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Son Brewster, Jr.
Young singer and songwriter of protest songs on the planet Esperanza, from 1967 science fiction novel The Sword Swallower by Ron Goulart. He plays an electric mandolin. He hangs out at clubs The Seven Types of Ambiguity and the Ultimate Chockhouse a lot. Local club band The Sprawling Eclectic Jug Band plays a lot of his songs.
"There's Son himself, one of the landmarks."
At the beaded doorway was a slender boy, his white hair braided, with scarlet ribbons tied at its ends. He had on a silver-flecked jumpsuit and fawn boots. Strapped to his back was a mandolin, swinging in his left hand an illuminated amplifier.
"Son Brewster, Jr.?" Jolson asked the reverend.
"None other."
"Muck," said Son Brewster, Jr. He angrily swung the mandolin into a front playing position and dropped his amplifier on the steps.
"He's going to do one of his protest compositions," the reverend explained in a lowered voice.
The wheeling pianos quickly parked and Son touched a pick to the glistening strings of his mandolin. "l was sittin' across the street gettin' my hair clipped," he sang. "An' the barber dropped a hot towel down my damn neck. What kind of universe have you money-grubbin' bastards made for us when a thing like-a that can happen?"
"Delightful," coughed Rev Cockspur.
"Doesn't rhyme much," said Jolson.
The reverend bent toward him. "That's an unenlightened viewpoint, indicating you don't have the usual youth's understanding of the Fringe music and the ethic behind it, my son."
He's a member of "Group A," a rebel group kidnapping members of the government's War Bureau.
