Jealousy among Bandmates, Collaborators, and/or their spouses/steady

[Anifa]

I got caught up in snare yesterday evening while talking to an old long term friend, ex-bandmate, and collaborator. He has got about $5,000.00 + of "MY" music gear setting at his place that he's been using while my place has been under construction. Just catching each other up on current issues and times, he asked if I had started seeing anyone yet. I told him that I had been talking to a VERY intriguing man with hopes of it growing into more. My friend got HELL BENT jealous; he and I have NEVER been anything more than PLATONIC friends and he starts rambling about any and everything like a madman. I hadn't mentioned getting my equipment back at that point, but it was the reason for my call... I let him cool down some prior to mentioning that I wanted to arrange to pick up some of my equipment. When I did bring it up at the end of the call, he got real snide and said "WELL, you can drop by at ANY TIME and FIND that's it's ALL here and NOT sitting in a PAWN SHOP somewhere!" Of course, one has to THINK about that possibility when trusting the equipment in the hands of others; but I hope I don't have anything to worry about there... I'll GET MY EQUIPMENT. Last nights' outburst from him reminded me of other episodes involving jealousy stemmed by, what I call, "musical marriages." I have had situations throughout my endeavors with other musicians that have destroyed perfect musical masterpiece projects. Once, during a time when I was going to the Conservatory of UMKC, I contracted a studio musician to play and record what I had written on paper while I sang. There was an INSTANT chemistry going on musically with both myself and the arranger/ochestrator recognizing the potential of our union. At $25.00 an hour back in 1985, he and I completely finished and recorded one song and nearly a second. His WIFE started seeing the excitement of MUSIC INSPIRATION AND CHEMISTRY and the jealousy set in. I had absolutely "NO" interest in interfering in a marriage, and I didn't feel there was ANY threat when "I" was shelling out $25.00 a hour for the services I was receiving. This crazy woman began jacking around with the book keeping, overcharging me for hours, or services I had not even discussed, let alone, used. I confronted the owner, who was the mother/partner of the studio musician, with the discrepancies in the books; which she corrected. At that time she informed me that the wife viewed me as a threat and told me that her daughter-in-law had stole her son away from his first wife. I was puzzled as to why she would think of "ME" as a threat when "I WAS PAYING FOR A SERVICE." Anyway, I tried coping with the nonsense for a couple more sessions and the environment was SO tense that I couldn't even relax enough to feel comfortable singing. This broad MADE SURE to be present at ALL scheduled times!!! I just got sick of it and abandoned the interest of working with a GREAT MUSICIAN because of the baggage he had stuck under his feet. Again this happened just a couple of years ago. I was dealing with a recording engineer online through a project workshop, and after some time of communicating with a collaborator from Maryland who was also a mutual virtual friend to the engineer, we arranged to meet and discuss his potential of laying my vocal tracks down on top of the instrumental tracks that were generated by my collaborator and produced in Md. We had been communicating online for over a year when we finally arranged a meeting. His wife had always been cordial over the phone to me, and it was arranged to where she would be present at our time of meeting. This engineer owned his own franchise of a major electronics retail outlet which was an ideal place of common grounds to meet someone that I had only known from the Internet. As I entered into the store, introductions were exchanged and immediately the atmosphere grew heavy when the wife entered from the back room. She was NOT receptive of the introduction what-so-ever, although, I had spoke with her several times on the phone prior to the meeting. After she left to return to her office of employment; the engineer was actually embarrassed and started trying to explain that his wife was not normally so rude. He could not understand her behavior toward me and tried to level the environment. He and I discussed a few terms at the time, but for some reason, I knew instantly what the end result would be. From that point forward, everytime I would leave a message with the wife, it was never relayed. She was hateful in speaking to me, and although I briefly mentioned her change in attitude to ( :confused: ), he accepted her input that ANY dealings with ME would be supervised by her. He wanted to keep peace inside of his home; I asked him what in the "hey" she was worried about because I "WAS GOING TO BE PAYING FOR HIS SERVICES!" "CASH" This kind of garbage just PEEVES the heck outta me! Are these guys in busines or not??? I guess these daytripper women can't trust their men any further than they can see them; but they shouldn't underestimate PAYING clientel... it could be their next paycheck they are messing with. Anybody out there ever had any problems like this AS a customer, or as a provider of service dealing with a jealous spouse? Ever wonder why all your opposite sex clients that have a chemistry keep disappearing???? I refuse to work with ANY service that is not professional in this sense.

