I've been playing with guitar for a few years now, off and on. I say "playing with" because I do it for my own enjoyment, and I'm certainly not good enough to say I "play guitar." Just plink out a little Stack-O-Lee or some untitled folk blues at the end of the day to relax, on a junky little cardboard and plywood guitar my granddad bought at a pawnshop before he died. I play just for fun, and get nervous if I know someone can hear me. There's been a total of less than two dozen people who have ever (over)heard me play, most of them at the FSGW Getaway four or five years back. My total singing experience started at a song circle at said Getaway, and has been limited to the shower since then.

Onywise, my father-in-law and four of his friends perform old C&W songs at a little "arts center" in their town (of about 2000) once a month. Last night they played to an audience of about 40, mostly family and friends. After the concert, instead of breaking down and packing up, my f-i-l wandered off to talk to friends. After a few minutes of waiting for him, I picked up his guitar and started playing a little bit, just to occupy the time until he was ready to go. It's electric and wasn't plugged in, so I figured I was safe. One of the guys in the band heard me, then started listening, then called over a couple of the others. Next thing I know they're handing me an acoustic so they can hear better. Nerves are getting rougher, but I'm still muddling thru. When asked if I'd like to do a concert some time, I told them I only knew a couple songs and I'd never done anything mic'ed. So they moved me to centerstage where there was still a mic, and set the sound back up. I suddenly found myself, for the first time in my life, on stage, with a sound system, playing and singing to an audience of about 15 - the band, their wives and kids, and the owner of the center. You know how a mic and an amplifier will take a sound and increase it tenfold? I found out that it will do the same thing to nervousness. Sweating buckets, my leg started shaking so bad I couldn't hold onto the neck of the guitar well enough to play. I had to quit playing and chatter long enough to calm down enough to start again eventually.

After telling me it gets easier, they've asked me to come up on stage next month. Since I only know two songs, they want me to play one song during each of their two sets. I don't know if my nerves can handle it, but I've been thinking about heading to a music store and looking into getting a better guitar (as he silently screams, "But I don't want to go on stage!"). So am I a masochist, or does everybody start this way?