"A Long Story Short"
by Matthew Delaney - Musician - Honolulu, HI

Keith Dover got a guitar at age eleven. He learned to play songs by ear. He joined a rock band in high school. When he went to college he couldn’t find a band to join. Keith dropped out of college and joined another rock band. That band traveled west and broke up. Keith tried to join another band but he couldn’t find one he wanted to join. Keith decided he didn’t need to join a band. He figured he could play by himself and say he’s a folk singer. He just needed to find a place to play at. Keith went out in the street and played by himself. Nobody told him he couldn’t play there. But people didn’t like it. So Keith went into cafes and said he was a folk singer. The cafés would let him play. Sometimes people liked it. Sometimes a lot of people liked it. Some people didn’t like it at all. Keith didn’t worry about those people. He found a bunch more cafés to play at. Keith found out some people liked it so much that they’d give him money. Keith decided he’d quit his job.

Keith went to New York. He figured there would be more people there that would give him money. He also had friends who let him sleep in their living room and he didn’t have to give them any money. Keith tried to join a rock band while he was in New York but he couldn’t find a band he wanted to join. Keith went and played out in the street and no one gave him any money. He went into cafés and said he was a folk singer. Sometimes they let him play. Sometimes they said he needed written permission from a district manager. Some people liked it. Some people gave him money. More people gave him money back before he came to New York. Keith went into the subway tunnels. There was no one in the subway that told him he couldn’t play. Some people gave him money. He had to play all day to make enough money to eat, buy smokes and ride the train again. Keith didn’t like playing in the subways. He decided he wasn’t going to try to join a rock band or go into cafes and say he was a folk singer anymore. Keith went home.

Keith had to live with his parents and fix vacuum cleaners for a year until he had the money to get an apartment. That year sucked for Keith except for one thing. Keith joined a rock band. Keith rocked out with the band at parties and dive bars. Some people liked it. Some people were intoxicated and couldn’t really tell. Sometimes those people said they liked it though. Keith knew he was never going to make much money playing in dive bars. Keith went back to school and started a career. One day, Keith walked into a café. He wasn’t going to say he was a folk singer though. He walked in to get coffee. He was with his homeboy who was in the band. The café had stuff a band could rock out on. Keith and his homeboy decided to rock out and the guy who owned the café said he liked it. Keith came back a bunch of times and said he was a folk singer. A lot of people liked it. A lot of people really liked it. A lot of people told Keith he should go into more cafés and say that he’s a folk singer.

You can hear Keith play on this website that’s named after him. Or you can find out which café to go to and Keith will walk in and say he’s a folk singer.