[jseth]

I've never been able to wrap my head around the whole "musician as gunslinger" ethos... maybe that's why I never made it BIG?!!!

Music, and art in general, aren't a competition... at least not in my book, they aren't. Sure, I want people to like what I play and what I write and to want to hire me for great gigs... but I don't feel excluded or "cut out" if another player gets the gigs they want. The more folks who are getting hired to play live music, the better, in my opinion...

As far as "cutting heads"? Sure, it still happens with jazz and blues - personally, I wouldn't willingly choose to play in that environment...

And, as far as the Jimi Hendrix/Eric Clapton reference? I don't believe that was "cutting heads" so much as Eric not really knowing who Jimi was and how he played... a phenomenon that caught more than a few guitarists of the day "out of their comfort zone"!!!