“How do I get into these situations?” That’s what I asked myself last night as I worked my tail off playing every “show-stopper” song I had in my repertoire. Somehow, I wound up in a Russian bar in Brooklyn playing for tips. I agreed to play for tips because I’ve never had too much trouble bringing them in before, especially when I bring my list and people start making requests. I quickly found out that a tough-looking, Russian speaking crowd doesn’t sing along and break out the 20's when a Billy Joel or Eagles song comes on. My song list carries a wide enough variation in styles, that I can always find a song to please every crowd, however I guess I neglected the all-Russian crowd. I decided to use the evening as an opportunity to rehearse some songs that I’ve never done before. Ever since we moved to northern NJ, I’ve been fascinated with the song “Lodi” by CCR and as I played it in front of a crowd for the first time last night, I decided it’s my anthem. Especially the