[Henchman]

It's simple. Take the reputation of the industry. And my guess is that these women hooked up with their spouses as groupies becasue they were in the "musicbiz". And now they think that if they leave their hubby alone with a musician of the opposite sex, you'll do eaxactly what they did themselves, which is throw yourself allover him.

[Sylver]

Well, some people in shaky relationships have real problems when thier sigs come in contact with anyone who thier partner could be attracted to. My advice: Next time you feel this starting to happen, flirt with the woman. ;) Yeah, I know you're not [i]that[/i] way, you've stated it rather emphatically before. But, it will surely end the threat right there.

[Anifa]

[quote]Originally posted by Sylver Bleeds Green: [b]Well, some people in shaky relationships have real problems when thier sigs come in contact with anyone who thier partner could be attracted to. My advice: Next time you feel this starting to happen, flirt with the woman. ;) Yeah, I know you're not [i]that[/i] way, you've stated it rather emphatically before. But, it will surely end the threat right there.[/b][/quote]ROTFLMAO :D This is hilarious! You think so, eh? What if she's BI and she thinks I'm into threesomes.... I DON'T EVEN WANT TO GO THERE! Boy, I can feel this topic getting ready to spin out of control.

[Anifa]

[quote]Originally posted by Henchman: [b]It's simple. Take the reputation of the industry. And my guess is that these women hooked up with their spouses as groupies becasue they were in the "musicbiz". And now they think that if they leave their hubby alone with a musician of the opposite sex, you'll do eaxactly what they did themselves, which is throw yourself allover him.[/b][/quote]I suppose you're right about the way they prolly acquired their husbands. Thing is, are they going to pick and choose every client their husband does business with? God forbid their husband ever gets a contract to record a pop star. If I were a man myself, I would NOT WANT MY WIFE dictating my career potential; but that's just me. I'm a hard headed career minded individual as a woman.... I'd probably be impossible as a man. :D BUT SUCCESSFUL!!!

[Sylver]

[quote]Originally posted by Anifa: [b] [quote]Originally posted by Sylver Bleeds Green: [b]Well, some people in shaky relationships have real problems when thier sigs come in contact with anyone who thier partner could be attracted to. My advice: Next time you feel this starting to happen, flirt with the woman. ;) Yeah, I know you're not [i]that[/i] way, you've stated it rather emphatically before. But, it will surely end the threat right there.[/b][/quote]ROTFLMAO :D This is hilarious! You think so, eh? What if she's BI and she thinks I'm into threesomes.... I DON'T EVEN WANT TO GO THERE! Boy, I can feel this topic getting ready to spin out of control.[/b][/quote]If she was BI and into threesomes, then she wouldn't be threatened, would she? I mean, if she gets mean and possesive, she's not looking at you as a playmate, right?

[Anifa]

Okay Sylver, I'm gettin' an Edumacation here! Still.... I'M NOT GONNA GO THERE... don't want the unexpected surprises.

[Lee Flier]

Oh boy... I'm not EVEN gonna touch this subject...

[michael saulnier]

Anifa, It's funny you've had this problem a couple of times. Keep in mind that you're more than an attractive lady who is doing business with these jealous wives guys... you're also a passionate musician yourself. From your posts, the "wives" weren't. To me, this is a significant point. You can "give" their guys something THEY never can. A "music" connection. For musicians who have relationships with non-musicians, it's like they have a part of them that can never be truely shared. It's a connection that is often meaningful, and more of a "partnership" than what many husband and wives have outside of raising their kids. NONE of this is your fault. It's just you're potentially a "dream come true" in more than one way... and that was apparently VERY threatening to these sad ladies. It's a shame. Maybe you could use someone locally as your "beard"... you know, go along with you as your "significant other" when you meet the "misses"... :freak: Or maybe it's the high heels, fishnet stockings, micro-mini, and halter top you wear to these meetings... :D (If this is true, would you post a picture?) :freak: guitplayer

[Anifa]

