(no subject)
Of the many moments threading the needle of my musical tapestry I can think of one single thing surging tirelessly in the background, painstakingly taking every stitch. My family's piano. An Acrosonic by Baldwin my mom found (if she was reading this she'd probably be thinking I was going to say her- however she was tirelessly surging in the foreground, painstakingly making every stitch), maybe through some one at the church, in any case through her masterful thrifting skills (rather her mysteriously impressive way with the succinct ability to sift through the ether) it was wrought. It's action has always remained effortless, but no less expressive.
I've moved more pianos then I can count over the years, I think mostly with Derek and John, later with Dan and Peter, and after several acquisitions while working at Earthshaking Music my admiration for the Acrosonic in particular was confirmed on good authority by my buddy Charlie whose opinion on the worth of an instrument I value highly (this has dramatically informed the way I look at an object in the world.) I took this piano to the house on Weatherby where I lived with Marissa, and later Joseph and Candace moved in. It lived with me at Marissa Sabbath's house with an oak trunk my father gave me, which later came to Grant Park on Broyle's street where I really began to become well rounded as a musician. At Grant Park I grew deeply and widely, and emotionally it was a transformative era. I began to feel less afraid to love, to embrace my vulnerability. I began to open up to new relationships and friendships which brought me all over the country, into many kind homes, and a renewed relationship of familiarity with the wild expanse.
The piano has been in almost every single place I've lived, with the only exception being where I live now. Only because it's at the studio where the last time it was moved the leg on the bass side was damaged and broken off, so it sat. Times moved - Ten. The Acrosonic that is almost identical that is actually at my house was from the Cleaners. Dan, Peter, and I think John Cable and I went to collect it from a nursing home in Dunwoody area somewhere. It's rich in tone, a little muddy in the low end (normal with spinnets) but somehow more clear than many uprights of the same size. A little stiff and the sustain is in need of some repair, not enough pressure anymore to full release the bass strings, still no less a joy to play. Times moved - Twice.
Peter's Acrosonic is very special. It looks like walnut, and the keys feel more substantial, they have more weight, which makes sense for Peter in a way. I think the first time I helped move it was in to the house on Kirkwood when Peter, Dan, and I lived in Reynoldstown. Another time we moved it to (and from?) the house on Kenyan where Jessie and Lolly had also lived. Times moved - Three?
Gage's piano is I think an upright grand. It was dark. Out in the right way, with Massive bass tone and a lighter touch. The keys had been through many years of play and roughhousing. It ended up with Dan I think in the Hallway house, and we moved it into Dan's room in Reynoldstown. I remember Peter running around the house playing a chord on every piano in each room. At the time I didn't have a bed and slept on the floor, and my Rhodes was in my room and the Acrosonic was in the living room. The house naturally became a studio. Eventually Gage's piano moved into Mammal. We ended up moving it in the rain pretty late at night. So time's moved - Twice.
There was that one piano we carried up the stairs at Mammal gallery, that was a back breaker.
The Acrosonic I moved into Emily's house was inspirational. I go to Value Village south on Moreland whenever I think about it. It's like bibliomancy. If I am near a place and it comes to mind in specific I choose to follow it. On one of these occasions in the back was a dusty Acrosonic with cracked keys, a deep dark stain, almost plum. I began to take the panel off to inspect the harp, giving everything the usual once over. In my mind I had been debating on if this would make sense to get. For one, you never know how one will react to a surprise piano. It could easily go wrong. They're huge even if they're small ones, and some people (Emily, definitely Emily) are very concerned with the way everything is tied together in a room (me too, me too). It was a $100, which to be real as a broke musician is alot of money, but also as a broke musician you grow to trust your instinct and choose what you think is right and then live with the consequences. Well as I'm dusting off the harp and pulling random debris, I discovered a yellow magnet with black letters "yes."So I convinced two men working in the back to help me get it in my truck because I couldn't purchase it and leave, I had to take it then or I wasn't allowed to buy it. Which who knows why but I wasn't going to argue, it's triviality was amusing. And again, you live with the consequences and improvise.
Jessie's Acrosonic we picked up and brought to their home for sweet William's birthday. I love seeing Addi playing it. Santiago Paramo's piano twice, to and from his studio at the Arts Exchange. Once to Estella's house on Melrose. The kingfish must've been when Derek, Adam, Dylan, and Dan and I picked up a baby grand from the M Rich building that was going to be thrown in a dumpster. A Chickering from the 20's we found out had been completely rebuilt to become a player piano. We got it lifted onto it's side on a few dolley's and walked that fucker south down Peachtree and west on MLK to Broad st. It's got quirks, but it's an incredible blessing. Maybe that's what the point is. When you see how much of a blessing a piano is, how it will give and give and give to you, it's small change to call a few friends together to save one and give it a loving home, it's a worthy cause that everyone deserves a role in.
It's funny, on Sylvan once Dan and I stopped at the Church East of Melrose and they had 4 pianos on the front landing, and one in the yard face down. I remember feeling desperate, lost in the world with no way to move them or rescue them. You win some, you lose, and then eventually you get left outside of the church to decompose in the rain.