Al Stewart’s Biggest Fan in Rural Tuscany

My dad was a piano tuner, and in my travels, any time I see a piano, I have an urge to play it or hear it played. At Il Canto del Sole agriturismo, Luciano showed me around his farm while his son, Marco, attentively followed, seemingly fascinated by my work as a guidebook writer. When we came upon the family piano, I asked Marco to play. Oblivious to how horribly out-of-tune the piano was, Marco sat right down and belted out Al Stewart’s “Year of the Cat.” Coincidentally, that’s one of my favorite songs, and I’ll be seeing Al Stewart in concert in Everett, Washington, next month. It’s interesting to me that a pop song, written before Marco was born, would be part of this fun rural Tuscan moment. Al, if you’re there, you have a young fan just south of Siena. (And if there’s a piano tuner on the road in Italy, I’ll bet you can get a free night in a great B&B if you packed along your tuning hammer.)