On Saturday, I got a call from my friend Dave. who is in a band called SPEK, formerly Drenched. Both are horrible names, I know. He is wondering if I would be a last-minute replacement at Cafe Aroma Borealis, preceding his band. Dave was at the final twenty minutes or so of my previous gig, so he was unaware of my extreme level of suck. He also would not have known that I hadn't practiced any of my songs since the fiasco that was my first gig in years. So I said no.

Apparently that was not to be, because he convinced me to do it and I did it. Turned out to be pretty good! I was way more relaxed--not too many sit-down type of folks, more of the in-and-out variety. This gig was during Lancaster's annual Art Walk, where all of the local artisans (way more than the town has a right to have) hawk their crap---I mean art. Actually, it's a pretty cool event and even the suburbanites drive their Range Rovers into the city for a day of culture.

To make a long story short, I played for two hours straight, hardly looked at my book and had a great time. Things were going to be different from now on. A star was born.