Last night, I opened up the stage for Willy Porter at the Mill in Iowa City. For the first time in our marriage, my wife saw me starting to get nervous. I was thankful for her presence, and my friend Jeff for supporting me and helping me relax before I started to play.
Plain and simple, there are many qualities of Mr. Porter’s music which far exceed mine, if I choose to look at it that way.. To be honest, I was looking at it that way for a while before the show, and sometimes after, and even a little bit now. I just had to keep reminding myself why I sing. Why I write. Why I perform. By defining my goal without comparisons to another artist, I can still believe that what I provide is valuable to myself and my audience. I write to speak, to express, to connect with myself, my listeners, and God. To reach that part of us, in all aspects of life, that is the hardest to say, whether that be joy, anger, relief, triumph or sorrow.
By focusing on my mission, comparisons fell away, and I could smile and work through the jitters, just happy for an opportunity to connect with an audience and with the hard to express part of myself.
All that being said, Willy and Carmen were amazing. They sounded great, but more importantly, they are great people, genuinely caring and interested in their family of fans.
William Stonewall Monroe
William Stonewall Monroe 