I headed out to the Saint Peter’s Bakery for a Friday gig on the back deck. Usually, I have played some nice Saturday gigs here, made some tips, collected some bread, a pizza for the ride home. I play for some intelligent folks and have connected well. I don’t do this for the money since I understand the perks.

Tonight, the street was crawling with tourists and no parking places nearby. This is the way it rolls on Fridays, I hear. I set up out on the deck with a bunch of tables in action. I try to maintain a low profile for these dining situations, and that’s what I did.

I played from 7 til 9, straight through, mixing in my mandolin and guitar, tunes I do well and a set of my folk, blues, Celtic, Beatles, Motown, etc. I played well.

I finished up under a beautiful half moon overlooking the stream gorge two stories below the deck. Great weather. Cool temps. Idyllic.

I ended up with one $10 tip and another $2 tip. I gave $3 to the waitress, picked up my pizza, a loaf of bread and headed back to home. Oh, I stopped for $20 gas on the way back. A night in the red for me. Quite rare, actually.

A table of eight middle aged women were celebrating someone or something at a big table in front. I played for two hours in front of them and got not a cent from the whole table. Perhaps they assumed I was being paid by the venue. Hmmm.
It’s a brave new economy for artists these days.