As I'm listening to George Harrison tell me All Things Must Pass, I'm reminded that even seemingly permanent institutions also have their time. But for one closing of a movement, there opens a new one (sorry, music puns).
Specifically, I'm talking about Musica in Hudson, NY. My good friend Rob Caldwell is closing his doors in Hudson and moving the "Best Music Store in the World" to an even smaller town in Louisiana you've never heard of called New Orleans. And while the selfish portion of my psyche wants the store to remain where it is for all time so it's more convenient for me to visit and enjoy its carefully curated splendors, I am way more excited for the new incarnation. Did I mention it's in New Orleans?
However, I would be remiss not to recall just how incredibly huge of an impact Musica and Rob has had both on me but also I'm sure everyone who has ever come in contact with either. From open mics, to lessons, to the many bands (Guerrilla Jug Band, Jesus Chrysler Supercar, Perestroika, Kilborne & Co., The Deirdre Kelly Band (I think this was for two songs that Deirdre sang when we were Jesus Chrysler Supercar), and literally a dozen amalgamations of any of those and whoever happened to be around willing to play or sing, the 14 years that I was privileged to have anything to do with Rob and Musica are indefinable.
I'm sure anyone who was in Hudson and the surrounding areas remembers Notes from the Grid where Rob crafted wonderful odes to area musicians. Or how about when Rob ran Hudson Water Music where you could see an invaluable collection of great musicians, circus performers, belly dances, eat delicious food, sit on the grass, dance, socialize, and enjoy a beautiful community? The magical part about Musica wasn't the physical store (though it is the best in the world), it was everything Rob had put into it and everything/everyone he drew to it. The amazing humans who have passed through all three sets of doors (of all three locations) were drawn to this place where good music, no matter the origin, existed and was made. Where the 11-year-old girl who had just started playing guitar the month before could perform in the company of 30-year superstars and receive equal attention, dedication, encouragement, and love.
You saw him in the audience at your school concerts, musicals, recitals; running around backstage fixing the broken string at your weird garage band's gig; adjusting microphone levels of the overblown vocals at the annual street festival; in the audience, again, for your tragic and ironic ska/hipster/drone/new-age/punk band you started after graduating high school; lending (read: freely) his sound equipment for everybody who came in and said "I'm friends with this person who said you were the place to go when you needed anything 5 minutes before I'm supposed to be on stage". And that's really only the tip of the iceberg. The point is that Rob and Musica became the community he and it strove to serve. So much so that we may actually have taken it for granted that this other-worldly place even existed in our backyard for so long... for 20+ years in fact (I might have the start date wrong, but I was pretty sure Musica opened in 1998; correct me if I'm wrong though).
The fact is, I most likely should have written this a long time ago, but I too got caught up in the notion that Musica will always be there. While I didn't frequent as often as I would have liked or should have, there is something that I do know which is Musica changed the world forever. It may be a 1,404 mile walk to the new Musica (whatever it will be called), but that spirit that Rob and everybody who ever had anything to do with the store created will continue because we all know now a different model of what a music store should be and what a good world can be.
Now I know this sounds a lot like a memoriam, but it absolutely is not. You can still visit the store website at http://www.musicahudson.com/index.html or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/goodmusica/ at least as of June 2019 (I don't know if those will change for the new store). Or, you can haul your big, fat love of music down to NOLA and find Musica at a fun place called Anchor & Arrow Dry Goods Co. (look them up). At least I think that's where you can find it (again, correct me if I'm wrong).
Now, raise your favorite guitar, concertina, hurdy gurdy, clarinet, ocarina, saz, bouzouki, bodhron, fiddle, trumpet, harmonica, or whatever you play in the air and wave it like you do in fact care and might regret waving your prized instrument around, and wish Rob and his wife Lily a new success as they cultivate another beautiful community in a place full of beautiful communities!
Thank you Rob.
Sincerely,
Music Lovers.
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