FROM THE KING COUNTY JOURNAL, MARCH 12, 2003 (excerpts)

By Lori Varosh
Journal Reporter

KIRKLAND- Despite irregular pay, inclement weather and the absence of benefits, there are worse occupations than street performer, says singer-songwriter Tommy T. Payne.

"Would You Rather I was a Telemarketer?" he asks, grinning, from his perch outside the PCC Natural Market in Houghton. That's the working title of his next CD. Telemarketing was Payne's profession when, in April 1999, the day 13 people died at Columbine High, he decided to quit the job he despised. "There seemed to be a lot of death going on," he says. "I realized I'm only going to live so long, I may as well do something I like doing. "The worst part (of telemarketing) is the repetition. You have to say the same thing over and over again, and you have to do it with sincerity." The newly unemployed Payne made his way to PCC, armed with a guitar, a harmonica and a head full of music. In nearly four years since, he has shown up with great regularity, playing music, eliciting smiles and making friends. As a "busker", the continental word for street performer, he might repeat "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" 10 times a day for toddlers, but it's far different from telemarketing. For one thing, you can see their faces, he says. "It makes you feel like a million bucks when you see kids' eyes light up." Tommy T. Payne is the singer's "nom de chanson." He says only that...he grew up in the Midwest and he quit college just shy of a journalism degree. Each day, he takes the bus from Seattle, carrying almost everything he owns in his duffel or guitar case...[to Kirkland where] he can promote social change- a sticker on his guitar says, "Muslim Americans are friends, neighbors, citizens. Speak out against hate."- and he can help spread the gospel of music. Because he has a "funky voice," Payne's first CD...prominently features the "bel canto" tones of Christine Moore, who he discovered at the deli department of PCC. "She started singing and, whoa, I said, girl, you've got a voice," he recalls. "Because of him," Moore says, "I started taking voice lessons." She went on to try out for- and win- roles with Bellevue Opera's production of "Patience" by Gilbert and Sullivan, Civic Light Opera's version of "South Pacific," and others. "I owe him a lot. He's helped me a lot," Moore says. "He knows a lot about a wide variety of subjects. He also knows a lot about music. He's a cool cat." Writing songs is this cat's "raison d'etre," Payne says.

"I don't have kids. My songs are like my children. I want 'em to find a place in the world." The first CD- titled "Christian Commie Cowboys"- contains an original song ["Might As Well Sing"] inspired by Samuel Beckett that sums up his philosophy, Payne says. When asked why there were so many great writers and poets from Ireland, Beckett replied, "Because when you're in the last ditch, there's nothing left to do but sing."

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