I’ve arrived at the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance Conference (NERFA). This is my fourth year attending this conference. It’s my first year attending it while sick. This conference is extremely intense. There are workshops and various other activities all day, and performing all night. There is probably no weekend in the year when I get less sleep. It’s not an ideal weekend to be sick. Even before that happened, I had been expecting a lower-key NERFA experience than in past years. My first year I was new and had to learn the ropes. The second year I had two high-profile showcases (the DJ showcase, and one of the juried showcases). My third year I was running three different late-night showcases. This year I don’t have any high-profile showcases (only six late-night – guerrilla – showcases), and I’m co-running two nights of a showcase. OK, so it doesn’t qualify as a relaxing conference (especially because the showcase ends up 3 a.m.), but comparatively speaking I’m doing less. I’m also in a weird place in my music career. I’m not a “new discovery” (which is what the DJ showcase focuses on – it’s why you’re only allowed to play it once), and I’m not someone about whom there is “buzz.” I’ve been getting some solid shows and good opportunities and keep gradually getting better at doing this music thing. But it’s one of those “slow and steady” processes, and I haven’t been sure how to navigate that stage. I have a few high-profile shows in the spring (a couple of which are not yet on my schedule, so stay tuned) so, since I don’t want to step on my own audience, I want to limit the number of free shows I play in the Boston area in upcoming months. Which is something I’d probably want to do anyway; it’s weird to play good listening rooms, or song contest finals, and then play in the corner of some sandwich shop to people who mostly aren’t listening. But I haven’t quite yet figured out how to have a schedule with only listening room shows or how to get to that point in other regions. So I’m feeling a bit at loose ends with where things are in my music career. That might be a good time to be at NERFA. If I can keep my focus on learning rather than trying to impress people (because, of course, one of the central goals for musicians being here is to get booked to play elsewhere, and things are set up for that purpose) I might be able to figure out where I want to be with my music career and how to get there.