To step foot inside the Gates Piano Repair Company is to travel back in time. The sound of a small radio playing AM gospel hits and the buzz of a vintage Coke bottle machine fills the expansive space. Leaning back in a creaky office chair, working on crossword puzzles, sits Mr. Timothy Lewis Gates, the only piano repairman in a 50-mile radius. He retired years ago from the local school system and doesn’t make any real money fixing old pianos or playing beautiful music on them, but it’s what keeps him alive. “A lot of folks I’ve known to retire will go home to take their rocking chair,” said Mr. Gates. “But they didn’t rock long. So I don’t plan to go take no rocking chair. I plan to keep on going as long as I have something to go on.”