Sharing What We Make

I really hated yesterday’s (Sunday, the 23rd of Nov.) song:

I didn’t start out hating it. When I was writing it, I liked it. I thought it had an interesting structure. I was thinking a little about the various Johnny Cash songs where he sings about a man awaiting execution — maybe I was kind of riffing on that idea. But after trying a few times to do an acoustic version and then settling into something more produced, I ultimately decided that I really hated it. I hated the sounds I was using, I hated the melody, I hated everything about it.

And that’s OK.

One thing people often get tripped up on when we’re talking about song a day is the part about sharing what you make. Even if you’re not happy with it. To be honest, it’s not always easy. And furthermore, I am more than happy to concede that it may not be the best way to build an audience. Casual listeners might get turned off by some things, which is super unfortunate because you’d like to turn casual listeners into diehard fans.

But I DO think it’s the best way to get better at what you’re doing. It’s the best way to keep yourself accountable to a daily practice. It’s the best way to critical feedback on what’s working and what’s not. Music and writing and art is MEANT to be SHARED. It needs an audience to be complete.

Sharing everything I make is also often surprising: Longtime Song A Day listener “MisterNoHead” left this comment on the song:

“Oh my God J Mann … This track sounds amazing! So well done. I love it!
Top 5 %!!!!”

Literally every time I post a song that I’m really not happy with, I get some variation of that comment. Without fail. So that’s the final moral of the story: Sometimes we’re not the best judges of what we make.