Linda Stout

I had two gigs Saturday, one as part of a benefit at Mary's Neutral Ground in Waverly, NY. New place for me, but one old friend was there and room full of people who quieted down when I played. It was really fun, and felt good. I'll go back. From there, I drove through beautiful hollows, losing my cell phone coverage to dead zones while talking to a friend. I would be saying some nice thing, and we'd be suddenly disconnected. I was saying I felt like I had so much work to do to move forward, and the reply was that I was doing fine already. I had to listen because I had just nailed a performance, and I am usually thinking about all the little repairs I would make to the next show. I got to my second gig, a wine store in Watkins Glen. People were waiting, and I was early. It was fun, too. My old very talented boyfriend from years ago came walking in with his nice girlfriend. He was and is a good guitar player and taught me things. I think he was into it and sort of proud, and I got to tell him thanks for the guitar help (because he almost died in April of a heart attack, and he's young. I'm so glad he lived) and I also got to give him a hard time about breaking up with me and getting married to this very nice older woman two weeks -- two weeks -- after he broke up with me. I usually do not traverse into such squirrelly relationships, but he is a good musician, and we usually had lots of fun. All these years later, we could joke around and be happy to see each other.