A-432 Musical Wallpaper

Monday night I played a gig at Ruth Eckard Hall in Clearwater. It was one of those play while people eat, drink and talk gigs. Musical wallpaper, or as it's sometimes called, "Musician Abuse."

As a strolling violinist, I'm country and folk. Don't look for "Feelings."

The ambiance was country in honor of the featured artist in the big hall, Dolly Parton. My mix of hoedowns, reels, jigs and swing tunes fit right in.

It was the usual scene of me playing as if I had an audience in the palm of my hand. In other words, taking the music seriously and doing the very best I could do. In these gigs you con't get much energy from the audience. Well, none, really. And when you do get a positive reaction, it almost is a shock the first time. After that, you see that people are actually warming up to your performance.

It went well, I must confess. Nobody said, "Hey, man. Tune it up already! Sheesh."

Small victories. That's what we leading edge advocates of A-432 look for. And that's what we get.