It is a satisfying part of the job. An enthusiastic audience member bustles up, pen in hand, asking for an autograph on an 8bb CD they have just purchased. I smile, take hold of the booklet and with a sense of pride sign my name on the front cover.
The only problem is that I’m not actually playing on the CD.
This quickly became a complicated grey area after I joined the group. strange imaginary animals was released two months after I arrived, but had been recorded almost a year before I arrived in the States. I spent a few months disappointing excited concertgoers with my mantra: “I’m not on the CD, so I can’t really sign it, sorry”. The other members of the ensemble soon became a bit tetchy and impatient: “Tim, just get over it and sign the goddamned thing. It’s not like you are going to hell because of this, and you’re starting to piss people off.”
I honestly believed that I shouldn’t sign CDs on which I didn’t play, but I soon became exhausted by the “come on, just sign it” attitude that was coming from both fans and ensemble members.
Inevitably, sheep that I am, I gave in and began signing CDs left, right and center.
I still, somewhat pathetically, cover myself “morally” (ha!) with the catch-all caveat “Just so you know, I’m not on the CD, but I’m happy to sign it anyway”, always eliciting an impatient frown from CD buyer, who quite rightly doesn’t care one way or the other.
The Phot with a CD with everyone’s signatures:
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