It was a laid back, beautiful day at my local farmers’ market. I made the rounds of the vendors to say hello before I set up. They were genuinely glad to see me. I made sure I had new strings on for today, since last week was really bogged down trying to tune dead strings. It made a big difference today. Familiar faces cruised through as did the garlic from the nearby food stand. Quite an olfactory delight today.

The weather was superb and I was comfortable playing some new songs, as well as favorites like July, et al. Several familiar folks stopped by and sat and listened to some songs – and they made me pay attention to my singing, song selection and playing. It makes all the difference. and they made me play some more challenging tunes.

I was royally tipped today. No cash but a quart of blueberries from a fan, walnut kiffles from the bakery lady, and a bag full of beans, squash, cukes, jalapenos and zukes from my friends at the farm stand. It was a very friendly day, I played well and folks noticed. And I’ll get a check in two weeks. A good day in the neighborhood.

I figured I’d be quite warmed up from the three hour gig last night, and that seemed to be the case, though I thought I was pretty sloppy with my lyrics. The guitar work seemed better than usual and that was satisfying. A couple of times I let the last chord ring, and the guitar simply rang and rang and rang, often resonating on the C chord. I mentioned that made sense to me since in was in a Courtyard. Humorous to me.

I struggled with my tuning the whole afternoon and I realized that the long set the night before in sticky humidity as well as the gigs last weekend had taken a toll on my strings. They never quite settled into a comfortable tuning, so I was aware of being slightly out of tune for the bulk of the two hours. I eventually just turned off the PA amp so that I wouldn’t subject the audience to my tuning. That really affected my concentration on the words. I should know better and change my strings. My tuner doesn’t function well in sun light.

It was a slow day at the market, though several folks sat and listened carefully to what I was doing – making me work harder on my playing. I nailed July, Here Comes the Sun as well as some of my more challenging guitar tunes. I was feeling my oats on guitar and I had a real good time with my rhythm chops.

Farmers’ Market tally: a couple of $5 spots in the mandolin case. I was tickled that folks chipped in. This is a notoriously poor spot for tips. I was interviewed by some students for a project on South Side people. I actually had some good points for the kids.