The Persistence of Brick and Mortar
Photos by Elizabeth Harris Photography
For the last 45 years Fret Mill Music (www.fretmill.com) has been a continual and stable presence in the Roanoke bluegrass music community. While the internet age now enables us to order anything from anywhere with the click of a button, finding a music shop that still encourages a hands-on approach to buying and selling instruments is anachronistically reassuring.
Ken and Debby Rattenbury opened Fret Mill Music in 1979, about 100 yards from its current location. “Roanoke is a great place to live,” Ken explains, “and it’s not a high-pressure environment. We had come from California after exploring the idea of going into business with folks out there who already had some bluegrass-focused stores. That did not work out, so we moved back east with the initial concept of a specialty bluegrass store, which was then my whole focus. At that time, Roanoke had a very popular and well-attended fiddle and banjo club. Additionally, bluegrass has always been big in this area, so we were lucky to find a location here in Roanoke that allowed us to serve that audience right away. We had good support from people.”
In its early days, Fret Mill was also a performing venue, providing a space for local and sometimes regional musicians. The store also provided a gathering point for the bluegrass community across southwest Virginia. “For about the first 15 years,” Ken recalls, “we also hosted an after-hours every-Thursday jam session. Of course, we’d have the occasional spontaneous picking session from folks shopping, and for decades we had a very informal Saturday morning gathering. Now there are more jam sessions in the area hosted by other folks.”
With the eventual rise of other performing venues in the area, Fret Mill’s stage area now more often hosts manufacturer’s in-store events and occasional workshops from musicians performing in the area. “In the past we’ve had workshops with musicians like Kenny Baker; Josh Graves; Bill Keith; and Berline, Crary & Hickman, among others,” Ken recalls.
Despite the changes in the retail environment over the past four decades and the rise of the online guitar store, the Fret Mill sales philosophy has remained unchanged from its onset: musicians helping musicians to identify the sound they want and then finding the instrument that meets that need.
“People in the market for a high-quality instrument—a Martin or a Huss & Dalton or a Bourgeois or a Taylor—want to come in and get their hands on the instruments,” Ken explains. “They’ll drive the hour or so for that hands-on experience. Maybe they’ve set their mind on an HD-28. So when they come in, we’re glad to show them an HD-28 but—based on the conversation with the floor staff—we may also show them a Huss & Dalton or a Bourgeois that might have the sound they are looking for. The tone of one guitar may affect you differently than the tone of another. If you are looking for a particular sound, that can only be an in-person experience. We encourage folks to compare one guitar to another, because people are—in a very real way—listening for a sound, and that sound may actually be in an instrument they did not expect. That approach has resulted in a lot of repeat business over the years. We also trade guitars, which absolutely needs to be in-person.”
“We don’t sell a lot online,” he continues. “Of course we maintain an online presence with a website and we may put something on Reverb, but that’s an occasional event. If someone comes in and wants the absolute lowest price on an instrument, I would refer them to online sites, since they are usually more interested in price than tone.”
Educating customers in a non-pressure situation requires like-minded staff. “I get to work with a great staff of good people who share in the idea of helping customers get to ‘that sound,’” Ken explains. “My staff connects with customers, building trust by sharing information and advice. Repeat customers come back to deal with the same staffer. I’ve been lucky that most of the staff has been here for a while. The word is overused, but the folks behind the counter are passionate about what they do. And even after 45 years, I still enjoy coming into the store, although I have recently dropped back to four days a week, and probably enjoy it more now that I’m ‘retired,’” Ken laughs.
In terms of services, Fret Mill does most guitar repair in-house, but refers electronic and amplifier repair to local technicians. Mickey Wanzer is a trained Taylor repair tech, John Rardin does setups and pickup installations, and Jack Marion maintains the website and helps out with customer service. “As for lessons,” Ken explains, “COVID pretty much wiped out our teaching studio. Only one of our instructors, local performer Seph Custer, has returned to offer lessons on most stringed instruments.”
“We don’t position Fret Mill as the center of the bluegrass universe,” Ken notes. “We are certainly not moving guitars worth tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars, but we help folks who want to spend up to several thousand on a quality instrument to find the sound they want. That’s our market and has been for a while. We have been very fortunate to have hit a good time and a good spot and to have a supportive musical community that recognizes the value of the service we provide.”
Next time you are heading up or down I-81, take a short detour over to 21 Salem Avenue SE in Roanoke. You might just find the elusive sound you’ve been searching for.
