“I see him as a well-rounded, modern young man with a vision of the past he incorporates into his daily life.”
Tyler Smith’s house is hard to miss. Just look for the Model A Ford parked in the driveway. Smithalso owns a 1971 Chevrolet Chevelle equipped with a V-8 engine. You’dthink Smith, being a 17-year-old high school senior, would prefer themuscle car, but oddly enough, the Model A is what he drives to school.
He says the 1971 Chevy is just too new.
He says the 1971 Chevy is just too new.“I love the interiorsof the old cars, the colors they chose,” Smith said. “They’re not madeof plastic. To me, they’re elegant and classy.”
Smith is happily out of sync with the 21st century and, forthat matter, most of the 20th century, too. He attends Karns HighSchool, where he excels in all his classes. To locate his chronologicalniche, you have to turn the calendar back to the 1930s, perhaps as lateas 1945, when Earl Scruggs developed the three-fingered banjo stylethat shaped early bluegrass.
In terms of his taste in clothes,Smith favors overalls, leather equestrian boots and a felt fedora. Heis an excellent banjo player but doesn’t own an iPod. Next to hisGibson banjo, his prize possession is his Model A Ford, which was builtin 1928.