I met k.d. lang at an autograph signing at Tower Records (out of business now) on Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood on a late Friday afternoon in June 2000 when she was promoting her new album “Invincible Summer”. I found out about the signing by skimming the latest issue of LA Weekly the night before. At that time I thought she was the greatest thing to happen to music, so I decided for sure I would go right after work. However, I was still relatively new to LA and at that time both lived and worked in the Valley and didn’t make it over the hill that much, especially during rush hour. I wasn’t sure what traffic or parking would be like, so I was kind of nervous about those things and almost didn’t go at all I was so nervous. (I was a very timid guy at 22 and still am but getting better…)

Anyway, traffic to Hollywood wasn’t so bad and parking wasn’t difficult to find either. I got there about 45 minutes early, and there was already a line forming. I was happy to be near the front of the line, and I was practically shaking I was so excited I was going to meet k.d. lang. I think my excitement was obvious to one of the Tower employees who offered to take my picture with k.d. and e-mail it to me later. As it was approaching my turn to get my CD signed, I was so nervous I thought I might pass out, but of course I didn’t, and thankfully I’ve never actually “passed out” before, especially over something like that.

What do you say when you meet someone whose talent you admire? I forgot exactly what I said but it was something like “I grew up listening to all your records” or something like that to which she said “That’s awesome”. In retrospect, that probably wasn’t the best thing to say, and I think now that the best policy is not to say anything when you meet someone famous unless you genuinely have something intelligent or insightful to say as they’re probably used to and sick of generic fan praise.

When we posed for the picture the guy at the store promised he would take, I didn’t know if I was allowed to touch her. In the pose, I moved closer to her but made absolutely sure not to touch her. It was awkward and in retrospect kind of silly, but as I said before I was a very timid guy. Then she signed the jacket of my CD and wrote “to dan love kd lang”. “dan” was lower case just like the way she puts her initials in lower case.

I was unusually happy and giddy the next couple of days…