My First Paid Gig

After fifteen years of playing guitar in my bedroom, I played my first paid gig this summer: a Friday night at a coffee shop, for forty dollars and a free sandwich.

About twenty people came. My wife sat in the front row holding a sign that said "ROCK STAR (AMATEUR)." My parents drove two hours and sat in the back, beaming. A few strangers who'd just come in for coffee stayed for the whole set.

I played covers and three songs I wrote myself. During one of them, a couple got up and danced between the tables. My hands shook the entire time and nobody seemed to notice.

When I finished, the owner handed me two twenties and said, "Next month?" I framed one of the twenties. I spent the other one on ice cream for everyone who came.