Am I really Admitting To This on EE?

Okay, gotta give some back story before making this admission...

I play acoustic guitar. One of my biggest joys in life is performing live. Not doing my speaking thang (though that's a lot of fun, too), but having my 12 string Taylor on my lap, sitting on a bar stool with a mic in front of my face. In that position, you'l find me blaring out sub-par Johnny Cash, Springsteen, Tom Petty and John Prine tunes.

Since relocating to Florida a few years back, I haven't pursued playing out much; what we in the biz call "gigging." Have done a few acoustic sets, but nothing like I was doing in STL. Anyway, it's something I want to get back into.

As avid of a reader as I am, I'm currently reading a book you would never, in a million years, guess I'd be reading. The book? "The Girl's Guide To Rocking" by Jessica Hopper.

Why is a 35 year old man reading this? Mainly because there's actually good info in there. Granted, I'm not a teenage chick (who the book is aimed at), but good info nonetheless. Like, how to book gigs, the different styles of guitars (taught me a few things) and a lot about recording (something I really haven't done)

Still, the thing I dig most about this book is the self empowerment. Hopper gives a story of some girls who formed a band and, not being old enough to play in bars, they asked a local pizza joint if they could play there. Their friends came, bought pizza, so the owner asked the girls to come back the next weekend. This grew and grew until the girl band was booking other gigs. Finally, they got to big to play the pizzeria...and they were just barely high schoolers.

Hopper encourages readers to go out, look under every stone, ask tons of questions and, if you're persistent, you'll get what you want. I love this! And I love this message delivered to girls in such a positive, yet still rock and roll, way.

If we wait around for opportunity to come knocking, well, sometimes it will. More often, though, we're spending our lives just, well, waiting. I don't live like that. I won't live like that. And after reading Hopper's book, I doubt too many readers will want to live like that, either.