Ray,

I saw one recently. It is what made me think of them. There is a store here that sells all kinds of those trivia items, like the plastic furniture of the sixties, the old aluminum Christmas trees, etc. for THOUSANDS of dollars. It is nuts. I don't think the TV works but it is a collector's item I guess.

The biggest thing people have to remember is how many other people are all trying to do the same thing. Tina's comment:

"I will find a way..because I am a writer and I believe in my songs, because they are life, they are reality either lived or witnessed and always have been and they are a part of me"

Is something I hear on an almost daily basis. And it is the truth. No one should ever let anyone tell them what they can and can't do. As a writer we can and should write whatever we want to. But as always, there is no right to be heard. So we have to play the rules as the established players do.

A lot of time we have these heated arguments from people out the periperies of the music business. People wonder, "why do the demos have to be so good? Why can't I just do the guitar vocal? Why do I have to spend so much money?"

To a writer who has achieved success this is pretty insulting. You see, all of us who have achieved any level of success or live here have given up everything.We have given up security, jobs, home, family, etc. to all move to a town that we don't know, had to find a way no matter how hard it was. We have to work four and five jobs to stay alive, have to still go to writer's nights, and find time to write with others. We have all the pressures everyone else does, kids, family, significant others, bills, etc. but we still have to find a way. And nobody pays for the things we do until we start achieving success.

So people who make those statements are really saying "I don't want to have to do what you do. I don't want to leave my kids and job. I have a decent house. I don't want to give that up. I need my vacation. I want my boat. Whatever. I don't want to have to do the demo. My wife wants that new couch. But I want the same success you have. I want people to hear my songs. I believe in what I am doing. Everybody needs to hear me."

The writer's nights, the trips, the writing with others, the demos, the networking, the expense, waiting in line, being frustrated and rejected is all part of "pledging the fraternity, saying "I know what you are going through, I'll do that too."

The demos are a huge part of the process. Just have to be smart about it.

MAB