Leo Kottke is one of my favorite musicians. His talent is amazing. I was finally able to witness it in person this weekend, and it was awesome. He played at The Handlebar in Greenville, SC on Saturday night at 9 o'clock. It's a fairly small place—just a listening room with a bar/dining area attached. We arrived about ninety minutes before it was to begin in an attempt to snag decent seats. We did. We were on the end of the second row. Being such a small venue we merely had to write our names on any paper we could find and leave them in the seats we wished to reserve. Doing this, we went back to the bar area to get some pizza. After sitting there a while we realized what great timing had been exercised. Soon after we were settled in, people began to flood the entrance. It was a small flood, though. It only seats 500, which I liked. It felt very personal and I enjoyed it more than I would have if there had been thousands. We had found great spots—probably fifteen feet from him, or less. I was so excited.

He came on stage a couple minutes after nine. People started cheering, including me, and he went right to work. I've always known that he was an amazing guitar player, but you can't appreciated it fully until you actually see his fingers flying and plucking. He is incredible. He makes his twelve-string sound like three or four instruments at once. It isn't hard to believe that he would practice ten hours a day. He played between fifteen and twenty songs, telling funny, interesting stories between, and sometimes during. I sat in awe for ninety minutes.

After his encore, most of the audience left. Lindsey and I, along with maybe a dozen others, waited in hopes of his return. He did come back out finally, after a while, to pull his plugs from the stage. Several of us gathered in front of it, facing him. I realized that I would have time to go out to my car (we also had an excellent parking spot) to get the album I had brought along. I would get more than a handshake. When I came back with the record I was out of breath and walking quickly. He had just finished with everyone when I came up to him saying, "Will you do one more?" He had his cords bundled in his hands by this time, but a lady that works there was kind enough to take them from him so that he could generously oblige me. I handed him 6- and 12-String Guitar, one of his first and best records, along with a silver pen. Lindsey told him how great the show was, as did I. I thanked him, told him we drove three hours to see him. It was well worth it—certainly the best birthday present I've had in years, or possibly ever. Thank you, Lindsey.

All of the available downloads right now are some of Leo's songs, in case any would like to hear his work. You may also want to visit his Web site.