I’m a sap for neighborhood-level arts. I can’t abide arena shows, and I’m not even very interested in 500 seat shows. But I loved the person who played before me at the Talking Stick the other night, a singer songwriter named Whitney Steele:

She was a good singer, and I liked that she got a bunch of friends to hang out, like her girlfriend who brought her child. Playing local gigs is about introducing your friends to one another, and they seemed to be a pretty natural social scene. You could see that she was at ease with them and vice versa.

The one thing which is hard to accomplish is that they need to be able to focus on one another rather than you. It’s not about you. Yeah, your music and personality are a factor, but unless you’re Picasso they’re only part of the deal.