Old Banjo

(back blip)

This gentleman walked out of the restaurant and struck up a conversation with some friends. I noticed him holding something but from where I sat, couldn't tell whether it was a ukulele or banjo. As he was walking to his car, I literally ran to catch up with him to get the story.  His name was Harold Blye and he was carrying a 100-year old banjo. It was recovered in a relative's attic, which he claimed from the family.  He told me it needs to be tuned and that he wasn't sure whether or not it had the original strings (they looked really old to me).  He also told me that he had a group of friends who got together frequently to play a variety of stringed instruments. I can picture it in my head!

As he left, he repeated his last name and told me if I wanted to talk about or see any of the other men's stringed instruments to give him a call. "I'm in the phone book," he said as he walked away. In that second I thought two things: I don't have a phone book ...and does anyone still use phone books?

Sometimes you can just tell when someone will be happy to share a story.