Guitars: The evil and the good

It’s a story that encapsulates both everything wrong, and everything right with the world.

First the report from The Chicago Tribune;

“Some 40 feet below Dearborn Street, somewhere near Washington Street, Juan Hernandez had just finished his day’s work along the Blue Line platform, the stage where he picks, strums and sings for commuters.

Hernandez, who is legally blind, began to pack up as he always does — by touch. He put his guitar in its case and rested it against a pillar. Then he felt his way along the dark cables that connect his guitar and amplifier to gather them up.

He figures he had turned away from his guitar for just a few seconds that afternoon. But when he reached back, he felt nothing there.

Hernandez, assuming he had knocked it over, felt around the back of his amplifier and walked around it, hoping he’d feel the guitar.

Again, nothing.

Someone had taken off with Hernandez’s guitar.”

This gets reported by Andy Rice on MyGuitarSpace.com and before you know it, Gary Alan has donated this hand-painted guitar as a replacement.

Andy delivered this to Juan and writes;

“Last night I delivered the guitar that Gary Alan donated and hand painted for blind street musician Juan Herandez. Juan was incredibly thankful, and started jamming right away. He played about 12-15 songs for me on it, including Amazing Grace, and Fire and Rain. It was an overwhelming experience. There had been a slight delay in making it happen, but I was privileged to be a part of it. Such an inspiring gift.”