I wrote a song in 1998 called “The Boat Joke”. I was working with a really great bass player at the time who came out to visit us at the ranch in Art, Texas. During our conversation he said something like “None of the music I'm playing floats my boat. Nothing moves me.” Of course, being a super sensitive soul (ridiculouly so), his words hurt my feelings terribly and inspired me to write The Boat Joke song. Writing songs can be so healing, in a way.
I stopped calling him for gigs after that although I really loved working with him. He was one of the best bass players in Austin, TX but as Stephen Stills sang “ You can't always get what you want" and I sure didn't want to work with someone who didn't dig what I was singing and playing. So I set him free. I'm sure he has no idea why we stopped working together.
He went on to play in a group with another gal in Austin, TX. Also worked with a number of other bands. As far as I could tell, he was still basically playing the same type of music.
The funny thing about rejection is…well, it's just part of life, isn't it? Write a song, chin up and keep moving forward. And then 26 years later you dust the song off, record it and upload it to your You Tube channel. Also funny the way the same feelings come back up. Kind of like when you're driving down the street and you hear a song from 30 years ago…a memory comes back and you're thrown back in time for a split second. And then you're back to now, moving forward and trying to do the next right thing.
I always loved this song for some reason. Hope you enjoy.
Wishing you well,
