Finding Your Artistic Voice

One of the most important but difficult things I've encountered in my recent journey as a musician is the process of finding my voice as an artist.  For most of my life, the content and style of what I've performed has been determined by external forces; sometimes by the audience, sometimes by the organization.  Usually I'm playing in a group that has a predetermined sound or style and my job is to blend in with it.  That's okay, I don't mind blending in and I'm fairly good at it.  And its given me the ability to perform a very wide variety of styles.

But as a solo artist, or as a singer/songwriter it's different.  Now I can write or sing anything that's within my ability.  There's a different set of questions.  I started with questions like "What will get me some paying gigs?"  The entertainer in me asked, "What will this audience respond to?"  The artist in me has been slow to answer the questions, "What do I want to say?" and "How do I want to say it?"

For the moment, the songwriting has been taking the lead in artistic development.  I've discovered the sad truth about myself that I don't really rock.  When I started doing some serious songwriting, I wrote upbeat songs so that I would have something to play that would go over well with the open mic bar crowd.  These songs are holding up pretty.  But now I'm writing more personal songs and they seem to going in a old country/roots/americana/bluegrass direction.

I'm asking myself, "Why?"  Why is the Johnny Cash, Bill Monroe, Dwight Yoakam influence coming to the service? I've performed at the Schuster Center and Carnegie Hall with the Dayton Philharmonic Chorus, but I find myself feeling more comfortable at little bars and clubs.  And retirement homes.  Go figure.  I think that in spite of my aspirations and illusions to the contrary, I am a commoner.  Common as dirt.  That was my upbringing, and that's my preference.  I like hanging out with common people.  I despise things that reek of arrogance or pretension.  I guess it shouldn't be a surprise for it to show up in my music.