I love this story (Ho Hey)

There's a Walgreens near Downtown Crossing in Boston that I walk by all the time. 

I seldom go in.

Mostly I try to go to my wonderful local indie drugstore, but when I need something that Gary Drug doesn't carry, I'm a CVS kind of gal. CVS is a New England company; Walgreens is from somewhere else, and is a relative newcomer in these parts. Plus the Walgreen's went in where "my" Borders used to be. Sure, it may seem kind of stupid to mourn the loss of a chain bookstore, but this Borders was really wonderful. It had a terrific selection and great sales. Not that I hold a grudge, but I rarely make it to the inside of this Walgreens. There's an exception or two when I can't find something at a) Gary; b) multiple CVS's; or c) a grocery or rando convenience store. One such exception occurred in the early stages of the COVID shutdown, when toilet paper was in short supply.

My sister had told me that she was down to her last couple of rolls. I had a few to spare, but decided to go foraging. After stopping at a half dozen stores, and coming up empty, I was able to secure an eight-pack of some brand I never heard of. 

Crisis averted!

(Meanwhile, Trish had been able to find some on her own. Then the shortage eased up. That no-name eight-pack from Walgreens is my reserve supply.)

What this Walgreens does have to commend it is a bookcase "free library" where people can pick up and leave books. And, in decent weather, an old piano out front where anyone walking by can sit down and play. And anybody else walking by can stand there and listen. Sometimes I stand there and listen. 

I wasn't walking by last week when Sam Spencer sat down to play, but if I had been, I likely would have stopped and listened to his performance of "Ophelia", a song by The Lumineers.

I'm not the world's foremost Lumineers fan, but I have a CD of theirs kicking around her somewhere. (Okay. I know exactly where that somewhere is: in the old china cabinet I keep my CD's in, sorted in alphabetic order within category (male artist, female artist, group, Celtic, Christmas...)).

Anyway, I consider myself a casual Lumineers fan. Because, ho hey, who doesn't love "Ho Hey", sweetheart?

While Sam Spencer was playing someone who'd been standing there listening, leaned in and turned Spencer's solo performance into a duet.

“I looked over at him and said to myself, ‘This guy kind

of looks like one of the guys from The Lumineers,’” said Spencer, 27.

Turns out, that’s exactly who it was. In a remarkable twist of fate, the band’s co-founder, Jeremiah Fraites, was exploring Boston on his day off from touring when he overheard Spencer on the piano, playing a song he knew quite well.

He listened to the sound as it wafted through the streets, and then surprised the unsuspecting player.

“It was so mind-blowing,” said Spencer, who has visited the piano and practiced the song on it on more than one occasion. “I was immediately star-struck and I was embarrassed that I didn’t play the song better.” (Source: Boston Globe)

According to Fraites, Spencer's rendition was just fine: "awesome...perfect."

As it happened, Fraites' walking companion was Nicholas Sutton Bell, who does videos for The Lumineers. He recorded the encounter and Fraites posted it on Instagram. It was Bell who also informed Spencer that the song he was playing was Fraites'. 

“You’ve got to be [expletive] [expletive] me,” Spencer said in the video.

Apparently, things like this do happen. I've read about buskers who were doing a cover when they were joined by the originator. As happened in London a few years ago, when a kid singing "Handbags and Gladrags" for change in Picadilly Circus was joined by Rod Stewart. That must have been a hoot.

But it doesn't occur all that often, and the fact that it did in front of a Walgreens in Downtown Crossing. Well, I just love this story.

In addition to making Spencer Insta famous, Fraites comped him for the group's June 3rd show. 

Ho Hey!