Music circles the world. Often, so do the people and instruments making the enjoyable sounds. Along the way, unusual encounters and reunions happen. At any moment, startling news may arrive about an “old friend”, long unseen but never forgotten, who shared the stage long ago.

Canadian singer-songwriter Amy Argent, a 28-year-old from Prince Edward Island, recently witnessed such an incident. The story begins long before her birth.

“Sometime in the 1960s, my dad Tony had a favorite guitar and carved his name on the back plate,” Amy said. “He changed the color and made it his own. It was very special, and although he sold it, he still mentions it to this day – a ‘Gibson Les Paul something’.

“Anyhow, I got an email the other day from some people asking if I knew a man named Tony Argent. They have the guitar and are going to send some pictures. That’s pretty cool!”

The new owners purchased the guitar in Toronto seven or eight years ago. How did Tony react to the remarkable turn of events? “He was very excited,” Amy said. “Without the inscription, I don’t think he’d have believed it!”

Tony gives more history. “I had a 54 Les Paul that I bought in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1966,” he said. “I traded it for the 58 Les Paul in question in 1968. I played in a band or two, one of which was Snakeye. You can listen to one of our tunes on YouTube. In 1971, I sold the guitar and bought a 335 that I still own.

“The 58 was from the Halifax area and came to me painted white. I carefully scraped with a spoon and polished up as best I could. It had a worn spot near the switch. When I sold it, the guitar was a sunburst color. I tried to keep it in its original condition.”

Back when Tony and his long-lost favorite guitar prospered together, email hadn’t been invented. Music’s a powerful thing. So is the Internet. Together, they’re potent in astonishing ways.

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