Delia Oh Delia. How Can It Be?

Fat Albert's used to be, and probably still is, the oldest open mic night in Toronto. When I first started going there, it was held in the basement of a church on Bloor Street West and I occasionally played the guitar and sang three songs, because that was the maximum allowed, unless you were the feature performer. You might think that nobody of any notoriety would be caught dead in such a place, but you would be wrong. Bob Snider, Ron Sexsmith and Sam Larkin all performed there occasionally. One less well-known performer was Matt Black, who played mostly country-and-western songs, but not exclusively. Matt was very encouraging about my performances and we developed a kind of easy friendship. I lost track of him for a couple of years, but one day, while I was having lunch with my friend Susan-Marie at a restaurant on Baldwin Street, he re-appeared, in the hall outside the men's toilet.

“Hey man. Where have you been?” I asked.

“Here and there. Actually, my band and I are playing this Saturday at a bar not far from here. Have you ever heard of a place called Graffitis?”

“Can't say that I have.”

“Same street as this. Other side of Spadina.”

“I'll definitely try to make it.”

“See you then.” he replied, and returned to his table.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This book is 12,400 words long. You will receive a pdf file after purchase.