Would any one be willing to share with me how they look for collaborators in their towns? 
 
I live in Kansas City and the only community online I'm familiar with is Craigslist - and let me tell you - in the music scene here in KC it's an abysmal gypsy nightmare. It's mass delusion of grandeur and/or depths of skill bankruptcy that's hard to depict in words alone.
 
I keep saying to myself, there must be other ways of meeting musicians who aren't what I'm afraid to find on CL. Does anyone know of any musician communities I might try?
 
I'm looking for musicians/songwriters local to the KC area. Let me know what you think.
 

Ask some of your friends to put the feelers out.  I collaborate over 3000 miles. You don't have to be in the same spot any more.  When starting:
 
1. keep the bar (and your expectations) realistic.
2.  I work with a lyricist and a producer, but I'm all the music.  Find the niche that's right for you.  You don't have to wear all the hats anymore.
3.  Don' skimp on the production.  Make it first rate every time.  Songs that are worth remembering can survive many incarnations of production and still be great.
4.  Keep a budget that's within reason, and don't get GAS
 
 

I dislike collaboration. All that is for me of having to compromise. And I don't like to.
So at my age where my peers are hard to light a fire under I go it alone and hire my singers where I can find them as regrettably I can't sing as well as I want.
 
I have been able to hire and finish a track using a singer from www.vocalizr.com
In that instance I paid 75.00 to the guy and largely got what I wanted.

joshua,   On line my friend....online. I like working on line when I do write.
 
Unless you are willing to go and hang out in the songwriter coffee shops.... and rub elbows with all sorts of folk....nothing like bumping into a drunk songwriter musician who fancies himself to be the next big thing. You gotta sift through a lot of bad writers and jerks to find the right one that is your compatible  future writing partner.
 
There is one thing I would recommend..... Look up the folks in your local Nashville Songwriter's Chapter in KC.

Here's their web site:  http://www.nashvillesongwriters.com/kansas-city-mo
 
Don't let the "Nashville" part of the name throw you. Yeah, it tends to have lots of country writers but you also get some really talented writers who write more than just country. Our local Raleigh NC chapter is pretty diverse musically.

Check them out. At the very least, you are meeting with a bunch of people who are mostly serious about songwriting. Delusions of grandeur and skill bankruptcy ....well, you'll still have to choose collaborators wisely.
The song Whiskey for Breakfast that I had just posted here a few weeks back was a collab with one of the better writers in the Raleigh chapter. Even though we are local and could have gotten together at one or the other of our houses, we did the entire thing across the internet.

Guitarhacker
joshua,   On line my friend....online. I like working on line when I do write.
 
Unless you are willing to go and hang out in the songwriter coffee shops.... and rub elbows with all sorts of folk....nothing like bumping into a drunk songwriter musician who fancies himself to be the next big thing. You gotta sift through a lot of bad writers and jerks to find the right one that is your compatible  future writing partner.
 
There is one thing I would recommend..... Look up the folks in your local Nashville Songwriter's Chapter in KC.

Here's their web site:  http://www.nashvillesongwriters.com/kansas-city-mo
 
Don't let the "Nashville" part of the name throw you. Yeah, it tends to have lots of country writers but you also get some really talented writers who write more than just country. Our local Raleigh NC chapter is pretty diverse musically.

Check them out. At the very least, you are meeting with a bunch of people who are mostly serious about songwriting. Delusions of grandeur and skill bankruptcy ....well, you'll still have to choose collaborators wisely.
The song Whiskey for Breakfast that I had just posted here a few weeks back was a collab with one of the better writers in the Raleigh chapter. Even though we are local and could have gotten together at one or the other of our houses, we did the entire thing across the internet.

Well that's interesting. Thanks for posting this.

It is possible to collaborate or hire performers all over the world via the internet, which can be problematic as well as helpful. If you work with someone local you can at least assume that the contract and copyright law that applies to the endeavor are the same for everyone. Is a Ukrainian singer recording your work in his home country entitled to any special protections or rights that you might not consider? Does the studio where he records his track own master recording rights? Will a work for hire agreement that is legal in Kansas cover a work partially written or produced in Norway? What court(s) will be able to hear a dispute? Can a foreign collaborator enforce "moral rights" to his work that do not even exist under US copyright law, and cannot be disclaimed by contract in some jurisdictions? Even on a local collaboration, the law can be complex and enforceable contracts can be essential to avoid disasters. That is not any simpler when crossing jurisdictional boundaries.

Guitarhacker
joshua,   On line my friend....online. I like working on line when I do write.
 
Unless you are willing to go and hang out in the songwriter coffee shops.... and rub elbows with all sorts of folk....nothing like bumping into a drunk songwriter musician who fancies himself to be the next big thing. You gotta sift through a lot of bad writers and jerks to find the right one that is your compatible  future writing partner.
 
There is one thing I would recommend..... Look up the folks in your local Nashville Songwriter's Chapter in KC.

Here's their web site:  http://www.nashvillesongwriters.com/kansas-city-mo
 
Don't let the "Nashville" part of the name throw you. Yeah, it tends to have lots of country writers but you also get some really talented writers who write more than just country. Our local Raleigh NC chapter is pretty diverse musically.

Check them out. At the very least, you are meeting with a bunch of people who are mostly serious about songwriting. Delusions of grandeur and skill bankruptcy ....well, you'll still have to choose collaborators wisely.
The song Whiskey for Breakfast that I had just posted here a few weeks back was a collab with one of the better writers in the Raleigh chapter. Even though we are local and could have gotten together at one or the other of our houses, we did the entire thing across the internet.

This^

Reece, Sean and myself have been Collaborating for over 2 years. One CD on iTunes, a second in the works and half produced.

It's taken me 2 years to get back into playing with people again.
My kids were 19 and 17 at the time and I figured I had time, energy and desire to play live again after an 18-year break..
I advertised myself online and went to a number of woeful tryouts, which I politely declined.
However some of the guys were OK and I eventually started a covers project. We played out live and I met other people and now I'm pretty happy with it. The hardest thing was saying to a few guys along the way - Mate, I'm sorry, but you're out. I think I fired the entire band twice individually. That really sucked, but had to be done! I'm 54, ffs! I want to play with the best people I can find. No time to waste anymore.
So, yeah. get yourself out there and you'll meet people. It won't happen quickly though. But I'm now playing in the best band of my life and ready to conquer the Care Home community..

It's a young man's game that's for sure. In high school, you could form 2 bands in one week. And somehow they were more tolerable. Perhaps because we felt like we had our whole life ahead of us. Now, don't waste our time for a second.

I do have my whole life ahead of me. Ain't going anywhere else after that..
But I know what you meant, mate ;-)