As I waited for our “brief encounter” to begin, I sat at Steve Shirrell’s workbench amid the bent keys, broken heads and dented horns of some 50-odd unmusical instruments waiting to be repaired. Tellingly, his bench has been worn over many years into a saddle.
Shirrell has been with Stanroy Music Center 41 years—30 as an employee of former owners, eight as a co-owner with Dustin Heald before stepping down to an employee position, and finally, two years and counting as a six-day-a-week volunteer.
The last transition came about when he came to Healds with an idea: “We could save a lot of money if you stopped paying me.”
Despite his white hair, Shirrell is one of the youngest people in the music scene. And I mean young in the spiritual sense. He is uncorrupt, optimistic and the very soul of generosity.
When he was ready, we stepped into a small music teaching room. In addition to being one of the largest repair shops in California, Stanroy Music Center also hosts 12 music teachers with a complete set of competencies—if one wants to learn “Freebird” on a guitarrón, synth or French horn.
CH: Describe Stanroy.
SS: It is Sonoma County’s oldest full-line music store. We carry the full line of the viol family, brass, woodwinds, strings, amplifiers and accessories. We also repair, rent and teach.
CH: Tell us about your repair department—I understand most of our school bands are your clients.
SS: Well, have one of the greatest techs for viol, and woodwinds—but really he can fix anything— Gary Meierhenry, an intuitive farm boy genius. We have a saying around here—if it’s made of atoms, Gary can fix it. He has been with us for 36 years. Bruce Blaikie handles brass—has been with us for 21 years—and I do strings and electronics.
CH: I find a mark of a wholesome business is looong employee retention. Steve, you have an interesting notion of business competition…
SS: If people come in to buy something we don’t have, I’ll say, “Let me call Banana’s at Large or Tall Toad and see if they have it.” And they’ll say, “You call your competition?” And I’ll say, “We don’t have competition. Every store in Sonoma County serves the same music community.” I have to serve the people who come in my door, and that means getting them what they need.
Learn more. Visitors may go to Stanroy in Santa Rosa this Christmas season with musical dreams in mind. They are at one’s service. stanroy.com.
