I've been somewhat obsessed with perfection lately. Perfection can wreak havoc on honesty. And honesty is essential to great art. (Or average art...or even below average art...okay honesty is just essential.)
There is a lot of talk these days about the direction of country music. A LOT of talk. There's been name calling. There's been tight pants. There's been lip synching. It has all the elements of a middle school talent show. What the country music genre doesn't have, though, is honesty. I don't really care who's fault it is. Blame the record label executives, blame the songwriters, blame the fans. You choose. I have no problem with those people. I have a problem with myself. As a professional in this industry, I have found myself more and more OBSESSED with perfection. Every note has to be perfect, every song has to be perfect, and everything has to be PERFECT.
And here's the problem with perfection...as soon as I say something is "perfect" or "imperfect," I'm judging it based on how I think it will be received.
So let's start making art again. Just write the song. Just play the notes. Just do what you love. That's what I'm gonna do. Who cares how our art is received. I've always wondered why music from the 1500s is still regarded as the best of all time. We've had over 500 years to improve ourselves...are we not improving because we are not as honest?
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