Am I Alone in This?

[journeybear]

I don't see how you figure that. Out of 23 responses, 7-8 have been admissions of the same or a similar situation, 10 have been advice and/or expressions of empathy. That doesn't sound like you're alone here, not with all this fellowship.

[tiltman]

I've got a couple of options for you:
- sing "old time" style songs. singing badly is considered "authentic"...
- sing Bob Dylan songs. nobody sings worse than Bob Dylan. (that's how I started out)

Kirk

[CarlM]

Even if you are actually as bad as you think you are there is potential for a professional career.

There are two ladies buried in the cemetery on the hill behind my house who were part of what has been labelled the worst musical and theatre act ever on Broadway or Vaudeville. They were known as the Cherry Sisters and were able to make significant income being booked around the Midwest and even on Broadway. People would come to jeer and throw tomatoes and worse at them. The reviews were awful but they kept getting booked because of rather than in spite of it. You just have to change your point of view

I salute them when I walk with my dog past their grave. They had courage and believed in themselves. I try to remember them on my bad days. Unfortunately or maybe fortunately they mostly performed before video or recording was around much and there do not appear to be any recordings available to tell what they were really like.

https://www.npr.org/sections/npr-his...worst-act-ever

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_Sisters

[Bob Gnann]

In reading through this discussion I am reminded of how I found my "IN" to playing at blue grass jams. I have a decent singing voice, not a lot of range, but suited for bluegrass, so being willing to sing is usually a good way to get involved in a jam session. But the real gateway is knowing a bunch of good old standards and ALL of the lyrics to those songs. Sing a song or two and its usually someone saying something like "Move on over here, sing us another....". I like when they say "Can I get you beer..."

[EdHanrahan]

... nobody is paying that much attention to you ...

SO true! I used to say that to a bandmate in the '60s, who wanted nothing more than to be the next teen idol. But he was sure that everyone was following his every finger-fretting move which, of course, made him just more nervous & prone to mistakes. "Joe, they really don't care because most are exactly like you: Way too busy thinking about themselves to pay attention to your issues."

[Willow20]

We went around the circle and its my turn to sing so, I just say "well I got a request earlier this evening" but Im gonna sing anyway.

[T.D.Nydn]

I’ll tell you right now my singing voice has to be far removed from civilized areas.I once walked into a market happily singing and some lady’s baby starts crying and she asks me to stop…another time I was singing for a friend and they say to me “ ok then,is there a melody that goes with that?”..so I confine my singing while taking a shower while working on my John Wayne imatations…