Facepalm

face-palm /fayspaw(l)m/ n.1that moment when the ridiculousness of your post-show situation becomes unbearable and you make a mental note to write it down so you can tell your mom and have a good laugh because I mean come on, who would actually say that?

After twenty years on the road, singer-songwriter Beth Wood offers a collection of amusing vignettes and awkward conversations she has had at the product table after her shows. While most audience members are kind, appreciative, and often generous, there is always someone who delivers a true facepalm moment. Finally, she has compiled some of the winners into one comical batch that offers a behind-the-scenes window into the world of a traveling musician. With whimsical illustrations by Austin artist Jen Blair, you will laugh and palm your face in your hands right alongside Wood the whole way.

One night after a mind-blowingly awkward and boundary-stomping encounter at the merch table (the place where she sells CDs after a show), singer-songwriter Beth Wood decided to write down what happened and share it on social media. The response was overwhelming and made it easier to laugh at these crazy situations she found herself in. It made her feel so…not alone.

Wood compiled these recollections from the merch table, where she stands every night after performing a show, and takes in the sometimes beautiful, but other times awkward, interactions with fans. These latter ones are some of the facepalm moments that made her laugh, or stand there in puzzled silence, and immediately go call her mom to say, omygawd you won’t believe what just happened! These are all people who, bless their hearts, didn’t buy anything. And these are just the ones she remembers!