Once upon a time, I flew into Winnipeg, Canada for a brief tour. My small plane did not arrive until after midnight, it was cold and my ears were ringing. Needless to say I wasn't wearing a huge happy hat.

Upon arrival I was ushered aside by some officials and led into a back room where my bags and 2 guitar cases sat. One of them pointed to my 12-string guitar case and actually issued an order for me to play something for him. My happy hat got smaller. During a flight it is advised that the strings should be slackened to reduce neck tension.

Tuning a 12-string guitar, even when it's within range, requires quite a bit of effort and often a little prayer. From a slack position I knew I'd be in for a long haul. So with no option out and a bit bewildered regarding the purpose of this endeavor, I got to work twisting away at the tuning keys just to get it in the ballpark. After 5 minutes or so had passed without me playing a single note, I heard a voice above me say, "I can do that!"

Richard Gilewitz with Bert Lams of the California Guitar Trio during better times at an airport.

Looking up, I realized that I was surrounded in a semicircle by a rather large group of airport and immigration officials as well as the police. Panicked, I quickly ushered the instrument as close as I could get to being tuned and ripped into a tune. Two measures into the song I heard the same voice above me comment, "OK, I can see you're not an imposter."

At this point, not only was I suddenly in the mood to play but I was a bit irritated that I was put through this seemingly pointless ordeal. Acting as if I did not hear him I played through the entire tune which segued into an impromptu medley. As I had to provide a command performance, it was only fair that they were my captive audience. I decided to make them wait, which they did- an astoundingly polite lot in the long run- especially since it turned out I was pulled aside for the obvious and legitimate reason that my metronome had gone off in my guitar case and was ticking away suspiciously.