We're An ____________ Band

Just thinking: What must it be like to be in a band like Yo La Tengo -- a band that never got big and that the mainstream would still view as an "up and coming" or even unsuccessful band -- and know that your "legacy" or what you'll be remembered for is basically already built? Like, you're headlining the Pitchfork Music Festival, but you'd be in only medium-sized or smaller print on (say) the Bonnaroo poster -- under Beastie Boys, way under Metallica -- you're not a household name, you're not famous . Knowing that, but also knowing that you have fans that love you, and that there are many people who have your albums -- these little albums that you've made over time, every one on a budget -- as their favorite albums? You've created these things, these texts, your classics, and there you are.

What does that feel like? Seems like it would be similar to being in a big local band. To a subset of people you are an obvious, known name, but a vast majority of people have no clue about you. You could have changed (could have moved to a bigger city or worked harder vs. could have appealed more consciously to a mainstream audience, sold out, signed to a major, whatever), but you chose not to because it's either enough for you or the alternative is undesirable. It's like being a local band, local to the world.