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It wasn’t a small venue, but I heard Mary Chapin Carpenter at Symphony Space in NYC in a songwriters circle with Nanci Griffith and (I think) Matraca Berg. I went into that concert a big NG fan and came out a huge MCC fan. I had a long chat with her after the concert, and she gave me her address and invited me to send her some songs. (I’m a songwriter.) I did, and she responded, and nothing more came of that connection—because in a way, I’m shy.

I’ve heard Christine Lavin perform in my living room several times. She’s a friend and in this songwriter group I host.

I did a workshop with David Wilcox and Beth Nielsen Chapman and heard them perform several times in an intimate setting. Ditto Dar Williams and Jimmie Dale Gilmore.

I produced a tribute to Nanci Griffith last year in a small theater and had Pete and Maura Kennedy as my band. They performed several songs and backed up my other singers (including me) on other numbers.

The Grammy Award winning songwriter Julie Gold (“From a Distance”) is another friend. She was in the NG tribute and a few other shows I’ve produced. Julie and Chris Lavin were guest performers at a show I did of my songs at a club in NY a few years back.

I saw Anais Mitchell at a tiny club in Greenwich Village. It was the Cornelia Street Cafe and there were maybe 20 people there. We had a nice chat afterwards.

I saw Cyrille Aimee, one of my favorite jazz singers of all time, at a tiny club in Westchester. I bought several CDs and had a nice chat with her after.

I played the guitar for the cabaret singer Andrea Marcovicci at the Algonquin Hotel several times. She was doing a song of mine. When I could make it, I’d accompany her on guitar; when I couldn’t her pianist played my song. One Friday night, I played for her at her 7 o’clock show, but skipped the 9:30 show because I wanted to flirt with the young lady who sold her CDs. What a mistake on a lot of levels, but the main one was that Joni Mitchell attended the 9:30 show! If I had performed, I’m sure I would have met Joni. But as it was, I couldn’t bring myself to barge into the conversation she was having with Andrea, just to say, “Oh, I wrote one of the songs tonight.” Gotta pick your spots. And that’s how I didn’t meet Joni Mitchell.