Off My Chest

Warning: This one is a “getting some things off my chest” blog.

In hosting music gigs in my own home and then trying to spread the idea of other people doing likewise I have somehow, perhaps inevitably, persuaded other folk to see me as a music “Promoter”.

Music Promoter is a very specific and important role, which helps to keep the whole touring phenomenon up and running. Some people do it for love and some for money. It basically involves making sure that musicians and audience find each other. Although a lot of musicians end up doing that work themselves these days.

Because I have been trying to establish local networks of Home gigs I have undoubtedly taken on this kind of role locally. My hope all along, was that others would see it happening, and run with the idea themselves. I’m not really a manager or organiser. But I’ve certainly had to do that sort of work.

The hope behind the hope though, was that I would find a way of being able to tour and play my own songs at this imagined wider network of Homesong venues. I wanted to find and inspire the people who really did love the idea of “promoting” a small gig in their homes. I was very up for the possibility of doing myself out of a job in that respect.

Though I’m proud of what has been built, I’m certainly still in the job. And the truth is I feel a bit stuck between a rock and a hard place right now in terms of a way forward. If I carry on taking and embracing opportunities to continue being a “promoter” here in Kintyre I would be able to continue promoting the idea of Homesong….but then the creativity and drive to write and create my own music inevitably suffers.

I’m writing this because another, potentially significant, request for acting as local Promoter has come up, at a time when, in my head, I was actually settled upon giving my own music some more time and energy. In that scenario, I would occasionally still host gigs in my own home, without making it a stick to beat myself with. I would enjoy that. But I also thought I could try to find Home gigs to play at myself, and spread the message in that way.

A Homesong friend, Norman Lamont, asked me in a recent conversation which was more important to me…my own music or the Homesong vision.

I couldn’t really separate them then. And I still can’t.

I like to write and create. I love to write songs and to write about the joy of gigs on a small grass roots level in homes. Increasingly I am enjoying performing and looking for more opportunities to do so. If I’m honest though, I don’t really want to be tied down to being an organiser and promoter.

Inevitably there are no easy answers to any of this. Nothing worth doing ever falls in to place just like that.

It helps to be able to put these words down on paper though.

And maybe a little light will break through soon.