Just wanted to share this story of my unintentional 'gig' at the beach with everybody.
I took my guitar to the beach yesterday (mainly because it wasn't good beach weather, but I
was intent on going to the beach...) after striking out trying to find a decent acoustic
bass (different story).
The beach wasn't very crowded so instead of playing on the tailgate of the truck, I went to
one of the benches on the beach itself.
While I was playing I caught the attention on an older couple with a few real oldies (Stand
By Me, Under The Boardwalk) and got a smile out of the wife when she heard them.
I also got a few stange looks from the teenage lifeguards for Knocking on Heavens Door (the
Dylan version) when I played the 'extra' verses that Guns-N-Roses forgot to play.
But the best compliment came a little later when a young girl who was walking with her
father stopped and started dancing, I caught it out of the corner of my eye. When I
finished the song I looked up and asked her if she enjoyed it. She said yes and when her
father told her to thank me for the song she said 'Thank you for the beautiful music'. That
just made my day - better than any other compliment I've received and even though it really
wasn't a beach day the sun in my heart shone really bright right then and there! Her father
tried to get her to move on so they could change and warm up, but she stayed to start
dancing for my next song.
Now, I don't play guitar for anyone else but me, I have no aspirations to be in a band (and my
wife even objects at times to me saying I play guitar for that reason), but that just made
my day. Better than any applause at an open mike or compliments at a jam session.
