BILLY THE SWEDE

A gig memory:

Nephew came for the gig from New York City with two college friends: talented cinematographer-in-the-making "Hattie," and a fine-artist-in-the-making from Sweden we call "Billy the Swede." (Brinie, ever the thoughtful guy, gave Billy a box of Swedish Fish to make him feel at home.)

Billy's actual given name IS "Billy" -- not William. He said his father was infatuated with John Wayne and Hollywood Westerns, so Billy was named after Billy the Kid. He added that his brother was named Jesse and his sister was named Dolly. I said: "Dolly? I can't think of a cowgirl named Dolly." He said: "Dolly Parton."

At the gig, Hattie worked a video camera while Billy worked a couple of girls. Billy is very personable, with long blond hair and a charming accent. Nephew says whenever Billy is talking to a girl he just met, his accent mysteriously gets thicker.

There's a go-go bar next to the nightclub. A couple of the girls who work there noticed all the cars at the nightclub, and they bopped over to see what the fuss was about. One of them took a liking to Billy. She was of American-Indian descent; her stage name was "Dakota."

Mad Jack closed Set Two with the Outlaws' barn-stormer "Green Grass and High Tides," a song Brinie and I have wanted to play onstage all our lives. For the occasion, I put on a black cowboy hat. I wanted to FEEL it.

Billy later said: "I can't wait to tell my dad that I spoke with an Indian and saw a band with a guy wearing a cowboy hat."