I can't remember not singing. My parents were not musical, but the radio was always on in the kitchen. I sang along to Perry Como, Dean Martin, and others. I loved music. My oldest two sisters were musically inclined and could sing. I couldn't carry a tune in a bucket, but I still loved to sing.

In the sixties, I loved the Kingston Trio immediately. My brother had traded in my sister's idle accordian for a Gibson Les Paul. I found Alan Lomax's *Folk Songs of North America* in the library. It had an appendix of guitar and banjo chords and descriptions of different strums and picking styles that were nicely matched up to the songs.

Gifts from parents included a guitar, my own copy of *Folk Songs of North America* and a reel-to-reel tape recorder (for the family). I taped a distant radio station that featured folk music allmost every Sunday night (WAVA, Alexandria, Va.'s Music Americana). The DJ, Dick Cerri, is still an active promoter of acoustic music in DC, but currently without a radio show.

I learned guitar to impress the girls (and met my fiancee through my music). My first public performance was at the French Assembly my Junior year. I had to write something in French for homework, but I was too busy practicing guitar. I decided to write a French song. My French teacher liked it so much she asked me to sing. I did.

Well, it is 30 some odd years later. I still love folk music. I have tip-toed back into singing in public, and sometimes people pay. Like Loudon Wainwright III, it amazes me each time I get paid for doing something I love to do.

Oh, and for all of you frogs out there who can't carry a tune. My voice has been repeatedly described as a rich, smooth baritone. I truly believe I have been blessed with this wonderful voice because I kept on singing. I have never received voice training, but I can carry a tune real well.

Roger in Baltimore