It can be difficult to grasp the full influence someone has on the world until you experience it firsthand. I had one of those moments last week in a small Mexican restaurant in Tucson, Arizona.

I had just flown into Tucson with my wife. It was around dinner time when we landed and we ended up in this Mexican restaurant downtown called "La Fuente". We arrived at 5:30pm and discovered that there was going to be live entertainment at 6:00pm so we took our time going over the menu and enjoyed an excellent bowl of chips and salsa. The entertainment for the evening was a solo guitarist named Ruben Allard. Ruben started promptly at 6:00 with a few songs that you would expect to hear at a Mexican restaurant which definitely added to the ambiance of the room. Ruben sang the songs with vocal conviction and strummed them on his guitar in perfect bolero style. It was very nice! But wait, it gets better. After the second or third song, Ruben started playing a Johnny Cash tune. I smiled, looked over at my wife, and then ordered another cerveza. Even though we were finished eating we decided to hang out for a couple more songs. Ruben started playing another Mexican standard which, again, was beautiful and perfect for the intimate setting of the restaurant; but immediately after that one he goes right back in to another Johnny Cash song, this time it's "Hurt"! So we hung out a little longer in this local gem of a Mexican restaurant in Tucson and enjoyed Ruben's rendition of Johnny Cash, bolero style. I have to say, I "got it"; I understand now a little more how Johnny Cash relates to many genres and cultures.

If you are ever in Tucson looking for some great Mexican food and entertainment, this guitar player highly recommends "La Fuente". The food was outstanding and so is the entertainment if you are lucky enough to be there on a night when Ruben is performing.