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For most of my time on the road, I was a Top 40 drummer, playing in lounges, bars, hotels, and on military bases. In 2009, I was living in North Georgia on Bobby Don Bloodworth's farm near Blue Ridge, Georgia. I'd occasionally fill in on drums with his band, Gopher Broke, whenever their regular drummer couldn't make a gig. One time, Gopher Broke was booked to play a fundraiser for the Blue Ridge Community Theater at the home of one of the theater's patrons, up in the mountains. I loaded up my drums and, just for fun, brought along my mandolin. When we arrived at the outdoor venue, it looked like a storm was brewing, so the client decided to have us set up the band on the lower-level screened-in porch and asked me to play mandolin instead of drums. Yay – for the first time ever, no drum setup! Later that evening, I took a mandolin solo that drew applause from the crowd as I finished. I was completely shocked by the unexpected response. Drummers don't hear much applause for solos.

Iron Horse Grill, Copper Hill, TN. Just the name makes me cringe – my most mortifying gig. Dirt Road Delight played with Bobby Don sitting in. Last song, they had me on mandolin. I launched into this whole spiel, a big build-up about faking bagpipes on the mandolin for the intro to Steve Earle's "Copperhead Road." I even nailed the fake bagpipe intro, feeling pretty confident. Then came the downbeat, the moment the band joined... and my mind went utterly, completely blank. The first line. Gone. Vanished. Panic. Desperate looks at friends – blank faces. Inevitably, the music crumbled. We ground to a halt. The last song. And I, the bagpipe faker, had blown it. Big time. Weeks of crushing embarrassment followed. But you know what? I will never, ever forget that first line again.

It still amazes me how many people haven't seen a mandolin, despite it being in so much music – bluegrass, jazz, rock, classical, you name it. It's finally getting some commercial airtime, but I bet many still don't realize that small, guitar-like instrument is a mandolin. My current one's a Michael Kelly, I guess that's its name. I went to Guitar Center in Nashville for an Epiphone MM50 but saw this MK with a $150 discount. Turns out it was repaired after a fall, but even my untrained ear could hear the better tone and feel. For just $25 more than the MM50, I bought it, and I'm so glad I did. A real mandolin player said it's one of the best MKs he's heard, with great tone. I love my MK!