Gigs
I first picked up a guitar in the spring of 1966. A mysterious young man showed up at my dorm room with a Silvertone guitar in a plastic bag. Though the room was full of friends, the young man fixed his gaze on me. "Anyone interested in buying a guitar?" I asked how much, to the ridiculing cackling of my friends. "$17.50."
I opened my desk drawer and that's exactly how much money I had. And so it began. I lied to my parents, telling them that I had to do some research that required me to stay at school during spring break. It was a week of intense exploration—the beginning of my love affair with the guitar. I didn't know any of the chord names, so I called them "diagonal," "triangle," "3 across," "the bridge," and so forth. I hounded every guitarist I knew on campus, making a total pest of myself. Bruce Hirsch, Bill Margeson and Chris Stahlke were particularly generous. One evening that summer I played for my parents, and they saw that I was serious. So they bought me an Epiphone Texan (pictured). I played "Doc's Guitar" and "Southbound" at a coffee house in Old Town on August 15, 1966. Nobody even laughed at my Madras jacket. My first gig.
I opened my desk drawer and that's exactly how much money I had. And so it began. I lied to my parents, telling them that I had to do some research that required me to stay at school during spring break. It was a week of intense exploration—the beginning of my love affair with the guitar. I didn't know any of the chord names, so I called them "diagonal," "triangle," "3 across," "the bridge," and so forth. I hounded every guitarist I knew on campus, making a total pest of myself. Bruce Hirsch, Bill Margeson and Chris Stahlke were particularly generous. One evening that summer I played for my parents, and they saw that I was serious. So they bought me an Epiphone Texan (pictured). I played "Doc's Guitar" and "Southbound" at a coffee house in Old Town on August 15, 1966. Nobody even laughed at my Madras jacket. My first gig.
Upcoming appearances
Compass Rose
Saturday, October 19 and Friday, November 29
at Maya del Sol
144 S Oak Park Ave
Oak Park, IL 60302
708.358.9800
7:30 PM