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I was working with a friend of mine at a huge outdoor event one summer. We had a pretty good crowd of people and the momentum of the set seemed to be pretty good. I tend to worry when things are going "too good" as a musician because there is always a glitch and if you haven't run into it by the time your set starts - you know it's coming in the performance!

As luck would have it, two middle-aged guys got in a fist fight pretty close to the rickety stage we were playing on. Any musician knows that when a fight breaks out, you are supposed to keep on playing and let the situation defuse itself or sort of spiral it's way out of your universe. I attempted to keep rolling with the song but they were getting really close to the stage. Before I knew it, they had taken out both of our amplifiers and 2 microphones!

Just this fall I was in a musical play that involved character acting, guitar playing and singing. The director had a very intense practice schedule, causing me to play the same 4 songs about 100 times before the show opened. I got to the point where I didn't have to think about it - just ran through the motions and rolled my eyes as I sang the same lyrics over and over and over.

Opening night came, and at the top of the show I started the first song and completely blanked!! I had no idea what the first 3 lines were in the song. I extended the musical interlude hoping I could gather my wits and had no luck whatsoever. I ended up making up 3 consecutive lines!

My first guitar was a yamaha gut-string classical. I was about 10 years old and my mother was taking group lessons. I remember her being rather discouraged about her progress and really re-thinking the whole thing. I used to wait until she went to bed and bring the guitar downstairs and play it. I never learned the "right" way - just sort of hummed the sounds and found them on the guitar. I was hooked right away and determined to figure it out. To this day, I find myself wandering around on the guitar - just like that very first time - hoping to find a song. :)