Help Joe Fuller Save His Beloved Otto Piano

Hello, I'm Joe Fuller, aka JoE Fingas. I've been playing piano and singing for my supper in and around the Okaloosa, Escambia, Santa Rosa, Walton, and Bay counties of Northwest Florida since 1993.

Some folks call me a local legend.

I don't know about that.

However, I do know that I have loved playing the piano ever since The Old Man brought an ancient upright home.

Apparently, it was, at one time, a player piano, brand name 'Auto-Piano,' built in 1903. The apparatus to hold and play the piano roll was missing.

It still responded to human touch, so I skipped school most mornings to play at playing it. Eventually, I taught myself the Fats Domino version of 'Blueberry Hill.'

One day, I decided the piano should have a name. That's when I started calling it Otto.

Later on, after I left to make a life of my own, my parents kept Otto.

I relocated to Florida in 1977 and reunited with parents and instrument.

I played Otto for hours on end.

After my mother passed in 1998, my sister made a place for Otto in her storage unit. It was transferred to my storage unit a couple of years later.

After my brother's death in 2018, I had to transfer Otto to a bigger unit in order to make room for a house full of my brother's stuff.

I had managed to pay the monthly unit fee of $193 and change for over 5 years until 3 months ago. That's when a serious drop in gigs and constant car trouble interrupted my ability to pay storage rent.

I haven't paid a penny in 3 months. My current bill is 587 dollars. If it goes into March, it will be over 700 bucks, and if I don't pay what I owe by March 27, 2025, Otto Piano will be auctioned off.

I want to save Otto Piano.