Wes Tibbets

Hi MAB,The first of those stories sounds like a "Damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario. On one hand, you post songs in the hope that somebody may take notice and a door will open. And then on the other hand, if they do notice it, they won't record it and the door is slammed shut. To me, that is like Mark Zuckerberg telling his employees not to use the term "all lives matter" because "black lives matter" refers to the oppression of the black race. And yet there he is in the same breath oppressing others by denying them the right to their own opinions and free speech. Seems like a lose, lose situation any way you approach it. Specially for someone like me.Sorry Tina is sick. I'm guessing it is the same thing you had last week just making its rounds through the house. I hope she starts feeling better and the two of you enjoy your vacation. Don't forget the sunscreen. And wear shorts when you go. You may regret it prior to leaving if the weather is cool but you'll definitely appreciate it once you hit the humidity of the islands. Best wishes!

Hi Larry,I hope you are doing well. I found this odd in a funny kind of way and I found this funny in an odd kind of way. I'd like to hear it sang. I agree with Les that it seems like a quirky little tune. Best wishes!

Hi Jackie,I really like the story line. It's really powerful. I do agree with Carl that you might consider lengthening it out a little bit. You write very well though. I wish you the best of luck with it. Best wishes and welcome to the forum!

Hi Justin,The California thing was a business decision. I was working with distributors and supply companies trying to meet a multi-million dollar deadline. As soon as I would tell them I was from Texas, they would drag their feet and become difficult. I was on a tight schedule and didn't need the hassle. It was easier to just say I was from Oklahoma so that I could meet my deadline. Otherwise, their stupidity would've affected my job and my work reputation. I never had come in on a job late before and I certainly wasn't going to come in late on that one. I had enough headaches compensating for a design that wasn't earthquake friendly in an area where earthquakes are common. Considering that it cost my company $250,000 every day that I didn't meet my deadline and $1.7 million if I engineered the site wrong for every minute the main frames went down, I had a lot bigger headaches to deal with than caring whether someone thought I was from Texas or Timbuktu. So I adapted to overcome.More than once, I've seen first hand where that Texas bravado can land you. I have a good story about that. It really pertains to what MAB said about people going to Nashville and getting their panties in a wad because Nashville doesn't do things the way they think they should. When I got my first divorce, I went to Jamaica with another cousin of mine to celebrate my freedom. The very first day we were there, I was walking down the beach with no shirt on and a pair of shorts and flip flops. Right beside me was my cousin wearing cowboy boots, starched jeans, red long sleeved starched shirt, cowboy hat and a buckle bigger than he was. He treated the people there badly too. In his mind, they were from a 3rd world country and by God, he was from Texas. It took me all of about 5 minutes to make up my mind that I needed to lose him. The sooner the better. And I did too. I met up with some Jamaican guys and spent my vacation doing as the "Romans" do. I have no idea what my cousin did. But I do know that he hated it there and I loved every second of it.  I also know that when we arrived, I had about $1000 on me and he had several thousand on him. When we got back to the states, I still had $850 and he was broke. We were there a week and the only thing I paid for was mostly just souvenirs to bring home to my family. Everything else was just given to me. And I stayed tore up from the floor up the whole time I was there. As soon as I walked through customs on arrival, the guy driving our shuttle bus from Montego Bay to Negril offered me some "Ganja". I took it to the dismay of the other six people who were also on the shuttle. They complained for ten miles. I finally went up to the driver and asked him if there was a place I could stop and get some rolling papers. He pulled the shuttle bus into this little dive, took what I had with him, walked into this little building and came back out a few minutes later with a brown paper bag with my stuff rolled up. To say the least, that really had everybody complaining at me. And when they saw I had every intention of firing one up, all hell broke loose. Finally the driver took up for me and told them that "In Jamaica it's no problem mon!" So, I lit it up, puffed away and before we got to Negril 5 of the 6 people on that bus including the driver had decided to join the party. Before I left Jamaica, I dumped out a whole backpack full of "ganja" on my bed because I knew I couldn't take it with me. All told, I paid $20 for all of it. Now, you may very well not approve of what I did, but once again, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." Except in this case, it was Jamaica.

Hi Marc,Based on what you wrote, why do these sites have song and lyric forums? After reading your reply, I pretty much decided that I just won't post anymore. I rarely get good advice and if I collaborate with someone, I don't get the sound or quality that I'm looking for. And that isn't a knock against anyone. I understand why people are reluctant to post their true opinions on posts. I've seen people over react many times. And the same goes for collaborating on songs, even if you don't like what they've done to one, you feel reluctant to say anything because you don't want to hurt their feelings. So really, there doesn't seem to be much point in it.

