Man, what a tough crowd. I started out with some Elvis. I followed that with some Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison. Nothing. Finally, in the middle of a Beatles tune, my three-year-old daughter finally fell asleep. I tiptoed out of her room, put my uke down, grabbed a beer, and went outside on my deck to enjoy the beautiful, warm summer night. My next-door neighbor was also out, watering her plants. “Hey, I heard you playing,” she said. “Sounded good! You ever perform out in public? Like in bars or coffee houses?” “Nope,” I said. “I’m just a play-at-home dad.”
Lee Hammerschmidt is a visual artist/writer/troubadour. He is the author of the short story collections A Hole Of My Own and It’s Noir O’clock Somewhere.