WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – Especially for musicians, the sound of silence is deafening.
Joey Recchio affectionately calls his guitar “Old Blue.” It’s like a best friend he picks on daily.
“Oh man, they’re like part of the family almost, you know,” he told Queen City News.
As an instructor and guitar tech at The B String Guitar Shop in Winston-Salem, Joey feels the pain of western North Carolina musicians who lost prized instruments when Helene made landfall.
“I mean they’re just irreplaceable and now they have to be replaced,” says Recchio.
“The music community has always come together,” said owner Mike Bennett.
The B String is part of the nationwide effort to collect instruments of hope.
“I was surprised to see this one get donated,” he said, showing us one of the guitars given to the cause.
Many who survived Helene lost everything. Along with the anguish of losing loved ones and homes, some lost possessions that provide healing in times like this.
For months, the WoodSongs musical instrument drive has gathered up equipment to be distributed in western North Carolina.
“That’s their tools for working. So that’s like a carpenter losing a saw,” Bennett says.
“All these are going for the help, including all the ones in the cases,” he said walking us through the store. “Here’s a five-string Ibanez bass; guy didn’t learn to play bass. Here’s a Fender acoustic guitar.”
As a sign inside says, all they typically ask of customers is “Please, no ‘Stairway to Heaven,’” but lately, the B String has rallied support. This guitar shop alone has collected and, in some cases, refurbished about 100 guitars, amps, and other equipment for a mountain relief effort.
WoodSongs will distribute them for free to musicians affected by Helene. The distribution will be held March 9 at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa.
“Naturally the first thing they needed was shelter, water, that kind of thing,” Bennett said. “But there were people that did use instruments to make a living.”
The instruments to be distributed in Buncombe County are for players of all ages and abilities. For folks who contributed, the idea of someone losing their source of joy tugs at the heart strings.
“And I think they deserve their instruments back,” says folk singer Michael Johnathon of WoodSongs. “Even still, it’s difficult for those folks out there. So this music is the soundtrack of America’s front porch.“
That soundtrack was interrupted by the painful losses caused by Helene, and musicians elsewhere can’t sit by quietly.
“They’re not cleaning out their closet, they’re taking some good stuff and they’re saying, ‘This would probably make somebody’s day,’” says Recchio.
The unexpected gems include a violin from the 1800s. Maybe a band student can enjoy it next.
“Anyone who’s playing one in school just got a huge upgrade with a vintage violin,” Bennett said.
After losing so much, the hope is that Helene survivors find solace in music again.
“Oh just play on,” says Bennett. “That’s the one release that they can get that doesn’t really cost them anything. Just go play and take your mind off the troubles.”
Maybe breaking the silence can help mend broken hearts after all that’s gone.
“Even though it’s good stuff, it’s collecting dust here and somebody can knock the dust off up there and give it a whirl and maybe bring some joy back to their life,” Recchio says.
