A few years ago Heather and I had dinner in a Vietnamese restaurant in down town Toronto. The ownwer noticed my guitar (I was on my way to a gig) and asked me to play a song. I played a tune called "The Rain On The Leaves" by the Vietnamese composer Pham Duy; and the owner freaked! "Do you know the Vietnamese words to that?" He cried. I admitted that I had learned it from an "Addis and Crofut" recording and didn't know the original. "I'll teach it to you," he said excitedly - "and then you'll come and sing it at Vietnamese New Year celebrations!" Holy Cow, what have I got myself into, I thought. Over the next few weeks I tried to learn the words phoenetically - but this is one tough language, and it wasn't easy. Next surprise was when I found that the celebration was being held in Convocation Hall - which seats 2000 people! I don't get stage fright, but that night I was scared shitless. I used the autoharp for accompaniment 'cause I knew that none of the 2000 would have ever seen one and maybe they'd be so curious that they'd ignore my wonky pronunciation.

Well I'm glad someone taped the event, cause I've got living proof of how generous people are when they think you've taken the time to learn about their culture. After every LINE the audience errupted in cheers! It took 10 minutes to sing a two minute song, and I felt exhausted by the end of it. I was floating on air for months after. "Noc Mur Chin Lai"..still phoenetic!