5. From the Green to Folk City

Philadelphia & New York City — Late 1979

My first job out of college didn’t last long—something about “budget cuts” and “restructuring"? What it really meant was that I suddenly had an open calendar, just as summer was hitting its stride. So, I did what any newly unemployed 20-something with a golf-obsessed father would do: I spent my days on manicured fairways.

My father had introduced me to golf while I was in diapers, so by this point, I was decent enough to join an end-of-season tournament as part of a four-man team.

The stakes were high—money, pride, and bragging rights. The pool was filled with bets I couldn’t afford to join, but that didn’t matter much. I was there for the game.

Long story short—we won. Big.

During the post-final-round celebration, one of my teammates handed me an envelope with a generous cut of the winnings. “Thanks for carrying us,” he said. For me, it was an unexpected windfall—enough to buy some time before looking for another job, or following a passion.

That envelope became my ticket to weekends in New York City, where I joined my college friend, singer-songwriter Keith McKay. I played keyboards and sang background vocals with him, which is generous phrasing for a mostly self-taught player who could barely fake his way through chord changes.

The highlight of those weekends was our set at Folk City, the Greenwich Village institution that helped launch careers from Dylan to Simon. Its walls were a shrine to American music, plastered with the faces of the legends who had passed through before us. Just stepping on that stage felt like entering history.

Audio: Excerpt of Keith playing Folk City, ~1981 (note: i'm not playing on this)

Listening to the acts before and after our set was humbling. The depth of musical talent in those small rooms made it clear that while music was my passion, “musician” might not be my destined occupation. Still, I knew I wanted to stay in the world of sound.

One night, flipping through the Village Voice over a slice of Famous Original Ray's pizza, I saw an ad for a weekend course in audio engineering at the Guitar Study Center. It sounded good to me. I circled it, tore out the page, and signed up.

Sometimes the path to your calling starts with sinking a 6-foot putt and an envelope full of possibility.