  hear another word.  Publishers have told us a song was so "great" that they didn't know what to do with it,  and I personally have been  told that I am good writer (to be a woman).  I could go on for days.

So why do it, why put myself out there, why all the work, effort, expense, wear and tear on the body and spirit..........why do painters paint?  It is who I am......as much a part of me as yoga, actually more.  I have been doing this since I was a child, and I love it.  I love the process of writing a song, seeing lyrics and hearing melody come together in a glorious love affair.....I love the performance, of singing an original song in front of a crowd and they all become so taken in by the song....there is total silence, you take their breath away, you create a memory for them, you stir emotions.....it is truly a way to be in the now....mesmerized by a song and singer.

This too shall pass.......we will probably go on down to the beach sometime during the festival and cheer the others on, but there will be that little ache, that little longing of wishing I were up there on that stage,singing my song.  So once again, it is time to put my big girl panties on, suck it up, and keep on writing, keep on singing.
It is time to practice, we have a gig Saturday.

Thanks for letting me wallow, some days you just have too.  Something else is out there waiting.....and I know how to wait.

6 comments:

  1. Love your attitude. You'll be back on that stage for #3, I'm sure of it, and it will be even sweeter for the wait.

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  2. Rejection is horrible, I know. It's been years since I had anything accepted by a magazine. I guess I could wallpaper a room in my house with rejection letters, but I think I'd rather paint hearts and beautiful words. You will keep going and you will have more successes. Maybe this wasn't the right time for you to be accepted because of your health.

    Love,
    Lola

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  3. Hope you find your sense of peace with it all...I know it will be the biggest loss to the many at the festival who won't be able to partake of your musicality.

    Gentle breezes to soothe your soul tonight...

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  4. I'm so sorry they said no. I admire your fortitude.

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  5. You do right to remember why it is that you sing and play, for the love of it and not for the adulation and money. (Though that helps).

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  6. One day not long ago I was moving our patient on to the OR bed to fix his hemorrhoids....lets just say a foul odor escaped and that's when I realized I'm not paid enough to do my job..it's also another affirmation that I do my job because I love what I do...Your rejections remind me of that foul odor and hemorrhoids..your determination to continue and your love of your craft shows that we just have to do what we love!(no matter the foul odor!) Have a good weekend!

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