I wrote this a while back, inspired by some of the most wonderful nights of my life with Lynam, The Velcro Pygmies, Within Reason, Almost Kings, and Rearview Ghost. I wrote down all that occurred to me, then reworded it to make it sound better. (I’m a writer; it’s what we do.) This is the final product.

There is something undeniably beautiful about local musicians. Their craft is shaped by the love of music, not just a love of money. Every note, every chord, every lyric, every performance is guided by emotion and unmarked by the ugliness of greed. Local musicians still have a certain purity about them. This is only emphasized by their ability to actually see themselves touching lives. They can watch an audience in a way that is lost with too much success. From the stage, they witness the smiles, the laughter, the tears, the words to their songs being sung. But even more importantly, after the show they can meet these individuals, exchange words and hugs, learn something about the person before them, forging a connection, however slight.

There is a level where all of this is lost. And as much as we all want success for the bands/artists we love so much, it is an unfortunate side effect that a lot of what made them beautiful will fade in the glare of the limelight. They still touch lives, still make people laugh and smile. However, it is no longer a major part of the job…and they begin to lose the personal side of things, working only for a bunch of nameless and faceless fans that become nothing more than sources of money.

Local musicians are the true celebrities. They are the ones who deserve respect, praise, awe, and love. We should all devote as much to their cause as they do. I personally would be lost without the local musicians that I am lucky enough to call friends.

(Let me add that I do not begrudge those who succeed. I have no issue whatsoever with those who worked their way to the top. On the other hand, I do have problems with these created artists who never do anything to earn fame but get shoved down everyone’s throats. For every one of those “artists” that exists, the dreams of a legitimate and deserving artist are being crushed.)