Lyle, alot of good stuff here. I'll put another perspective on Taxi: I look at my Taxi membership as a motivator. Sometimes I'll get slack in the writing department because "I don't feel like it." Now, I've got a $300 - $400 investment that I don't want to be wasted. I definately have been more creative and productive since joining.

Second, Taxi has caused me to branch out into genres/styles that maybe were outside of my nice little comfort zone -- a necessity in becoming a better songwriter IMO.

Larry