Music to your ears

By: Ashley Vasquez

Matt Daugherty/ Zack Smith watches as his guitar instructor, Tim Sublette, shows him finger placement for new chords Smith is learning Sept. 25. Smith, 14, has been taking guitar lessons from Sublette at Smithville Music for about a month.

Smithville Music storeowner Tim Sublette always knew he would be a musician, but he never dreamed his music business would make it 25 years.

“I think I just opened the business so I wouldn’t have to get a real job,” Sublette said jokingly. “But it is pretty cool to make it this long. I never thought this would have happened. We had our ups and downs over the years, but we did survive. They say if you last 25 years in business, you might make it.”

Sublette opened the business, at 1601 U.S. Highway 169, Suite H, in December 1983. Even though being in business for a quarter of a century may be a shock, Sublette has had music in his heart for as long as he can remember.

“If you wake up in the morning and you can’t think of doing anything else but music, then that is what you should do,” he said. “If you wake up and can think of anything else to do besides music, do that.”

Sublette was raised at the Lake of the Ozarks and picked up a guitar when he was about 9 years old.

“It was really isolated there and nothing to really do,” he said. “I actually picked up the guitar out of boredom. After awhile, I begged my mother to get me guitar lessons, and she drove 40 miles one way each week to Sedalia for me to take them. I realize what a sacrifice that was now.”

Through high school, Sublette’s passion for the guitar and music continued to grow, and he played in a variety of local bands. After his high school graduation in 1974, he attended State Fair Community College in Sedalia as a guitar major.

“I think I was the first guitar major they ever had,” he said.

After completing his studies in Sedalia, Sublette was accepted to Berklee College of Music in Boston, which was the college of his first guitar teacher.

“I always wanted to go there,” he said. “It was a dramatic life change. I went from getting on a train in the middle of Missouri to being dumped off in downtown Boston.”

Sublette completed his four-year degree in guitar principle at the school and worked at a music store in West Roxbury, Mass. He also composed a variety of pieces for the Boston Arts Council and other organizations. Although trained as a jazz player, Sublette returned to the Ozarks and worked in country music bands.

“That was the era of ‘Urban Cowboy,’” he said of the 1980 John Travolta movie. “If you wanted to play and make money during that time, you had to play country. I enjoyed it, though.”

His sweetheart from Boston, Jean, joined him soon after he returned to the Midwest, and the couple married. They have two children, Chris and Jamie.

Sublette applied for a music teaching position but eventually settled on opening his own store, where he could teach private lessons.

“We first opened up a little shop downtown,” he said. “Then 10 years later, we moved to this location and have been here ever since. I never thought this little business venture would last this long.”

That business venture includes a retail shop featuring entry-level and step-up guitars, bass instruments and accessories such as strings, cables and music books. The store also offers private lessons for guitar, bass, piano and banjo, and Sublette repairs guitars and bass instruments.

Sublette said teaching music, which is the heart of his business plan, was something he might never be able to give up.

“You learn just as much about your own playing when you teach others,” he said. “You have to think through what and why you do things a certain way to explain it to others. Also, bringing music to people is something really special. I have students from the age of 6 to 82 and everything in between. Everyone can be a part of music.”

Sublette said teaching music to children was especially fun for him.

“It is a really neat experience to teach to kids,” he said. “They are so cool and open to music. They are incredible — especially before adults ruin their personalities.”

Even though Sublette can never see himself in another career, the future of his store is in jeopardy.

“It is harder and harder to have a store like this,” he said. “Now that Wal-Mart and Target are selling guitars, business is hard. Even though what they sell may be $5 cheaper, it isn’t nearly as good. Also, everyone gives lessons, even if they aren’t as qualified as they could be. I could go to Overland Park (Kan.) and make a lot more money, but I always wanted to provide music to people at a reasonable price. I just hope people keep coming here so that we can stay open.”

Despite the uncertainty of the future, the family name in music will continue to live on. Sublette’s son, Chris, is studying at Berklee College of Music with a major in performance. He is an electric and upright bass player and teaches lessons at the store during the summer. He is a 2005 graduate of Smithville High School.

“He is a giant in my eyes,” Chris said about his father. “He tried to keep me from picking music as a career, but eventually he realized that this is what I am made of. I just keep trying to be as good as he is.”

No matter what the future brings, Sublette, who will release a solo album titled “Minor Details” during the holiday season, said he was thankful for the years he had had in Smithville.

“I have to thank all of the people who have come to my store and stuck with me over the years,” he said. “I also have to thank my wife. I don’t know how she put up with me through all of these crazy years, but I am glad she did.”

The store is open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. until at least 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The store is open other times by appointment. For more information, call 873-2313.

Instrument repair

Smithville Music will host a special band instrument repair session Friday, Oct. 5, at the store. Anyone who owns a woodwind or brass band instrument that needs repair or just a tune-up is encouraged to call the store for an appointment that day. All repairs will be completed on site. For more information, call 816-873-2313.

Smithville Editor Ashley Vasquez can be reached at 532-4444 or ashleyvasquez@npgco.com.