This post should be written in bronze and mounted on a wall at the Smithsonian! Well said, Russell! Well said, indeed!!
Well, thanks for that, my friend.
I do respect other players, I just don't put them on pedestals. As for myself, I don't get better because I practice at it, trying to be better, but rather because I play, I get better naturally, whether I know it or not. Sure, I practice a part, but I mostly just play so I can express something. It's a hunger. No one can say it like I can, and I don't want them to, but I'll gladly also sit back and listen to what they have to say in their own way. Life's too short to worry if my playing is good or bad, whatever that means. Fact is, it means nothing. It's good to me, and good enough for others to have me play along with them. The enjoyment of it is multifold. The fun, the seriousness, the tears, the elation, sometimes even the glory, all take the player to a different level of existence.
Anyway, that's what my music is like, and how it is for me, ya'll. (I'm playing a benefit for free Friday, and can't wait to play again just so I can go there in my mind and heart).
