I honestly don’t know when or how I heard this quote, but it has made its way into my consciousness whenever I contemplate my music and performance journey. In the story Alice in Wonderland, written by Lewis Carroll, the White Rabbit asks the King where he should begin. “Begin at the beginning," the King said, very gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop.” To me, these lines are so appropriate to know and remember. As performers and writers, we always want our desired success to happen sooner than it naturally or reasonably should. We want a world-wide following before building a smaller, perhaps local following. But life does not work that way. We have to start at the start and begin at the beginning of our artistic pursuit.
In 2022 and 2023, I performed at open mics, playing guitar and singing original songs. But the beginning is not only the first step but an entire portion of effort, performances, writing and networking. Given my pop/country/rhythm and blues genre, a fitting next step in the beginning is busking. And there is no better place than the Tamworth Country Music Festival (TCMF) at the end of January. It is one of the largest music festivals in Australia and the largest festival of this genre of music. I submitted my registration to busk on the ‘Boulevard of Dreams’ on Peel Street. I am ecstatic to say my registration has been accepted and I have been approved for busking. This is one of the same beginning steps taken by music superstar, Keith Urban and many other performers who have achieved great success in their careers. Where it will lead, time will tell, but I do plan on going until the end. The experience of so many others busking at the TCMF before me shows it is a great next step along the beginning of my path. And when you are so excited to do something like busking on a city street, that is SO at the beginning of a journey, then you know you are on the right path. Thank you for letting me share this journey with you.
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