The magic of walking into that first music store has always stuck with me. The long loud greeting of the door chime was like a trumpet heralding the true feast for the senses that awaited but, what struck me the most, as I took it all in, wasn't the guitars or keyboards or drum sets all stuffed in there. It wasn’t the rockstar types that were sooo cool with hair bigger than my sister’s. It was the idea of starting a business.
The fact that it wasn’t there one day and then it was the next, all because someone had an idea and some guts to go their own way! That something like this could be created by a regular person like me. Needless to say, I quickly became a customer. A few years later at 17, I was given the opportunity to begin teaching guitar at Woolf Music thanks to the support and talents of my guitar instructor John Knox, the store owner Larry Woolf, and to my mother for paying for all those music lessons. Now, at 46, I have been fortunate enough to have spent my entire working career teaching guitar.
After my father passed away in September 2019, I really felt it was time to build something new so, in December 2019, I opened the doors at Modern Guitar Studio in downtown Rolla. There were certainly some challenging years in store for me, and I have no doubt that the ups and downs will continue, but I am very proud of my little guitar shop and the wonder I see on people's faces when they walk in. Opening this shop was my chance to create an inspiring and magical space for anyone to experience guitars for the first time or the millionth time.