[quote] Keep in mind that you're more than an attractive lady who is doing business with these jealous wives guys... you're also a passionate musician yourself. From your posts, the "wives" weren't. [/quote]Yes, you are correct; neither women had music abilities. What really got to me with the engineer is the fact that last Christmas (and this Christmas too) he worked on recording a Christmas Special CD featuring Steve Walsh of Kansas, and although we never worked in person again, this guy and I still communicate through the workshop and online. Once he completed his portions of work of the project, he sent both Barrie (my collaborator in MD) and I copies of the CD and then took pictures of the Christmas Special where Walsh performed at the church Parrish sponsoring the CD. When I opened the pictures, I laughed. Here was the wife all cozied up right up against Steve Walsh while hanging onto his arms that were folded together. Here was :confused: standing in the background just kind of looking like a fixture on the wall. I called Barrie and we had a good chuckle over it; the CD project that was offered to this guy was to assist in the completion of a competition entry for the Entertainment Industries Council, PRISM Awards. The program director at PRISM had contacted me through my site and asked if I could provide any music entries as they were not receiving many inside to category of music. Instead of jumping on the opportunity as it had been presented, I went ahead and provided exposure on MY site for the competition. Ozzy Osborne claimed the award with Nickleback being a runner up. I was invited to the award ceremony to where I would have got to spend some time in the company of Ozzy and Nickleback, but other priorities at that time were more demanding. Fact is, I don't need to worry about trying to steal some daytrippers' man to get my foot in the door of the Music Biz................. I've been invited for dinner on more than one occassion. No big deal!

[Sylver]

Yeah, I know, I have a twisted mind.

[Skip_dup1]

fact: the gadgets people use have evolved a LOT faster than people themselves. A pity, really.

[Chip McDonald]

[quote]Originally posted by Anifa: [b] Here was the wife all cozied up right up against Steve Walsh while hanging onto his arms that were folded together. Here was :confused: standing in the background just kind of looking like a fixture on the wall. [/b][/quote]Henchman is right on the mark. I can think of about 4 exact cases of what you've just described off the top of my head. However, you're always going to have problems collaborating with members of the opposite sex who are involved with someone else, that's only natural.

[Skip_dup1]

[quote]Originally posted by Henchman: [b]It's simple. Take the reputation of the industry. And my guess is that these women hooked up with their spouses as groupies becasue they were in the "musicbiz". And now they think that if they leave their hubby alone with a musician of the opposite sex, you'll do eaxactly what they did themselves, which is throw yourself allover him.[/b][/quote]I think the relationship is a little different here-we`re talking about professional collaboration between equals. I would think any woman who can see past her own hangups would be supportive of another woman out there working as an independent pro.

[Mats Olsson.]

Some years back I lived with a very possesive woman, it made it difficult to keep a natural creative flow at work (recording, producing etc.). Even after I left her - she had very big problems in accepting that I'd rather lived alone, she stalked me for almost a year. This thread made me look back and what I find even stranger is that she herself had a very free and creative job (photographer) where she met attractive men all the time, something that I never ever considered a threat or a even a minor cause for concern. This topic is important, thanks for bringing it up, Anifa! /Mats

[The Bear Jew]

OK... Here's what you do: KILL EVERYONE. Then you have no problems. Just kidding. Kill the jealous bitches. OK. Just kidding. It's so hard to walk this line. I'm pretty lucky. My band plays a lot of shows, which are often heartily populated with attractive young women. My wife can't always be at our shows to "supervise" my behavior. Considering that many of these shows are more than 200 miles from our home, I'm sure this is sometimes difficult for her. She knows I'm an outgoing guy and that I am a huge flirt. To compound the issue, we also have a strikingly attractive young female roadie who accompanies us for most every traveling show. So... Why hasn't my wife "Bobbited" me? Why are we still happily married? Simple answer: Trust, respect and love. She trusts that I'll respect our marriage because I love her. It goes both ways. I don't hassle her about her male friends or the time she spends with them, either. I'm totally honest about the girls that hit on me, and my wife has seen all the pictures of me hugging these girls. The girls know I am not available, and even though a few think that makes me a "challenge," the majority respect my relationship. It's not hard to avoid cheating if you think with your head and not your penis. When it comes to "professional" relationships... well... that's a little blurrier, but just as cut-and-dry. Writing/working relationships are tough for "outsiders" to understand. Whenever I play with a female songwriter/vocalist/musician, other musicians (male and female) always ask me if I'm "bangin' that piece of ass." I just laugh. I don't confirm or deny -- it's none of their business, and any response I would give to a question like that could easily backfire on me. I just keep my mouth shut. Let them think what they want to think. The bottom line is this: if we work together, it's a [b]professional[/b] relationship. Period. I wouldn't mess with them no matter what. This has to be made abundantly clear to the people in our private lives so that there is no confusion. If there's a problem with that, it has to be dealt with RIGHT away, RIGHT out in the open, so that everyone understands. This can be ugly, but the problem usually amounts to trust, time or jealousy issues. After fidelity is clearly established, these are the only real problems that can exist, and they're all the types of things that must be dealt with through personal introspection or in the private relationship. I dunno... I never have a problem with this.

