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Static Live Magazine July 2020

STATIC LIVE Magazine is Central Florida’s premier publication dedicated to celebrating music and culture. STATIC LIVE provides extensive, detailed community information from fashion to art, entertainment to events through noteworthy interviews, sensational photography and in-depth editorial coverage. STATIC LIVE is the only publication of its kind in Central Florida and reaches all target markets through wide distribution channels. Our staff includes highly accomplished contributors with award-winning backgrounds in music and entertainment; we know how much business is captured from the entertainment market. Our free full color publication can be found throughout Central Florida at key retailers, hotels and restaurants in high traffic areas. Our mission is to highlight the incredible talent, culture and lifestyle in Central Florida. With eye-opening profiles and coverage of the music and art community, STATIC LIVE readers will be positively influenced by our topical content and trending advertisers. STATIC LIVE Magazine is the most effective tool for branding connectivity with consumers in our area.

STATIC LIVE Magazine is Central Florida’s premier publication dedicated to celebrating music and culture. STATIC LIVE provides extensive, detailed community information from fashion to art, entertainment to events through noteworthy interviews, sensational photography and in-depth editorial coverage. STATIC LIVE is the only publication of its kind in Central Florida and reaches all target markets through wide distribution channels. Our staff includes highly accomplished contributors with award-winning backgrounds in music and entertainment; we know how much business is captured from the entertainment market. Our free full color publication can be found throughout Central Florida at key retailers, hotels and restaurants in high traffic areas. Our mission is to highlight the incredible talent, culture and lifestyle in Central Florida. With eye-opening profiles and coverage of the music and art community, STATIC LIVE readers will be positively influenced by our topical content and trending advertisers. STATIC LIVE Magazine is the most effective tool for branding connectivity with consumers in our area.

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Lights Out<br />

in C-ViLLa<br />

By Randy Pepper<br />

On March the 11th my wife and I were on our way<br />

to Asheville, North Carolina for a Guitar Show and a<br />

weekend away. When we got 30 miles from Asheville<br />

I received a call from the show promoter saying<br />

that the show had been canceled due to the current<br />

Coronavirus. We went on and checked into our<br />

hotel and the next morning got up and we had an<br />

impromptu guitar show with about 30 dealers getting<br />

together in a small conference hall. We made the best<br />

of what we had, knowing that this virus could go on<br />

for months and months and could kill us as retailers.<br />

But some others didn’t have the luxury of a last minute<br />

Guitar Show to make some very needed cash to ride<br />

the storm out, Guitar shops and music stores all over<br />

the country have now shuttered their doors because<br />

of the virus and many didn’t know how to adjust to<br />

selling online to ride the storm out or they just said<br />

“this is the last straw” and ended up closing.<br />

Guitar sales have suffered the last few years (as well<br />

as most music retail) as the decline of the rock star<br />

persona has shifted to DJs and rappers, making most<br />

musical instruments a thing of the past. Then the<br />

C19 virus came and many thought this would be the<br />

end for many shops, including the Guitar Center,<br />

since they have been in deep debt for a while. They<br />

have survived but many other small shops have not,<br />

and every day we see a new store closing. Plus, many<br />

more stores are saying they cannot survive any longer<br />

and are throwing in the towel. I’m not saying it was<br />

just music related places there were affected by the<br />

coronavirus; there are many other forms of retail that<br />

did not survive as well. You see, many places were<br />

considered essential but unfortunately music was not<br />

one of them. So while pawn shops and hobby stores<br />

were able to stay open, guitar shops and music stores<br />

were not. Local places like Z music in Flagler Beach<br />

closed their doors, as well as McCabe music in Santa<br />

Monica California both citing the pandemic as the<br />

cause or the final blow. This makes it very important<br />

to support your local small independent music shops<br />

during this time because unfortunately the virus is still<br />

out there and the longer it lives, the closer we are to the<br />

end of brick and mortar music retail.<br />

Randy Pepper is the owner of the Guitar Attic in Holly Hill<br />

and a freelance guitarist for hire.

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