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In my first and only karaoke exploit I brought down the house.

My friends and I had not planned on doing any karaoke that night. In fact, we never did karaoke. I was never interested in karaoke, and the thought of actually partaking in this strange activity seemed like an impossible paradox for me. Always the reserved one, I usually preferred to be an observer rather than an active participant when it came to attention-grabbing social activities like singing and dancing.

There was a small blue-collar joint off the beaten path near where I lived that we liked to go to on Saturday nights for the live band, the famous "pig wings" for appetizers, and the $1.50 PBRs. That should tell you all you need to know about the clientele. The place was a little rough around the edges, a little scary even, but ultimately a laid back place for locals to hang out and drink for cheap.

We walked into this place, all eight of us, one Saturday night and found that, instead of the usual mediocre live rock band, it was now karaoke night! Great, I thought. We get to listen to some drunken rednecks sing "I Got Friends in Low Places" badly.

Making our way over to the only remaining open table, near the stage, we ordered a round of cheap beer. It wasn't long before some of my friends started perusing the song lists, and I was somewhat horrified to see one of my good friends suddenly hop up to sing "Indian Outlaw." His performance was actually quite decent and was well received. He had broken the ice and now a couple of my other friends were looking for something to sing. Or so I thought.

Somehow, unbeknownst to me, one of my "friends" submitted my name to the DJ. They had apparently recalled that I was always a huge Johnny Cash fan and submitted his song "Boy Named Sue." After a brief period of absolute terror I found the courage to go with it. After all, I knew all of Johnny's hits, and it didn't take a great singing voice to perform a song like "Boy Named Sue."

So, when my name was called, I strolled up to the microphone about to embark on my first ever Karaoke experience in front of a bunch of rough-looking cowboys, farmers and Gretchen Wilson look-a-likes. The DJ asked me to test the microphone and I did the only thing that came to mind. I looked out over the dark smoky room at all the hairy tough-looking locals and said, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash." Every head turned and every conversation stopped. Everyone knows Johnny Cash and his signature opening, especially in a place like this, a country bar.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself on stage doing my best Cash voice, apparently succeeding wildly. As I finished my song the bar erupted in enthusiastic applause and whistles. As I sat down I knew I had been a hit when a big fat drunk guy in a flannel shirt walked up to me and said, "You can call me Sue anytime." Strange thing to say, yes, but it was the ultimate approval.

I was so jazzed over my experience that, later on that night, I got back up and performed Folsom Prison Blues. This time I had half the bar actually dancing. Old and young, skinny and fat, they were all up there dancing to my performance!

My friends were speechless. I had always been one of the more reserved personalities in the group, and I have to admit, even I never thought I would do karaoke, much less be the hit of the night.

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