This doesn't qualify as my "proudest" moment by any means- just a quite surprising musical experience I will never forget. I am sure that better musicians than me have had several moments like this but this one was special to me.

I was in a country band in Oregon called Sweetwater. We played Central and Southern Oregon clubs from the coast to the Cascade mountains. Over the 15 years the band was together we had about 10 different lead guitar players and about 6 different drummers. I sang lead and played guitar.

One Sunday we were hosting an open mic and various folks were invited to sing or sit in on drums or play guitar. In the last set, Erve Neal, an old gentleman who had played with us before, set in. He had been a hot player from the Country Swing period in the 40's and 50's. In fact he was a former session musician, toured with folks like Bob Wills and made his living for years playing. He was good, but when he played with us, he usually drove us all crazy because he played so many licks and couldn't help putting 4 chords in a phrase when one would do. And he didn't care much for the "new country.

But tonight he wasn't trying to show off. The set was going well and everything just felt comfortable for the whole hour. In the last song before the break, the music was so sweet that I had goose bumps. The music seemed to be playing itself. I looked over at Erve (he was 75 years old at the time) and he kind of nodded at me. When we sat down at break, I asked him, "Did you hear what I heard? He said, "Yes I did. That was special". We talked awhile about what a rare and magical moment it was.

I think the phenomenon came about out of a combination of relaxation, mutual respect, good acoustics, and of course, some craft- but mostly because everyone playing was really listening to each other. It only happened that mysteriously one time and it was worth 6 months of music to have experienced it.

Erve Nell is probably gone now. He would be over 90-years old but I bet he would remember that night. It all happened in a little club in Eugene, Oregon with less than 100 people listening. Nobody got rich. No record producer was sitting in the audience ready to write us a contract and it didn't change the world, but I play for moments like that.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein