White Bread

Sometimes I question myself. We all do I suppose but when I look in the mirror, I see something that is less like a blues artist. I am not sure what I do see but it aint B.B. King.

A few years back I was playing a small club in Mount Albert Ontario and was having a good night. I was just about to start the second set and a new face appeared in the crowd. Not hard to notice, the capacity in this place is about 75 people. But even in a bigger crowd he would stand out - big, black with dreads and a presence that was, in my mind, a quintessential blues artist.

He looked me up and down and I thought, "he knows I am not sure - He knows that I know I don't look the part" - and I was ... intimidated. I pressed start, played my set and it was a good one. Happy faces everywhere and at the end, he was smiling and nodding his head. I thought, "nice" and wrapped up the set for a break and he approached.

He said exactly what I thought he was thinking. He told me that when he walked in, he looked at the stage and thought, "White Bread". He then said "then you started playing and I thought, this aint no white bread!"

That meant a lot to me and I truly appreciated his acceptance of what I do and he raised his hand to "high five" me… And I went for it, and

…. I missed :( -

We both laughed hard and he said - "oh man - you ARE white bread!"

Thanks Gerome!