
LOST: one authentic rattlesnake guitar strap
LAST SEEN: my home studio
RESPONDS TO: “whoa! awesome!”, “so cool”, or “the coolest”
REWARD: one original song, in the key of your choice
It was seven years ago, while attending the Smithville Bluegrass Jamboree in Smithville, TN, that I first laid eyes on the most beautiful guitar strap I’d ever seen. Of the festival’s highlights, which included a flatfoot dance contest and a hot rendition of “Boil Them Cabbage Down” by a 13-yr old fiddling champ, the silver-haired gentleman peddling handmade snakeskin accessories was the standout. One of his many goods was an Alabama Rattlesnake guitar strap. I was in love. But the strap was, understandably, fairly expensive, and so I left the Jamboree strapless* and with a heavy sigh. Fortunately for me, I was attending the fest with my doting Dad, who observed my googly-eyed reaction to said strap and covertly got the vendor’s phone number. A full six months later at Christmas, lo and behold, I unwrapped a rattlesnake strap of my very own (dads really do knock it out of the park sometimes).
About two weeks ago I noticed my beloved strap was missing. I have searched every guitar case, every corner of my apartment, my car: no strap. My deep dread is that I somehow left it at a gig. If that is the case, it is probably gone forever. But I am still hoping against hope that it miraculously appears in my laundry basket.
*not this kind
image courtesy of http://snakeskinstraps.com/