In the dying days of the cold war, a recluse East German dissident by the name of Johann Schroeder considered the fate of the centuries old relic he held in his hands. Although it had survived the ravages of time, two world wars and an unfortunate incident involving his wife, mistress and a violin being thrown at him, he knew a great challenge lay ahead…how to survive the inevitable collapse of the GDR and the capitalist wave that would surely envelope his people and make a trophy of “The Radik.”

Centuries earlier in the final year of this life, Antonio Stradivari had fashioned a violin beyond compare…one that contained a unique power…imbuing all those who listened to it with unprecedented musical abilities including composition, improvisation and staying within a budget.

It’s original name lost to the dawn-less mists of time, it had become known to it’s current owner as “The Radik” from the German “radikal” often used by wayward post-communist youth to describe extreme skateboard moves or guitar playing of exceptional speed.

Fortunately for Schroeder, a babe was left on he and his wife’s doorstep one balmy September morning. Schroder knew that stories about babies left on doorsteps always occurred in cold conditions, but Schroder was East German, so he correctly presumed the rules of classic storytelling did not apply. He and his wife took in the child and raised him as their own. Every night, Schroder secretly played the Radik to the baby in his barn loft amongst a forest of drying bratwurst hanging from the rafters.

Fearing his secret was soon to be revealed with the advent of perestroika, Schroeder spirited the child away along with the Radik on a secret voyage to be raised by relatives in the United States. Although the ship, all of its passengers and crew were lost to the briny deep amidst a biblical maelstrom, a babe washed ashore unharmed and was…uhm…raised by wolves or something. No, they were bears…musical bears. Yes…that’ll do.

The child (in case you weren’t following along) is none other than Scott Van Dutton. The power of his music is here, it is now and it is yours…