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Joe's Walk Talk: Many Music Businesses in Longmont

(Written by Joe Bieker) Longmont offers a plethora of retail music stores and opportunities for lessons in the acoustic string market. Downtown boasts six dedicated venues and for a town of this size, one wonders why this came to be.
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(Joe Bieker/Longmont Observer)

This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

(Written by Joe Bieker)

Longmont offers a plethora of retail music stores and opportunities for lessons in the acoustic string market. Downtown boasts six dedicated venues and for a town of this size, one wonders why this came to be.

I discussed the subject with several local people in the business and their opinions are that our sister city, Boulder, was very active in the 60s, 70s and 80s as a music bastion for both artists and consumers, with places such as the Caribou Ranch, a recording studio of world renown, hosting many popular musicians including Elton John and Janis Joplin. The popularity of the band Hot Rise also helped fuel local growth and awareness.

The growth and corresponding increase in real estate rents of Boulder caused many artists to migrate to a more affordable area that still offered many musical opportunities. One of those destinations has evolved to become Longmont.

Long a fixture of downtown Longmont, and a place where many locals began playing instruments and receiving lessons, was Miller Music. Miller Music closed it's doors two years ago. Many of those instructors, repair craftspeople, retail workers, etc. then moved on to other local businesses or started ones such as Fuzz Music and Jensen Guitar Company.

One person who actually grew up in Longmont, Larry Gruber of Larry's Guitar Shop, stated that he "came to be here, in Longmont, because he was from here, and after many years in the mountains and residing in Glenwood Springs, moved back to be with family." He believed the community had a need for the repair services that he offered and could support his business. He even hosts bands and musicians in his shop on Thursday evenings. He has had Rick Roberts, a local resident and formerly with Firefall, walk through his doors. Larry also fixes and sells high end as well as "just out of the garbage can" guitars and partners with other craftspeople that fix violins and other string instruments.

Tyler Remix is a younger local musician who has always been involved in music. He won the 2015 Mandolin Championship at Rocky Grass. He moved to Longmont from Ft. Collins for the music scene opportunities, especially in Blue Grass. He mentions the proximity of Swallow Hill, Etown and the assorted open microphone and jam sessions as large contributors to helping create the local music scene. Tyler was at Guitars, Etc. where manager Ross Atwood also echoed the "welcoming music scene, venues, and open mic opportunities along with the chance to play the many craft beer locations and the Thursday events at the Dickens Opera House" as contributing to be supportive of a vibrant local music scene.

Sam Marvin, a floor manager and teacher at Jensen Guitar Company,  is an example of someone who moved here from Massachusetts, specifically to pursue his passion with music. He states, "it's an affordable option to Boulder, has many people that support and appreciate listening to live music" and his teaching has enabled him to make a living in the music industry. He also remarked that "we all have our local niche and specialty that differs from each other," when referring to other music businesses. His company has specialized abilities for fixing difficult amp and electronic issues that he doesn't believe anybody else can rival in the state.

If you are in search of buying a first or tenth guitar, want to learn to play an instrument, or simply enjoy listening to live music, Longmont might have the answer for you.

Joe's Walk Talk is a new column, where he walks around Longmont exploring what the city has to offer. If you feel like you have a story that you think Joe would be interested in please send it to [email protected].