Long ago, when I was in High School and an undergrad, I worked as a gigging, solo (guitar/vocal) performer in bars in Virginia and North Carolina. Then, I went off to do other things. Thirty-five years or more later, I set up a few gigs in Maryland and Texas. My last musical performance was a one-man stage show of songs and readings from my memoir as the keynote of the Austin Veterans Arts Festival in March of 2020. It was a last gasp before everything shut down for the pandemic.

And then we moved to Maine. There are a number of small venues in the local area that run solo acts, and I’m trying now to get back into shape to play so I can get back on stage with my guitar.

I did some theater and musical theater work back in the long-ago times, too. And once we got to Maine, I started working again as an actor in community theater and regional theater productions. I had roles in three shows in 2022: Stanford Adams in Bright Star; Edward Devine in The Only Woman in the Room, and Clive Parker in Merry Christmas, George Bailey. I played the Duke of Cheshire and was among the ensemble in Cinderella in 2023.

I’ll be off-stage in 2024.

Image: 2019. Playing in the Saxon Pub, Austin, Texas. Big thanks to Dustin Welch of Soldier Songs and Voices for making this happen.