FRANKLIN, Tenn. – Local Guitar Center customer Jess Haylin was unaware that a routine trip to buy equipment would lead to her becoming the muse of part-time employee Chris Carrington, confirmed unsurprised staff members.
“There I was, thinking it was just another Saturday afternoon of kids being shuffled into the store by their parents and keeping customers from climbing the walls of guitars like this is some kind of rock-climbing gym, when a girl—no, a goddess—walked through the door,” said Carrington, while dreamily toeing an Electro-Harmonix looper pedal. “As soon as I laid eyes on her, the only woman to come into the store that day, I felt a well of inspiration bubble up inside me. I just had to continue strumming the guitar that was already in my hands and write a song about her. After years of seeking, I knew she was it. I’d finally found my muse.”
When asked about her experience of being a muse to a man with access to thousands of instruments for sixteen hours a week, Haylin was reportedly confused.
“Wait, what? You mean the guy behind the counter strumming the Taylor DLX Grand? Oh… I mean, I barely spoke with him. I just came in to grab a few new cables for my studio and he rang me up at the register,” said Haylin. “He seemed friendly, sure, but I thought that’s just how you’re supposed to be when you work in sales. This same thing happened to me after I bought a hot-glue gun at Michael’s. An employee there decided he needed to paint portraits of me and it became a whole ordeal with restraining orders. I knew I should’ve just ordered those cables online.”
Guitar Center’s Executive Director of Marketing and Brand Customer Relations Experience, Randall Kenson, cites Carrington and Haylin’s dynamic as a testament to the company’s mission.
“At Guitar Center, we believe music is the greatest unifying force in the world. Our mission is to fill the world with music. I am absolutely delighted to learn that Chris Carrington, one of our valued retail employees, was able to draw inspiration from a member of our loyal customer base,” said Kenson in between writing songs about a recently hired office temp. “Surely the music he creates while off the clock on instruments outside of the store will be a meaningful contribution to whatever genre of music he plays.”
Upon follow-up three weeks later, Carrington reported to have written two half-finished demos and a chorus inspired by Haylin.