[ernest828]

Well this is unfortunate and has happened to me as well. Several years ago I was looking for a drummer for the Church I work at. A young woman around my age (27) was interested until her boyfriend got wind of it. I called her house and he answered and told me quite strongly and w/attitude, "Shes not interested and will not be. Do not call here again." Well me being my normal self, I thought the guy was just having a bad day. Anyway I see these two in Church several weeks later and approached him first and introduced myself. He was still being standoffish and sort of giving me this look like, "What the ????" My nonchalant introduction did nothing to ease the situation. When she walked over she told me personally she would not be able to play and then I realized the poor situation the girl found herself in. She was marrying an insecure and jealous beast. Last time I saw her... Its unfortunate that spouses or girlfriends/boyfriends continue to do this. Its nothing new... I call it YOKO ONO SYNDROME. EJB

[Anifa]

said by CMDN: [quote] So... Why hasn't my wife "Bobbited" me? Why are we still happily married? Simple answer: Trust, respect and love. She trusts that I'll respect our marriage because I love her. It goes both ways. I don't hassle her about her male friends or the time she spends with them, either. I'm totally honest about the girls that hit on me, and my wife has seen all the pictures of me hugging these girls. The girls know I am not available, and even though a few think that makes me a "challenge," the majority respect my relationship. It's not hard to avoid cheating if you think with your head and not your penis. [/quote]I'm sort of in a mind set that, I want my man to EXPECT me to look good for him and I want him to be willing to put effort in to look good for me. I don't want to be married to a SLOB, or a lazy couch potatoe. If he looks good for me, obviously, he's going to look good for other women, and vice versa. I don't want him crawling all over my butt because some man is trying to get my attention and, on the same note, I'm not going to be in his face if he speaks with an attractive lady; especially not if she is someone who is capable of assisting him in the advancement of his career pursuit. If I were to feel threatened, I'd go to him for reassurance, NOT the chick; and I certainly wouldn't go behind his back to deal dirty deeds. I would hope he would show me the same respect and love. The love and the trust HAS to be there for one to be successful if they are romantically involved. It just has to be understood that no matter what opportunities present themselves, TWO PEOPLE have a strong enough bond and a love that with serve as a shield against becoming weak. Why would ANYONE ever want to take a chance at screwing "HAPPY" up; I know I wouldn't need to think twice about some handsome hunk coming on to me if I was happy at home... I woundn't care if it were Ben Afflick (sp?) offering to buy my mother a Mercedes Benz as a house warming gift; you don't chance screwing happy up. Happiness is priceless.

[Sylver]

My wife got pissed at me for sleeping with a groupie. This kinda confused me, becuase she's my only groupie. :freak: Anywho, it seems to me that maybe if the guy isn't strong enough to lay down the law and get his wife to stop making things uncomfortable, maybe he's not all he seems anyway. I'm not saying one has to be all macho and keep your woman in place or anything. It's just that if he has communication issues with his wife, maybe it spills over into his business relationships too.

[coyote]

One would think this would be the case. Unfortunately, many folks never get round to that introspection.... even after it's too late. [quote]Originally posted by CMDN: [b]It's not hard to avoid cheating if you think with your head and not your penis. After fidelity is clearly established, these are the only real problems that can exist, and they're all the types of things that must be dealt with through personal introspection or in the private relationship. I dunno... I never have a problem with this.[/b][/quote]

[Chip McDonald]

[quote]Originally posted by Anifa: [b]Why would ANYONE ever want to take a chance at screwing "HAPPY" up;[/b][/quote]People don't want "happy", they want more more MORE! [b] I know I wouldn't need to think twice about some handsome hunk coming on to me if I was happy at home... [/b] Sure, I believe you... you're female, right?

