Andrew "Nelly" Niel had no idea what was coming.
Recently, he was sitting on the corner of a street in Brighton, England, picking away at his slide guitar as he often does, when he was approached by YouTube sensation and fellow guitarist Rob Chapman.
On Feb. 16, a few weeks earlier, Chapman had been walking those same streets when he heard the mesmerizing sounds of Niel's guitar for the first time. Inspired, he filmed Niel jamming and uploaded the video to YouTube. It quickly racked up more than 100,000 hits and earned 80 British pounds (about $132.) Now, Chapman was giving that money to its rightful owner.
"He looked pretty down and out," Chapman said in a phone interview with The Huffington Post.
Niel was once a well-known music producer and engineer, working with bands like Limp Bizket in the early 90s. But, after a personal tragedy rocked Niel's private life, his career began to suffer.
Now, things may be getting back on track for the talented guitarist.
In the video above, Chapman is seen surprising a grateful and touched Niel with the money, but also offering him something more valuable: An opportunity to create his own YouTube account and Facebook page so he can share his music again.
"He was born in the 60s and has been hiding from the world," Chapman told HuffPost. "He doesn't know how to use Facebook or YouTube."
After setting up the pages for Niel, Chapman said he was blown away by how quickly things have taken off.
"In one day he has 13,000 YouTube subscribers," he said.
While Chapman was speaking with HuffPost, Niel happened to stop by his apartment.
"It's crazy," Niel told HuffPost, when he got on the phone. "People come up to me [on the street] and go, 'you're the best guitarist I've ever seen! I haven't seen anything like this since '67!'"
Now, thanks to Chapman, we get to call ourselves fans too.
Click here to subscribe to Nelly's YouTube page, or check him out on Facebook.
Recently, he was sitting on the corner of a street in Brighton, England, picking away at his slide guitar as he often does, when he was approached by YouTube sensation and fellow guitarist Rob Chapman.
On Feb. 16, a few weeks earlier, Chapman had been walking those same streets when he heard the mesmerizing sounds of Niel's guitar for the first time. Inspired, he filmed Niel jamming and uploaded the video to YouTube. It quickly racked up more than 100,000 hits and earned 80 British pounds (about $132.) Now, Chapman was giving that money to its rightful owner.
"He looked pretty down and out," Chapman said in a phone interview with The Huffington Post.
Niel was once a well-known music producer and engineer, working with bands like Limp Bizket in the early 90s. But, after a personal tragedy rocked Niel's private life, his career began to suffer.
Now, things may be getting back on track for the talented guitarist.
In the video above, Chapman is seen surprising a grateful and touched Niel with the money, but also offering him something more valuable: An opportunity to create his own YouTube account and Facebook page so he can share his music again.
"He was born in the 60s and has been hiding from the world," Chapman told HuffPost. "He doesn't know how to use Facebook or YouTube."
After setting up the pages for Niel, Chapman said he was blown away by how quickly things have taken off.
"In one day he has 13,000 YouTube subscribers," he said.
While Chapman was speaking with HuffPost, Niel happened to stop by his apartment.
"It's crazy," Niel told HuffPost, when he got on the phone. "People come up to me [on the street] and go, 'you're the best guitarist I've ever seen! I haven't seen anything like this since '67!'"
Now, thanks to Chapman, we get to call ourselves fans too.
Click here to subscribe to Nelly's YouTube page, or check him out on Facebook.