Sorry I haven't posted or written much lately. I'm still here. I've just been reading and trying to soak up as much as I can. I met with my friend, Kevin, that I mentioned. We worked on two of my songs together, "What Are You Doing In My Head" and "Give Me A Moment". It was a great session. He's going into the studio in a couple of weeks and I'm driving down to sit in on it. The guy who owns the studio is also the copyright attorney that I spoke to a few weeks ago. He's a published poet, an award winning author and has asked me to write some poems and speak at a festival they are having in May. He also asked Kevin to invite me to a "spoken word" convention (poetry related) in Oklahoma City sometime in the near future. Supposedly to be introduced to a publisher there with ties to BMI. Some lady....I can't remember her name. But apparently she's the one who bought several of Kevin's songs and pushed them through BMI. And she's also a judge. Not sure about all of that though. That's just the jist of what I understood him to say. I was published in the 90's for poetry I wrote. Even invited to recite poetry one year at an international convention of poets in Washington, DC. But I never did it. I never took it seriously and  I quit writing poetry when I started writing lyrics. However, from what I gather, these people know a lot of people in the music industry and publishing. So I'll at least entertain the idea until I know more and can make a sound decision. At least I'm connecting at some level with people.I also did an online search for musicians in the Wichita Falls area. I've sent several of them messages introducing myself. I didn't say anything to them about collaborating with them. I just asked them if they knew of any kind of local efforts to have songwriting nights and open mics that I might attend. And if not, maybe start trying to set up something along those lines. In the process of googling that stuff, I happened to discover where the Beaird Music Group had come to Wichita Falls in 2014 and did a songwriters affair in town. I would've loved to have attended that. But that gives me some hope that eventually something else along those lines will happen again locally.I"ve also been trying to make up my mind about a couple of things that have popped up in the various songwriting forums I'm a member of. But I was saving those to write you about in an email at a later time along with other questions I might have that I don't think would benefit me if I posted them in here. Somebody might read it and take it the wrong way or think I'm referring to them when I'm not. I may be able to answer them for myself and if not, then I'll wait until several pile up and include it all in one email so as not to waste too much of your time. I know you have a lot of irons in the pot. I will ask you about one thing though if you don't mind. When Kevin and I were talking, he told me that he knew several artists out there who come into these songwriting forums and read our lyrics. They may never partake in the posting themselves of music or lyrics. Or reply to any of them. But in their spare time, it's something a lot of artists do. Is that true? I know I often may have only a select number of replies but may have 150 or even more views. I kind of thought it was just other writer members in the forum checking it out or the same people viewing it each time somebody replies or I do a rewrite. But Kevin told me that I'd be surprised at how many really good artists and songwriters come in and read through the better lyrics on these sites. Is he right about that? On one hand, that is flattering if it is true but on the other hand, it worries me that others might be using it to hijack our ideas. What are your thoughts on that?

Hi MAB,I hope you are feeling better. I can relate to a lot of what you wrote. I experienced the same thing when I was in L.A. Several times, I'd start speaking to someone or ask a question and they would cut me off in mid-sentence just to ask me where I was from (the accent). I would reply that I was from Texas and it would instantly bring this cold shoulder, icy attitude out of them. I soon learned to just say Oklahoma. It seemed to do the trick because I quit getting an attitude about it. People from elsewhere love to hate Texans and Texans love to hate people from elsewhere. But the truth is, in my many travels back and forth across the country, I made friends easily with almost everyone I met. To give a little insight into myself, I'm a card carrying Democrat in a Republican world. I hate politics and don't like talking about them but if someone asks, I'm not afraid to say I'm a Democrat. I've always marched to the beat of my own drum. In the small towns of West Texas, town to town people are very cliquish. In Rochester where I was raised, all of the teens and party crowd would meet downtown every evening and they had their own little world that stopped at the city limit sign. I was different though. I would wave at them as I passed by to head to other towns in the area chasing girls and having the guys from those towns follow me around all night trying to start a fight because I was stealing their "girls". Cops would stop me when I rolled by because I wasn't "from there'. And I imagine the fact I was blaring heavy metal while I cruised didn't help my cause much. In effect, I was always a fairly liberal person in an ultra conservative world. When I went traveling, I discovered that more people are like me than like them. I fit into places that none of those people ever would have. When I worked in Tennessee years ago, I spent time in Memphis, Knoxville and Nashville. I liked it there. But I've known other people who have been there and they hated it. Years ago, in the mid to late 2000's, my first cousin from Oklahoma was pursuing a country music career. He recorded a few songs. They were pretty good. He has a nice singing voice and the sound was there for the most part. But I had already been involved in writing lyrics for a few years. Quite frankly, I thought his lyrics were mediocre at best. Anyway, he saved his money and just knew he was going to make it big. He decided to go to Nashville. I spoke with him shortly before he left and tried to warn him. I told him, "Look John, I read lyrics every day. I'm a moderator and member in songwriting forums. And to be honest, they aren't your strength. You really need to develop them more before you go to Nashville or you're going to find that you're in for a big disappointment.". Oh man, he got upset at me. He didn't like my opinion one bit.So, off he went to make it big in Nashville. He went to some songwriter nights, performed for a few people, pitched his songs and then came slinking back to Oklahoma with his tail between his legs. He quit making music, quit pursuing a career in country music and became a preacher. Years later, he apologized to me for his reaction when I tried to warn him. As it turned out, I was spot on with my critique of his lyrics. That wasn't the only thing that he received criticism about but it was first and foremost. But his experience warped his opinion of Nashville for a long time. And from what I gather, that is something that happens to a lot of artists whether they are from Texas or not. The truth is, there are things I like about Nashville that I don't like about Texas music and vice versa. Both are flawed in their own ways. And there is a beauty to both of them as well. I think the key is to remain grounded and be realistic. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. The people who learn how to adapt tend to make it and those who don't, tend not to. And that doesn't just apply to music. That applies to life in general.

Hi Bill,Thanks for the kind words. To most people, this comes across as a ballad but it really isn't intended that way. I added an acapella recording of the way I hear it. Or ballpark considering I can't sing or play. I guess the chorus plays out the way you think it does. I can't really explain that too well. It just came together like it did. The sound I'm looking for is similar to Bart Crow's "Life Comes At You Fast" with the vocal delivery, tempo and energy. Unfortunately, I can't do that with my limited abilities. But that's the idea anyway. I hope you are doing well. Best wishes!

Thanks Carl,Texas isn't an alimony state but when I won custody of the kids, I was supposed to receive child support 10 years and $15,000 in back owed payments later and the AG still wouldn't make her pay it or punish her like they would men. Divorce is gender biased. I appreciate the input and stuff. I hope you are doing well today. Best wishes!