Day Fortythree: Funny How Things Work Out

For all of it's ups and downs, my life is blessed. That's the only conclusion I can come to. Here is what I mean. A few days ago in one of these blog posts I was writing about trying to land a guitar gig. I am a classical guitarist and what I do is great for dinner music or lazy cafes. Two of the places I called I knew for sure use live entertainment. One owner was polite, took some info from me. The other gave me a cool response. Being an unknown entity to these folks I offered to audition that afternoon with no committments nor strings attached. They brushed me off. What could I do? I cannot force them to listen to me play so, I ended the week with no auditions.
Enter serendipity ( or God, or Angels, or whatever). Less than a week after talking with the owners of those venues, I auditioned for them against their free will! Here is what happened. My friend "Shotgun" Billy Read from Nashville, TN was in town for his father in law's funeral. Billy asked me to play at a memorial service & reception. I would play while guests arrived, and play some more after the actual service had concluded. Terrific. So I played, including a nice piece of music by Fernando Sor accompanying one of the speakers reading aloud a letter from the deceased. It was a nice touch to the whole affair. Unbeknownst to me however, was the fact that both of the people I had contacted less than a week earlier for auditions were at this service. They heard me play and from what I am told, were quite taken from what I had to offer. Somehow in the big scheme of things we were all brought under the same roof and shared an experience whereby I auditioned for them by default. It remains to be seen what will become of it. My friend "Shotgun" Billy Read wanted to pay me for my contribution, but I could not & would not accept payment. I was there for my love of him and his family. I truly loved being a part of it and helping to make it special for all involved. Anyway, this is why I say I am blessed. I wanted to auditon for the two aformentioned people. I couldn't make it happen. I played for love for my friend and it turned into the audition I couldn't
create. It's crazy.