Dawn Xiana Moon: Melodic folk pop infused with passion and honesty. From Chicago.

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Sunday, March 20, 2005

Sometimes encouragement comes from unexpected sources.

Last week I played four shows, two of which were volunteering at homeless shelters in Jackson and Ann Arbor, and while that was fun in many ways, it was disheartening to see few people at the concerts. It's standard at many cafes to play for tips, and when you only have five people in your audience even enthusastic fans probably won't leave you with much more than gas money, if that. Not so good when you're hoping for an income from this music thing. But you pay your dues and eventually you build enough of a fan base to move on to venues that will actually pay you. Or you get enough of a base that those same cafes are packed and you eventually have enough money to buy your own guitar. At least that's the idea. Ask any performer though, it's disappointing to play for small numbers (even if the people that do come are wonderful and much appreciated, because they definitely are!).

There are times you doubt yourself, doubt the wisdom of pursuing your passions and callings in opposition to the safe and secure. But at the Ann Arbor homeless shelter on Sunday, a man came up to me after the show and was adamant that I should keep playing, no matter what--mind you, I'd mentioned none of this about discouragement--and told me I had real passion and soul when I sang. That he could see God through me. (I told this story to my mom, who dismissed it: "Of course. It's easy to say nice things when you're not paying for the concert." She failed to realize that most of the venues I play don't charge a cover anyway.)

And then tonight a girl emailed me about a show I played a couple of weeks ago: "You really inspired me a whole-stinkin' lot! ...Your musical talent didn’t just 'tickle my fancy,' it really knelt down deep within me...." And again, there was mention that somehow, God was in the music (which is interesting, because I don't mention God in most of my songs).

So maybe there's something to this whole music thing after all. At the very least, it appears that I'm not wasting my time. Which is encouraging.

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