1:00am. Albany, NY. Winter. Loud knocking on my college dorm bedroom door. I opened the door to see three girls I kind of knew from a communications class who had come to see me play in clubs. They whispered, “Hurry up and get dressed. Come with us.” I asked where. They just laughed and said to hurry. Well…it was three girls.
We get in ____’s car (name withheld to protect the guilty) and she drives north on Highway 87 for HOURS! Passes Saratoga, Lake Placid, Plattsburgh. It was definitely an adventure, but they wouldn’t say where we were heading, only giggled when I asked.
At the Canadian Border checkpoint. WTF??? Well, I had never been to Canada…
We eventually arrived in Montreal, ending up in a high class 24-hour restaurant — ______’s favorite, where we proceed to order food and coffee. Once the coffee was served, one of the young women slips out a bottle of Irish whiskey from her purse and pours it into our coffees.
There was a piano player at a grand piano singing pop songs. Pretty good. After his set — unlike in the U.S. where you have a tip jar and people come up to put money in it — he picks up a large dinner plate and walks around to each table, standing there until you put money in! Wow, that was bold. But his plate filled up.
Later, the check comes, and we realize that we don’t have enough money to cover it. One of the girls gets a wild look on her face and says, “Dine and Dash?” They were considering running out without paying. I was sober enough to know, “We’re in a different country! These girls are freaking nuts!!!”
Then, they look at me, bat their eyes and say, ”Hey, how about playing and singing and get us some money?” Jeez. It’s like 5:30am. But they did bat their eyes… so I go up to the piano and sit down. The place is packed, but no one stops me.
Played the Carole King song, So Far Away. Polite applause. Next, Cat Stevens’ Wild World. Decent response for 5:30am. But I’m thinking, “This ain’t keepin’ us out of jail!” So, I tried one more.
As soon as I began singing the Crosby Stills Nash song, Our House, the restaurant became still. They were all listening. Watching. When I got to the chorus and began singing, “Our House is a very very very fine house”, everyone was singing with me. It was really intense. At the end of the song, there was a huge ovation. Though I was stunned, I picked up a plate and walked around to every table. Hell, collected enough for a nice hotel room! Do NOT ask.
Such is the life of a college musician who thought he was going to be an accountant but dropped the major after 6 weeks and became a communications major.
If you're not already following me on Spotify, or subscribed to my YouTube music channel, please drop by and climb aboard!
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4ca3yhi9m3ULA0ehcm4lFe
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GbUi1e_GDU
Hope you enjoy!
In Harmony,
Bodhi