[Anifa]

[quote]Originally posted by Chip McDonald: [b] [quote]Originally posted by Anifa: [b]Why would ANYONE ever want to take a chance at screwing "HAPPY" up;[/b][/quote]People don't want "happy", they want more more MORE! [b] I know I wouldn't need to think twice about some handsome hunk coming on to me if I was happy at home... [/b] Sure, I believe you... you're female, right?[/b][/quote]Chip, The MORE people tend to have, the LESS happy they seem to be. I've lived a little, I've lived a lot, and I've lived enough to know that money is not the answer to a fulfilled life. You can surround yourself with material things, live a life of the elite, and still feel empty inside. I'll spare you the details, but I have walked away from multitudes of wealth just to have my individuality and to be who I am rather than who someone thinks I should be. I don't like RULES that don't agree with my way of life and I've NEVER been a gold digger, so therefore, I'm not one to send a man to the cleaners if I can't agree with his ways. ANYWAY..... As far as your other bit: [quote] I know I wouldn't need to think twice about some handsome hunk coming on to me if I was happy at home... Sure, I believe you... you're female, right? [/quote]Trust me on this one.... handsome hunk DOES NOT mean performance!!! I'll let you figure that one out for yourself. Damn straight, I'd keep my heart at home cause I'd know I'd be going home to a great man, and some fantastic lovin... I won't settle for anything less!

[videoeditor1]

Hi Anifa, Have me met? I'm NYC Drew. :wave: You may just be too ... "sensual" for you own good. I'm not gonna ask you to dress dowdy or dress down or anything like that. I too have a problem with jealous wimmens who feel threatened in their relationships. :D There are some types I just don't work with, cuz it's not worth the aggravation and the extra effort to keep spouses (mine, theirs), and ex flames placated. Just as for other reasons I may not take on a computer client or a music client because our work methods differ. That is a component of doing business. Recently, I had to fire a great (extraordinarily great) drummer. Reason? 1. Little or no programming chops (on a MPC 2000XL, for crying out loud) 2. Personality. The person does not take telling well, so even having a lucid & productive conversation on my (and by extension, the artiste's) expectations would have been difficult. more later....the toddler beckons....

[Anifa]

[quote]Originally posted by skip: [b] [quote]Originally posted by Henchman: [b]It's simple. Take the reputation of the industry. And my guess is that these women hooked up with their spouses as groupies becasue they were in the "musicbiz". And now they think that if they leave their hubby alone with a musician of the opposite sex, you'll do eaxactly what they did themselves, which is throw yourself allover him.[/b][/quote]I think the relationship is a little different here-we`re talking about professional collaboration between equals. I would think any woman who can see past her own hangups would be supportive of another woman out there working as an independent pro.[/b][/quote]I wrote something on this earlier, but it was during the time where my system kept crashing. Skip, this is exactly the way I feel about it. If anything, in the mentioned situation, I had already been designing a professional web site for the engineer at no charge to him. He merely had a one page web site hosted on AOL hometown, and he was getting ready to capitalize on my skills in web design. The site was looking super, but his ditz didn't even want him to have anything to do with me there. I felt sorry for him actually. Can you imagine??? And NYC Drew, I don't believe we've ever been formally introduced but I have been floating around in the MPN forums for quite some time. I've seen you in passing; pleased to make your acquaintance. It's actually quite funny that you should mention being too "Sensual" for my own good. What's funny about it is the fact that I write incredibly sensuous lyrics, and I DELIBERATELY avoid introducing ANY of my sensual songs early on in meeting potential bandmates. As a general rule, I usually see what they have on the table prior to setting any of my plates out. Christ, if these jealous women knew some of the songs I've written........................ they'd be beating me out the door before their husbands even came close to having a chance to meet me. I've got a couple of these up on my site; but at the time where these women were going crazy, the love songs weren't online. [url=http://www.musicbizbuzz.net/mbb/whispers/everythingyoudo.htm]EVERYTHING YOU DO[/url] [url=http://www.musicbizbuzz.net/mbb/whispers/takemeaway.htm]TAKE ME AWAY [/url] I pretty much have resigned from trying to work with bands, and have written and played most all of the accompaniments myself. I do have a friend in Ohio that I like to collaborate with online; she's also a woman that shares similar snares with a jealous husband that refuses to let her mingle. He's an accomplished Doctor who travels a lot, so she and I communicate routinely when he's away and time permits. This is the lady by the name of Barrie that I mentioned earlier. Here is one of the songs that she and I threw together at the very last minute; but the vocals are not at all at quality levels. This is the song that we were attempting to get up to par for the PRISM entry. this one needs to be clicked on inside of the page for the download process to start. [url=http://www.musicbizbuzz.net/drugs.htm]One Last Goodbye[/url]

[Chip McDonald]

