I’m amused when independent music retailers are referred to as “Mom & Pop” stores. My colleagues at Moore Music are family to me; many of us here are moms and dads and I know there are plenty of family-owned, multi-generational operations out there, but “Mom & Pop” doesn’t really describe us. A more honest, albeit less flattering descriptor would be “Aging Rockers,” because, except for a few of us, it’s totally true. At least age begets experience. Hopefully some wisdom is acquired along the way and you do get to claim “I was there” for some really cool moments in music. I just celebrated a birthday and closing in on that half-century mark drives home the amount of personal history and experience to reflect on. Conversations with my industry peers drift toward what we view as a lack of guitar in popular music, the dearth of guitar heroes compared to back-in-the-day, and the potentially grim prospects this trend represents for our industry.
Music is reflective of culture and vice-versa. One only has to look beyond the narrow confines defined by corporate sentinels of taste to see and hear guitar players and guitar-centric music. Plenty of music is being performed and written on the guitar. American Roots music and a new Folk revival feature the guitar prominently and, while not “mainstream,” the truth is the word “mainstream” is less relevant in a “flat world,” as described by journalist Thomas Friedman. The global reach of the internet has homogenized many aspects of culture, but it has also helped artists find “their people” despite being separated by language and geography. Bands are finding their fans, many of us are pleasantly surprised to find “likes,” supporters and words of encouragement far from our homes. While it may seem there is no longer Rock in America, there are plenty of American Rock bands playing the big festivals in Europe.
I want to share that the aging rockers and young guns here at Moore Music think and talk about music in general, as well as the gear we sell, to help you create and perform it. We’re not at a Jack Black and John Cusack in “High Fidelity” level of in-shop discourse, but we’re not far from it either. True passion exists here in an environment that supports and encourages creativity and we hope it filters into every product demo, inquiry, store visit, and web click. There is only one Moore Music here in Evansville, the Toe in the Boot of Southern Indiana. If you never make it here to our fair city at the bend of the mighty Ohio River, then our website www.mooremusicguitars.com will have to suffice. Rest assured, we view our site as a portal to our brick and mortar store, minutes away from actual corn and soybean fields.
Every Wednesday morning at 8:30 we have a sales training meeting. It’s really more like show-and-tell, but let’s stick with “sales training.” In the early days, there were three or four of us trying out pedals at the same time and generally raising hell way too early in the morning. Now there are more of us with a larger support staff for the e-commerce side of the biz. Not everyone is a musician but everyone is required to pick something in the store, learn about it and make a presentation. The newby non-guitar players learn from this exercise and the old-heads, like me, get a refresher or get to contribute a bit of esoteric knowledge born of experience that’s not in a book or available online. Our Operations Manager, Marketing Director, Online Listing Supervisor and Lifestyle Photographer/Graphic Designer/Hype-Girl (that’s Melanie’s real title) aren’t musicians; they come from different industries and professional backgrounds. However, each are in on the action, which is a great way to teach each other, encourage each other as well as to remind ourselves how much product knowledge is required to provide the level of service we aspire to.
In a matter of months, we’ll move just down the road to a bigger and better location that is going to free us to really create our ideal space to do what we love and are passionate about. We’re gonna have a badass in-store sound-system, (Brett doesn’t know this yet but he’ll be totally up for it), and we’ll continue to play the music we like. Corporate doesn’t dictate the soundtrack of our day; we sometimes have Metal Mondays, listen to local artists, Reggae for when we’re feelin’ irie, Jazz, New-school, Old-school, our own original music and whatever our friends and customers turn us on to. Actually, this is a good opportunity for you, our dear reader. Want us to pump your music through our new badass sound system? Send us a digital copy of your tunes and I’ll make up a Moore Music Customer Playlist and you can be a part of our day’s soundtrack.
All national acts started out as local acts. We keep that in mind as we support bands in our local music scene and so should you. Together we can expand our musical communities, encourage the creative spirit that resides in so many of us, help a local act become a national one and then, maybe, tour the world. Whether “Mom & Pop” or “Aging Rocker” best describes locally owned music stores, Moore Music is your independent, badass music retailer wherever you are. Our local highway signs say “Welcome to the Crossroads of America” so if you driving and see them you know you’re headed in the right direction. If you’re too far to drive we’re just a few mouse-clicks away!