Pinch Me

I think I’m dreaming.

Last night was brilliant! There are moments where I can’t believe my life is my life. If you had told me a year ago, when we first walked into the pub, that in a year’s time Dave would be teaching me guitar and I would be singing on stage once a week, I would have thought you were having me on.

Big crowd this week even though my husband’s family ended up not making it out. Most of the pub regulars weren’t there because they had been there the night before to see Cousin Earth (A fantastic and unique band out of Brooklyn, NY, look them up). The hardcore, like us, were there both nights. A few people came out last night specifically for me (this still blows my mind… _I actually have fans!_) and there was a surprisingly big crowd of miscellaneous people. At one point Dave came over and told me I’d have to cut it a little short (a pipe band had come in unexpectedly and he was going to let them play a couple songs). When I announced my last song the crowd expressed disappointment. After I finished they started the “one more” chant. I looked to Dave because he had told me to stop and he just smiled and shrugged, so I did one more.

I can’t get over how well this is going and how much people are enjoying listening to me. The love and support I’m receiving is just so amazing and crazy and wonderful. I feel like a mini-celebrity, _me_, the girl who has always been so painfully shy that people usually give up on getting to know me before I get comfortable enough to let them in. I’ve gotten used to being ignored, quietly sitting in the corner and blending in, that’s been my entire life. Now I walk into the pub on any given day and people pull me in 10 different directions wanting to say hi and hug me. A group of older women love to burst out loudly into “Brandi (you’re a fine girl)” by Looking Glass when they see me. I was actually named after that song so, it’s appropriate. It’s just _so weird_.

I have this crazy dream I thought of when I first started this journey. Don’t laugh, but my favorite band is “The Proclaimers”, they tour the US about every 3 years or so and when they do they take an independent artist from the US with them on tour as their opener. The last one was Jenny O, which was just a girl and her acoustic guitar. She sent in a Demo to their manager, he liked her and that was that. Maybe I could do that. Maybe, just maybe, I could prepare and send in a demo and get picked. That would be effing brilliant! Never mind that Dave would be wicked proud. He’s a Proclaimers fan too and plays a number of their songs with his band, most often it’s “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles), but occasionally he’ll whip out another one. I can just picture him up on stage bragging that “my guitar student, who usually plays for you during our break is away touring with the fucking Proclaimers right now!” He’d probably affectionately call me a tosser and then burst into playing 500 miles.

I feel like I’m standing on the threshold of something right now and it is bloody amazing! There’s always shit going on the background because life is hard, but that’s life, and that’s okay.

Anyway, reality calls and I must go stack firewood.

Have a good Sunday.