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Of course, not Ron, I think you and I are in accord on this subject.
Absolutely Mike, It takes a lot of cojones to go up there and play your stuff in front of an audience. Especially when most guitarist tend to be quite personal and introspective folk too, something that was pointed out to me by someone in Spain and I've found to be absolutely true. I had the pleasure of meeting Ramon de Algeciras in the back room of a small theatre in Madrid and a quieter, more humble man you could not hope to meet. Same for Serranito. Very "ordinary" guys.
I take your point about technique and have read Ron's message now too and I'm sure that it's true that there is no excuse for not bothering to learn and polish techniques - that would be laziness for one thing and for another, lack of technique would clearly be very limiting - and I speak as a beginner with little technique. I hope that I can learn and polish the techniques, but far more than that get a good understanding of the compas and rythmns - but most importantly for me, that it can be a vehicle of heartfelt expression.
ORIGINAL: Miguel de Maria A healthy dose of self-delusion goes a long way here. I had a couple of interesting gigs this weekend, maybe my two most interesting ever!
Great story Mike, it takes a lot of guts to survive both those situations - the last minute ensemble thing and the "oh my god this is a concert, people are actually listening". I got nervous just reading it
Well done for getting thru it all with a smile on your face, and entertaining people into the bargain.