Tags
audition, bluebird cafe, cora coco, cora vasseur, georgia middleman, nashville, rejection, rejection letter, trials and tribulations
I follow Huffington Post on Twitter and when I couldn’t sleep I checked my feed. They posted what a country singer learned from a rejection letter. You can find the article here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/georgia-middleman/blue-sky-riders-georgia-middleman_b_1542465.html
I’ve heard some pretty good responses or repurposing of rejection letters from lining a bird-cage, to new wall paper, to responding with your own rejection letter so I wanted to see what a country singer did.
Georgia Middlemann went down to Nashville to audition for the Bluebird Cafe (ironically I just got a shirt there from my dad who took one of his bands down to Nashville). She auditioned and then waited to hear if she made it in. She checked the box daily (as I would) and nothing was ever there. Finally something arrived. It was an “I’m sorry, not at this time. Play other clubs and come back”.
I empathized with her devastation and the thoughts she had about herself after reading this letter. Was she good enough? What was she thinking? Everyone was better than her. Then she decided to name herself a good singer/songwriter, she was good enough. She liked her singing and songwriting.
That struck a chord with me (no pun) and I liked that part. I could take something away from that. I expected to hear more trials and tribulations, going around Nashville, cutting her teeth, gathering a following, her Bluebird Cafe seeking her out because she had become so good. No. The day she deems herself a good singer/songwriter the Bluebird Cafe calls her. They sent her the wrong letter. They wanted to book her.
I was disappointed (not for her, that’s great her career is off and running). I kind of felt jipped by the article. I’ve had that sorry- wrong- letter happen but end in rejection. I pitched at my first screenwriting expo. I got two emails from the same agency within minutes of each other. The first one was “Sorry, not at this time”. The second one was “Sorry about the ‘sorry’. We would like to read the script.” Then weeks later it was “It’s a good idea, but not there yet” and I rolled over and played dead.
I’m sure she’s had rejection and challenges up to that audition. I’d rather hear about how she kept going. I’m sure she chose this event because it was a turning point in her life. She plays this venue on the regular now. Maybe her goal of going to Nashville and playing this venue was her beacon that kept her going, then to hear “We’re sorry.” That would have been devastating
That’s what I think happened.