Ah, playing to less than 100 people. Always inspiring

I feel strongly that if you're over 30, you're not likely to be able to stand this kind of shit.

I mean, "pay for play" clubs. Or not having to pay, just not getting all that much from the door, because you still have to perform within a 20 mile radius of your home so that you can count on your relatives and ex-classmates showing up. Another 20 miles, and you have to hope you've got a dozen real and true Facebook friends. After that, you're lost.

Here's someone with tremendous talent, yet didn't even get into the Top 5 on "American Idol." She did manage enough attention (and a Letterman appearance) to issue one self-pressed CD. But a tour? No. I think her only major tour was part of the Top 10 American Idols of her season, playing a bunch of outdoor summer fairs.

No, being on TV isn't a springboard for success. Shit, just ask the WINNERS of these fucking shows, most of whom are back home studying for a college degree or working the Wal-Mart cashier shift after Mom's through at 4pm.

It's fortunate that when you're young and naive, enthusiasm and novelty can keep you going long enough to maybe have some fun for a year or two. Then it becomes questionable for a year or two. Then it's on and off thinking about quitting for a year or two. Then the periods of inactivity stretch longer and longer.

Then it's "well, a hobby..." This is the excuse to keep doing it for free, but not so often that your friends resent showing up to "support" you, having to pay a cover price or drink up a minimum at a place they'd normally avoid.

Yeah. Who wouldn't "feel strongly" over a "dramatic" moment from a singer who can actually sing? Too bad this chick rarely even makes it out of a few towns in Massachusetts. Too bad I know quite a few at her age who have talent, put out a CD or two, and just got tired of the road. They got burned out singing the same songs to the same drunks, got bored, got pregnant, got ill, and just plain got nowhere.

There are a few road zombies in their 30's, 40's and even 50's that I'll go see when they come to town (but a lot more that are at the level of ONLY gigging near home). It's a kick when they show up, still at it, with no new product but still, somehow, some kind of infectious and defiant joy in performing.

They usually survive on their own, because if you've got a band with you, it involves lugging equipment, lots of arguments, fucked up egos, bad rehearsals, and general unrest.

There's something just so sadistic and cynical about Dylan's line, "May you stay Forever Young." He's a well-known prick and has a dark side and I'll bet that song has been sung by him with a lot of sarcasm and irony a lot of times.