IT'S BEEN UP AND DOWN THE COUNTRY ROADS , IT'S BROUGHT A TEAR AND A SMILE , IT'S SEEN IT'S SHARE OF DREAMS AND HOPES AND NEVER WENT OUT OF STYLE

               Once , many years ago , it seemed that there were far too many strings , each too tightly strung and too close together and each hiding the secret tones that it held so tightly to it's vest.  In time , as such secrets were dug out into the light and wrested away forever , now mine to keep. Just six, that is all that there had ever been . I still found secrets even many years later , in the days when I knew everything.

           The ridged feel of wound metal , of smooth , cool , thin , stretched wire. The resonant warmth of nylon waiting for trained hands to form the voice of the player's soul .

        Cheap , modified instruments , sitting on the dirty sidewalk amid the butts and bottlecaps , pouring everything into a shaky acoustic box for pocket change but a smile or a nod , a clap or the jingle in a pants pocket is the pay cheque .

         Until a time when the sidewalk is a dirty , smoky club in a number of different places . Standing on a cheap ,  wooden stage with drunks in front of you and blaring amplifier behind , the trained fingers no longer serve masters long dead , now one master only rules , the compositions are simpler , the slight nylon vibration replaced by the deep , throaty growl of a Les Paul . Power reigns here and the pay is meager . adulation in it's least degree is the benefit.

        Attitude , the hunger to live the life of a star , to be what drove you on for so long . the clothes and the swagger , the hair too long and the leash on self control too loose with pockets like a pharmacy .  A life in power chords .

          In a moment all of those years crouched on the bedside , fearing a professor's frustration , a sidewalk cop's disdain , a bar manager's theft or an evening partner's addiction , all disappear , all for nothing . , the fingers were stilled and are still.

         The soul however has not given up on reaching out and has substituted string for keyboard keys words for chords.

Once again so very many strings , mysteries and hidden notes

      Only the soul lies quiet...