Steve Austin

Steven Austin of Portland’s Steve Austin music is enjoying his new location on Main Street. Above, he is joined by his son Matthew.

Austin amplifies music store on Main Street

By Brian R. Ruckle
The Portland Progressive
(Reprinted with permission.  Thank you!)

Although Portland has had a music store for six years, some people including longtime Portland residents are still discovering Steve Austin Music.

"Almost every day I see people walking to the (El Azteca) restaurant and they look over and see my store and they seem surprised. They often do a double take," said Austin.

Austin’s store, formerly located at 117 Main Street, has moved to a new location next door where the Christ Apostolic Holiness Church met until early September. Austin sold his old location to El Azteca Mexican Restaurant which is planning to knock down the wall separating the two units and expanding next door so that Austin is again next door to his neighbor.

Austin said the move from an 800 square foot shop to a 1,200 square foot shop on Sept. 27 has been good for him and will probably be good for his neighbors also.

"People seem to be impressed. There is room for growth now that we have a little more elbow room. People who have been coming here have been encouraged to see the results of their support for the last four to six years," said Austin.

"It was a step up for me to move over here. It was a step up for Christ Apostolic Church to move to where they are now, and it will be a vast improvement for the Mexican restaurant to have more space as they expand into my old building," said Austin.

Austin is a Wisconsin native who lived in Texas and Arizona touring for about 20 years as a singer-songwriter. He has had two songs on the independent country charts. In 1990, his song "Queen of the Radio" based on a true story about a nighttime disc jockey hit No. 25 in Indie Bullet. In 1995 he hit No. 1 with "Sundown Highway" on several independent country charts and received airplay in both small and medium markets.

In 1999, after the birth of his son Matthew, he started looking to settle down. He was living in Westmoreland at the time

"I became aware that between Bowling Green and Gallatin there was no music store and I was aware that Portland was a prime possibility," said Austin.

He said described finding his current location as an "act of God." He said he had looked for a location on Main Street but had found nothing for sale. He had looked at other places and found nothing that suited him. One day as he was heading through town he said he had a "strong impulse" to turn right down Main Street.

"It was like a voice telling me this. I had checked a week or two previously and found nothing but I turned and sure enough there was a for-sale sign at 117 Main Street," said Austin.

He said he financed the shop on a handshake and went into business.

"I started out with six guitars and little knowledge of retailing or music retailing. I found that there was a lot of knowledge within myself. When people started asking questions I found that after 20 years of touring I had accumulated a lot of knowledge," said Austin.

Austin said the first couple of years were very lean.

"The first couple of years were really tough. Nobody knows about it and although I did a lot of advertising, it was still slow and we didn’t do much the first couple of years. They kind of wait to see if you starve to death and then if you survive they will come around," said Austin.

Those six guitars are now 60 guitars. Also, Austin teaches music lessons including the drums, guitar, the fiddle, banjo, mandolin and harmonica. His students have picked up from about two to about 50 students.

"I have built a very loyal base of customers. A lot of them will check with me before they go anywhere else. They trust me and that means a lot to me," said Austin.

"I’ve spent thousands of dollars on advertising but the best advertising has been word of mouth."

"I feel like it is going to float."

Austin said one of the most rewarding aspects of his business is the teaching side of it.

"I love teaching. I think I love it more than I do the retail end of it. It is challenging. You have to understand the student before you can teach him or her something."