Moonie’s pal Greg Andreozzi is a sweet, soft-spoken man in person but a sparkplug on the music scene. Greg plays in all kinds of bands, including the KC Moaners and the Juke Joint Blues Band, but he’s most recognizable dressed in red, white and shiny, playing the rubboard and sometimes drums as well for none other than –

“ERB! ERB! ERB!”

Sorry about that; Moonie, who is reading over my shoulder, got a little carried away and started hooting. Yes, none other than Moonie’s favorite local street marching troupe, the Extraordinary Rendition Band. Moonie and I are used to seeing Greg in his badass sunglasses and gloves, strapped into a rubboard, turning his torso into walking percussion in a midst of merry musical misfits. But last Tuesday, at Joanne Lurgio’s wonderful weekly open mic at Pub on Park in Cranston, Moonie got a different view of his ERB pal. We’re used to him handling beats, but this time Greg, a multi-instrumentalist, chose strings – specifically, the autoharp.

And he played two absolutely beautiful instrumental tunes. Moonie’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open in an “oh” as his normally rockin’ and rollin’ bud sat down to caress his corded zither, coaxing out lovely chords.

Still enthralled by this new-to-him view of Greg, Moonie closed out the show enjoying a couple more of Joanne’s upbeat, lovely songs from his proud on-table stance.

Then, with a brief stop for a warm hug from beautiful ERB dancer Melanie Moore, Moonie toddled straight over to Greg, eager to check out his autoharp up close.

Greg patiently let Moonie play around with his well-cared-for instrument. I finally coaxed Moonie away by promising that he’d see Greg again soon – no matter what instrument he’d be playing next.