Ahhhhh, St. Patrick's Day guys. Yep, seems like there's ALWAYS a full moon that night.

I don't know about you Jed, but the fact I didn't drink (or drank very little) often made me feel separated from my audiences. Sometimes I'd get together with bands (there were far fewer 'solos' to hang out with) who were playing at other clubs, and we'd sit in someone's hotel until noon the next day, bullshitting and playing. Once again, I wasn't much of a 'doper' either, so I often felt a tad isolated. One prominent folkie famous for his "hazy lifestyle" said "Well Rick it may have been tougher on you 'cause you had to face all the idiots STRAIGHT! My general sobriety wasn't a 'moral' decision, I'm simply one of those people who CAN'T drink without being sick all the next day. They weren't all idiots of course...most folks were quite enjoyable, but ohhhh did I meet some verrrry strange people.

The (Ontario) Politician's wife who hung out at the Dick Turpin Pub on Monday nights trying to pick up each week's new entertainer.

The owner (in Parry Sound Ontario) who told me, "They HATE what you're doing.....now get back on that stage"!!

The performer who collected women's brassieres from every town he played!! Glen, you know who THAT was! (so did the late Little John Cameron)

The agent who insisted that I get a DRUM MACHINE!! "Look" I said, "I've spent a long time learning how not to NEED something like that"! "I know", he said. "That's your problem"!

Boy, I'm enjoying these stories folks. Keep 'em comin'.

To Iggy: Fer Gawd's sake don't worry about "the pissing contest"! Trust me, I ain't thin skinned....disagree with me anytime and as much as you wanna......this is just cyber-space.

Cheers

Rick