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Nick, the owner of Euphonic Melodies, is an Iraq War veteran who has has also spent some of his time in the military playing euphonium. He has an undergrad degree in music education and is currently studying music industry and euphonium performance at Texas A&M at Corpus Christi. Recently, he and his wife decided to make the jump from his previous business, instructing local low brassers, to his new bigger and better online retail business that will ship products anywhere.
Nick is turning out to be a very hands-on business owner. He told me about how he wants everyone's suggestions on what we want to see in his online store. That's because he wants to sell what people want. Well, there's a product that I've been looking for forever. My gig bag tarnishes my horn. I remember that when I got my Besson, it came in a bag that would protect it from things like that. However, I just moved a few months ago, and in the move, the bag seemed to disappear. Now, my silver euphonium looks like its 100 years old without its Besson bag! I put that to the test by suggesting what I thought was an absolutely impossible product to find.
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"You know those bags that Besson euphoniums come in? I lost mine and apparently they're not for sale anywhere." I said.
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"Hmmm, maybe I will fabricate a bag then,"he said. It seems like there is a market for that."
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Nick and I are off on a project now. He's actually going to sew a bag for me to replace the one that I lost. We're currently talking about fabrics what would be good. I'm sure I'll test it out on my own horn for awhile. Maybe in a few months, you'll see a bag that will solve other people's gig bag tarnish issues up for sale on his website!
Nick is up against the odds with his new website. Starting a new business in any economy is rough, but starting one in a recession is going to be hard. Similar niche-market websites aren't doing well in this economy. Solid Brass just went up for sale a few weeks ago. I think, even though Nick is going against traffic, he does have an edge. He's so personal with everyone who comes to his website that you can just tell him what you want and he'll get it. In some ways, this is almost everyone else's opportunity to help him form his new store to what we want it to be.
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Please stop by his website, Euphonic Melodies, and say "hi". Even if you don't buy anything, shoot him an email giving him suggestions about what you'd like to see in the store. I think it would be amazing to flood his inbox with suggestions from my blog readers! If he's willing to make a custom bag for me, he's probably pretty likely to carry your favorite brand of valve oil!
