"I wake up to Vinny Mustache feeding the pigeons in the morning right outside the shop," said Rick Kelly, owner of Carmine Street Guitars.
That simple introduction barely scratches the surface.
"This is McSorley's, the oldest bar in New York. This one is a water tower. This is all made from a 1912 Steinway piano," Kelly said, pointing to some of his creations.
Kelly is an artist, craftsman, scavenger, mentor and, in many ways, a historian.
"I'm not into history, really, other than the history of New York City. I love that," Kelly said.
"Yeah. And there's history in New York City," Joelle Garguilo replied.
"History of guitars. I love that. I guess I'm into it," Kelly said.
But this isn't the kind of history found in textbooks. It's preserved in the foundation of the building itself.
"This is an 1827 building, one of the oldest three on the block," Kelly said. "This was a speakeasy back there during Prohibition."
And it's etched into every guitar he makes.
"Every building in the city is framed in this old growth," Kelly said. "I call it the bones of old New York."
"What makes that wood better?" Garguilo asked.
"It came from those ancient trees. You know how old they are because of the annual rings," Kelly explained. "Factories have a lot of trouble now because they can't do what we do. They can't go scavenging dumpsters looking for their product."
"Do you do that?" Garguilo asked.
"That's how we get it," Kelly said. "New York City has the largest repository of old-growth wood in the whole United States because there are so many old buildings still here - in every borough, every building, every floor."
"When did you build your first guitar?" Garguilo asked.
"The first one was in high school, 1968," Kelly said. "The first guitar I made was because I couldn't afford to buy one. Then it was just so much fun doing it, and I said, 'Man, maybe I could make a living at this.'"
And make a living he did. Carmine Street Guitars opened in 1990.
"From then on, I was the hippie from Carmine Street," Kelly said.
"Who has played your guitars?" Garguilo asked.
"The Allman Brothers, Lou Reed, Patti Smith," Kelly said.
"Before, you said, 'Oh, you know Dylan.' I said, 'As in Bob Dylan?'" Garguilo said.
"Yeah," Kelly replied. "He took it all around the world."
"How do you make a guitar?" Garguilo asked.
"Kinda the same way they did back when electric guitars were first being made in 1950," Kelly said. "Using old-time machines, making them by hand, basically."
It's an art form that's nearly been forgotten, but thanks to Kelly, it won't be anytime soon.
"How did you meet Cindy?" Garguilo asked.
"Cindy just walked in here one day about 15 years ago and wanted to learn how to build guitars," Kelly said. "She's been here ever since."
"I came to this city with no money out of high school," Cindy Hulej said. "I came in here and told Rick my story. He basically said, 'I can't pay you. Sit by the phone, answer the phone, and I'll show you the back.'"
"She's got her own line now," Kelly said. "She's way more popular than me. She gets way more likes, I guess you call those things. Right? You get likes?"
"He's taught me everything," Hulej said. "People think he's my father. He's not."
"There he is," Garguilo said.
"And now he's leaving," Hulej added.
"What are the moments you'll always cherish when it comes to your time with him?" Garguilo asked.
"Every day," Hulej said. "Every day I come in here. When I go home, I call Rick as soon as I'm home. I call him like twice a night."
"Which you can now because you got him to get a cellphone," Garguilo joked.
"I call it the stupid phone," Kelly said. "I don't call it the smartphone. Cindy made me get one."
"Well, he's still got a landline," Hulej said. "He doesn't answer the cellphone, so I got to call the landline."
Two generations. Two artists under one roof. Both on a mission to save and preserve a small piece of New York City history, one strum at a time.
"Do you ever see yourself retiring?" Garguilo asked.
"Why?" Kelly said. "What am I going to do? Sit around and stare out the window? I love what I do. This isn't work. I can't wait to get here every morning."
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