HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Tempo Music Center has been conducting music business for 50 years in Hendersonville, serving the community as a mom and pop resource for everything from instrument repair to music lessons.
“I bought this store in 1975. August of ’75,” recalled owner Michael Hall, a drummer and Hendersonville native. “When we got it, it was a record store. Nothing that you see, none of these guitars, none of this existed. But it was my intent to bring these in, because I was a musician and didn’t like having to drive out of town every time I wanted something as simple as a set of drumsticks.”
From humble beginnings to ‘so many things’
Hall said that Tempo has moved several times to get to its storefront today, open six days a week and located at 244 N. Main St. in Hendersonville. When he was growing up, the store was a “tiny, tiny” spot on a side street that made its money selling stereos to college-bound teens.
“My brothers and sisters would come home from college and work and buy home stereos from Tempo,” Hall shared. “Every teenager had to have a stereo to take to college to play your records. Had to.”
Hall himself was in a Hendersonville band, Wizard, winner of several battle of the bands competitions and live entertainment at local sock hops. However, he recalled that he and his bandmates hated having to leave town for music supplies. A big part of Hall’s mission with Tempo was to solve that problem for subsequent generations of musicians.
Today, what started as a stereo and record store has expanded to become much more. Music supplies are just one service of many Tempo provides to Hendersonville.
“We do so many different things. We do school band rentals, we do orchestra rentals, we do violin repairs, we do almost all the repairs on all the instruments,” Hall said. “Even if we weren’t selling all these products, we’d probably stay real busy just fixing.”
School band shop
The relationship the music store has built with local schools has become a foundation of its business and a staple of Hendersonville school band, orchestra and strings programs. Hall and his wife, Lillian, were once in orchestra and choir, and Lillian even became a school music teacher. Today, Tempo is the sole provider of instruments for nearby schools, renting, repairing and giving lessons to kids who want to learn to play music.
“The store’s always been involved in the schools,” Hall said. “We just want the band director to look at a problem and say, ‘oh, just go to Tempo, I’m here to teach, I’m not here to fix.’ And that’s what we want for them. We want them to have the freedom to teach and not be bogged down with all the things that have to be fixed and worked on and adjusted.”
As parents and students alike prepare to return to school this fall, Hall advocated for the benefits of joining the band program.
“We’ve seen many people in the industry that say that getting your child interested in learning to play an instrument early in life enhances their life and their achievements and their pleasure greatly,” Hall said. “I’ve found that absolutely to be true.”
For more information…
Tempo is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Saturday at 244 N. Main St. They invite visitors anytime during store hours, but additional information can be found at www.tempomusichendersonville.com or by phone at (828) 693-8276.
“Either through sales or service or resale or repairs, we want you to know that we’re the one stop shop for everything that your family could possibly need,” Hall said. “There’s no need to go to the Internet. There’s no need to go to a bigger city. There’s no need to go anywhere. We just want you to come here, shop with your neighbors, shop with your friends and shop with the people that have been helping your family for half a century.”
