Born with a congenital facial muscle spasm, I was unable to smile normally until age 14. Even today, I sometimes cannot fully control my tongue. With few friends during a difficult childhood, I ran away from home and traveled with a circus. It was there that Tatiana the Tattooed Lady gave me my first guitar lesson. With plenty of time to practice, I took to it quickly. I continued to develop my skills performing in a sideshow, where I did hard rock versions of show tunes. Several years later, a promoter booked me a gig performing at an educator’s conference. This was the beginning of a long career. Thirty-eight years later, I retired and was fortunate enough to join a very cool band called the Coppercats.