Storytelling #3 continued

Introduction:

song: Mockingbird

I just did what I was not supposed to do: make music.

• discouragement of music making (school, father, friends)
• I did the musical thing I wasn't told I couldn't do: I became a songwriter
• by the age of 19, my self-identity was as a singer/songwriter. 
• I entered the first songwriting competition I heard of: the Kerrville Folk Music Festival.

Body:

I entered, and was not selected for the new folk competition. I was furious and, from that moment on, determined to get in the contest.

• entering year after year, writing and sending in my best work
• rejection year after year, every year the suspense and consequences becoming higher
• entering and being selected to compete at Columbia River Folk Music Festival, performing songs that were Kerrville rejects
• winning the competition
• invitation to play main stage at Kerrville

performance of "I Could be Great at Romance" (1 verse)

I worked everyday for my appearance in front of the Kerrville audience.

• being on stage and performance, relax, Steve & Cindy, Alisa
• realization that I was being paid, etc, for performing songs that had previously been rejected.
• turning and facing the festival producer like a man possessed
• I stayed up way late at the festival, got an official ride to my hotel room, got snacks from the vending machine, cranked up the free air-conditioning, and immediately fell asleep.

Conclusion:

So what did I learn? It's really fun to compete if you're the winner and that, ultimately, it really is only the song that matters. Everybody is working hard to express themselves in song as well as they can. It's hard work, and ultimately the real reward is the song itself.

But it is fun to win and I had won in a big way. Victory and vindication.is the sweetest revenge of all.