I live in Austin, Texas by way of New York City. I've been writing songs and playing the guitar for about 10 years.
Yes, I play primarily coffee shops and small bars. I like playing in bars because I often get to drink for free. I sound better when the listener is drunk, too. I don't like coffee shops because people tend to get all jacked up on caffeine and talk too much and too loud.
When I was a kid, I'd found a cache of 8-track tapes with some really great singer/songwriters like Harry Chapin, Simon & Garfunkel, James taylor, Blly Joel and so on. I also got into REM and the Michael Stipe used his voice as an instrument instead of merely for the sake of conveying a message thru lyrics.