[quote]Originally posted by Anifa: [b]The MORE people tend to have, the LESS happy they seem to be.[/b][/quote]I was just being facetious, but I think "more" doesn't hurt. [b]I've lived a little, I've lived a lot, and I've lived enough to know that money is not[/b] Almost had a lyric going there... [b]surround yourself with material things, live a life of the elite, and still feel empty inside. [/b] You can feel empty without all of the above as well. I'm a cynic. I don't see any truly happy couples around me. I do see a few that might have a chance if the economy didn't force them into crossed-paths due to work, or trying to make ends meet. However, there is this couple that are the parents of a kid I teach that are almost... creepy in their apparent joy. They're both *always* smiling, smiling, smiling... He's an electrician, former jock, makes decent money, I don't know what she does - hyper cute, former cheerleader type, just bouncy bouncy bouncy (I'm talking attitude here..... Ran into them outside of work one time and they were the same way, just ... "happy". I've *almost* come out and asked "what are you guys so seemingly HAPPY constantly??" There son is pretty shy, but he seems well adjusted. I dunno... I hope they are exactly as they appear to be, because it's good to know that SOMEWHERE people are actually like that, even if it's almost sickening, but... Oh well.

[Anifa]

Chip, You're right, that would make a good song lyric. Go ahead and run with it, I'm all tapped out right now for creativity. [quote] I've *almost* come out and asked "what are you guys so seemingly HAPPY constantly??" There son is pretty shy, but he seems well adjusted. I dunno... I hope they are exactly as they appear to be, because it's good to know that SOMEWHERE people are actually like that, even if it's almost sickening, but... [/quote]I sho do know what ya mean on this one, they prolly paint on the HAPPY face out in public and then go home and shred each other to pieces, sleep in separate rooms, and hate each other to death.

[Jotown]

[quote]... I hope they are exactly as they appear to be, because it's good to know that SOMEWHERE people are actually like that, even if it's almost sickening, but... [/quote]Well....there are actually people out there who are happy in relationships. I'm not one of them, but I know quite a few. Sometimes you just have to look in the mirror and accept that maybe.....the problem in your relationships is you. ;)

[RobT]

I've followed this thread from the beginning and have resisted posting until this point. Chip - I gotta ask you what you consider a [b]truly[/b] happy relationship. I don't think any relationship is perfect but neither is life. It gonna have ups and downs. My wife and I have been married nearly 12 years and have known each other close to 20. Everything is gonna have its ebb and flow, you just gotta know where your help comes from. ;) Ani'fa - Very nice songs. I like the arrangements. I kinda like the implied sensuality. They are actually kinda sweet.Sounds like some of the poetry my wife wrote once upon a time. I'm glad its not that in-your-face raunchy in a lot of music nowadays. Somewhat reminiscent of Rosie Vela's album she did with Walter Brecker and Donald Fagen. Keep up the great work. NYC Drew and Jotown seems to have the best advice. Ya' gotta know who you can and cannot work with. Somethings are just not meant to happen right now and periodic introspection is always in order. Just my .02 cents adjusted for inflation

[Anifa]

[quote] Ani'fa - Very nice songs. I like the arrangements. I kinda like the implied sensuality. They are actually kinda sweet.Sounds like some of the poetry my wife wrote once upon a time. I'm glad its not that in-your-face raunchy in a lot of music nowadays. Somewhat reminiscent of Rosie Vela's album she did with Walter Brecker and Donald Fagen. Keep up the great work. [/quote]Thanks bunches Robt, The in-your-face raunchy music lacks CLASS, also it requires NO TALENT to write it; I like to think I have a little of both. Since I'm not really in a position to perform myself, having adolescent children, there is one artist that comes to mind that I think would be an excellent candidate to sing materials like these; Nora Jones. I like her style from what I've seen so far, and she is definitely a class act. Perhaps I may decide to pitch some songs her direction if she's seeking new materials. Thanks again for the thumbs up.

[Chip McDonald]

[quote]Originally posted by RobT: [b]Chip - I gotta ask you what you consider a [b]truly[/b] happy relationship.[/b][/quote]I'm not suggesting it has to be perfect at all. It just appears a lot of people are basically unhappy in truth. The couple I was refering to genuinely seems happy to be with each other all the time. They're always up. I know it can't always be that way, but that's why I'm pointing them out. To me, a married couple shouldn't be nit picky with each other, or snipe-ey. Most seem that way these days.