“That was called Heart of Gold.” The crowd erupted in roars and applause. Tad smiled, knowing he had found his niche.
He lucked out inheriting his grandfather’s ancient instrument and music disk collection. He had heard the old man play the guitar a couple times but didn’t know how or where he got it. Tad quickly claimed it when none of his siblings cared anything about that “hoarded junk.” It took Tad quite a while to find someone able to download and convert the tracks on the archaic disks to work with modern systems. Then when he listened to the music it started him down a long path figuring out how to operate the guitar and play some of the songs. Based upon dates printed on the disk covers, the music was from the late 1900s, and the guitar could be older than that.
Music had always been popular, but what was on the old disks was vastly different from modern music. And people seemed to love it, perhaps because it’s analog, played by hand, and simply so good.
Tad performed a couple more songs, ending his final set with Hotel California, and then carefully packed his well-cared-for guitar into its worn case. He collected his tips, waved to the smiling bar manager, and then started toward the door. Loud, monotonous modern music soon started playing over the bar’s system.
He worked his way through the crowd, many of the people also heading toward the exit. Some gave him positive feedback. As he neared the door, he slowed to go around a person in his way. But they said, “Hey, I love your music and singing. Can we talk?”
Identifying gender could be tough, but Tad quickly discerned the female voice. He shrugged his shoulders and said, “Sure, let’s get out of this “noise” first.”
They headed to the left along Market Ring, a corridor lined with shops, restaurants, and bars. The person then said, “I’m Hita, and I really like what you do. I like to sing and would love to work with you.”
It occurred to Tad that Hita could be just what he needed. Some of the songs he liked to play on the guitar had vocals that he could not handle. “Well, let’s go to my quarters and you can show me what you can do.”
They walked together through the crowds on Market and then made a few turns onto side corridors, passageways, and elevators. Eventually they got to Tad’s quarters. The door opened automatically and a system voice said, “Welcome home Tad.” He then said to Hita, “Come in and have a seat,” pointing at a couch.”
Tad commanded the system to play the ancient music and then removed the guitar from its case. “This is a guitar in case you didn’t know. It’s probably around four hundred years old. People used to make incredible music with these things.”
“It’s beautiful and it sounded wonderful in the bar.”
“Yes. It’s a Martin guitar, made of real wood, and very rare.” He then said, “Play Like the Weather.”
A new song started over the room’s system. “This is a song from a long-gone music group named 10,000 Maniacs.” Tad played along with the guitar part for a little while and then stopped and said, “I love this song, but I can’t sing it. It doesn’t sound good with my voice. Do you want to try singing it?”
“It sounds great and I’d try, but don’t know the words.”
Tad grabbed a hand-screen from a side-table, made some selections, and then handed it to Hita. He said, “I wrote the words on it. But, first let’s listen to it a couple times.” He then commanded the system, “Start the song over.”
They listened to the song and then listened to it again. Hita followed the words on the hand-screen. “Okay, I’ll give it a try.”
Tad got the guitar ready and said, “Start the same song again.”
For a first attempt, Hita sounded fantastic, having a great high voice. “That was great. Let’s try a few more by other singers,” Tad said.
They worked through other songs, from the disks. Time seemed to fly by. Tad finally said, “That was fun. I start performing again at the same bar at 20 hour. You can come by and try singing a song or two.” He then transferred some songs and words from the hand-screen to a chip and handed it to her. “Here, in case you want to practice.”
After Hita left, Tad started searching ads on the station’s system for an antique bass and drum kit. He was just getting started on reviving the old music.