A trip down memory lane ...
I was at my mom's house in Missouri for the holidays, and I found these old pictures of my drum shop (c. 1989-1992); Amarillo, TX. I first started my shop as a teaching studio in downtown Amarillo, then began selling drumsticks and drumheads to my students. Word got around and before you know it, I'm retailing everything percussion. I moved to the location that you see in the photo, 3200 S. Georgia St., Amarillo, TX in the early part of 1990. As my business grew I needed more space, so I moved to the historic
Western Plaza Mall at I-40; my shop was right next to Service Merchandise. I closed my store in the fall of 1992, permanently leaving Amarillo, to go on tour.
I wish I had more photos, especially inside and at Western Plaza Mall, to document the shop's short life. I'll have to do some digging through my files to see what else I might be able to come up with. It's amazing ... I closed my shop 14 years ago, but it feels even longer.
In March of 2004 I was back in Amarillo for a gig with country artist
Keith Norris. The venue? The Western Plaza Mall of all places! Actually, the part of the mall where my shop was (next to Service Merchandise) had been gutted and turned into a
Graham Central Station. What was really freaky ... after surveying the area, I realized that the stage I was playing on was basically right where my drum shop used to be! How weird is that, my YAMAHA Recording Custom kit once being used to teach dozens of people to drum, now a decade later, only feet away from where they once stood, they are being played in front of hundreds of people. Now THAT is bizarre!
