Dorking

The song list grew to ten, twenty, then thirty. I was so proud. I kept multiplying the number of my songs times three minutes to attempt to determine how long I could play for. I slowly moved on from my goal of comedy and headed more toward acoustic rock and blues. My goal was fifty songs—I figured that I could play a three hour gig with breaks; milestone number 2.

One year ago I played my first performance, an inconsequential unassuming open MIC at a sandwich shop a few blocks from my home. I had made the promise to myself months before that I would start showing up and playing but it seems there always was a good reason for not showing. One day Carla (my wife) wouldn’t stand for another excuse. She made me go against a wholehearted resistance on my part. I was so glad I did. I showed up with the only piece of musical equipment that I owned—my trusty old Guild D44, now yellowed with age. I had to borrow Carla’s tiny practice amp to play through. Small beginnings—yet a huge milestone number 3 for me. I was so pumped up from the performance that I couldn’t sleep that night.