One of my favorite movie lines comes from The Outlaw Josey Wales:

“Endeavor to persevere.”

That phrase came to mind a few times this weekend.

Most people think the hard part of a solo gig is carrying the equipment. Sometimes it is.

But sometimes the hard part is keeping your focus when you’re not getting much feedback from the audience. You’re standing up there by yourself, singing songs, trying to keep the energy moving forward.

Years ago, a couple of beers might have helped smooth out the rough edges.

These days, it’s just me, a guitar, and whatever concentration I can bring to the table.

That’s where “endeavor to persevere” comes in.

Keep playing the next song.

Keep telling the next story.

Keep showing up.

By the end of the night, the music got played, the audience seemed happy, and everybody survived.

Most importantly, I had a great meal, and I got paid.

I’d call that a successful weekend.

Cartoon Corner

I’ve been having some fun experimenting with AI-generated cartoons lately.

Life is serious enough. Sometimes it’s fun to laugh at ourselves, laugh at the music business, laugh at RV life, and laugh at the strange situations we all seem to find ourselves in.

You’ll find a couple of cartoons below.

If you enjoy them, let me know in the comments and I’ll keep making them.

You might be a Mud-head.

From the Notes Section

I’ve started posting Notes on Substack most days.

Sometimes it’s a photo. Sometimes it’s a thought from the road. Sometimes it’s a new song.

This week’s note features a song with one of my favorite titles:

You Hurt Me So Bad I Don’t Even Want to Drink

https://alexmuddysmith.substack.com/notes

I’ve had that title floating around in my head for years. I finally decided to see what it sounded like.

You can listen to it and read the story behind it here:

And before anybody gets the wrong idea, there’s absolutely no truth to the song.

As W.C. Fields once said:

“A woman drove me to drink, and I never had the courtesy to thank her.”

Until next time,

Alex Smith

Musician • Songwriter •

P.S. If you’re looking for a brief escape from the daily news cycle, you’ll find music, photos, stories, cartoons, and occasional questionable wisdom over on my Notes page.