Storytellers takes a glimpse into an artist’s inner psyche through a story of their choice.

In this edition, Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt (aka Neil Fridd) recounts a time when he was homeless for a night after playing a wedding in Texas.

In August of 2011, I had the supreme honor of playing this couple’s wedding in Austin, TX. The wedding was perfect and taught me that weddings, as well as committing to someone forever, can actually kick ass. Due to my rad poor planning I got to hang out on a street bench from the end of the wedding at 1 A.M. until my flight at 9 A.M.

The first thing that happened was that a dude on spring break mistook me for a homeless person, gave me $20 and said, “Don’t you dare spend this on booze.” As he left, a real deal certified homeless lady came up, sat down next to me, looked me in the eyes, said “You got a nice dick!” and launched right into what I’m hoping will be the worst and briefest hand job of my life. So I had to switch benches. Soon after that, a bike messenger came up and asked me what I was up to at such a late hour. I explained my cool nothing-to-do-for-eight-hours situation to her. She told me about her life and that she had twins who had split her pelvis when she birthed them. She then offered to put me up for the night. The kids were at some sort of nightshift daycare (is that a thing?!) and I could sleep in their bed. She was hella nice, but I declined because sleeping in a bed shared by two 4 year old twins seemed the like the start of a DIY version of The Shining. I wandered around for a while trying to find somewhere to pee, but as the saying goes, “The streets in downtown Austin are paved with drunk girls yelling, ‘Look that guy’s peeing!!!’”

The sun rose and it was time to catch a bus to the airport, but they weren’t running cause they were scheduled to, and I needed them to be. So, I caught a ride with a sweet cabby. I don’t recall provoking him in any way to tell me his life story, but he did and it broke my heart. He met the love of his life while driving big rigs cross-country. He was so enamored with this lady that he immediately quit and settled down in Austin as a taxi driver so they could be together. They got married and rock ‘n’ rolled two awesome daughters into existence. Then, like a year later, she died of maximum cancer. I won’t even begin to attempt a retelling of his description of losing her, but basically just imagine the most unbearable sadness of all time and you’ve got it. As we neared Terminal 1, he pointed to a picture of his two girls, who were so young, and told me that they were his guardian angels. The only reason he had made it through the past nine months, he said, was them. I think kids are a scam, but I totally knew he was right.

So, I guess what I learned that night is we all need each other.

Curated by Daniel Dorsa.