Music, candy, plants and more

BY DEB HURLEY BROBST DBROBST@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Alpine Music Exchange and Juniper Music

Rocky Mountain Music Exchange in Evergreen’s Canyon Commons has morphed into two businesses: Alpine Music Exchange, which o ers instruments and vinyl, and Juniper Acoustics, which o ers music lessons for all ages.

Tyler Hutchins, an audio engineer and musician, and Erin Rich, who was the Bergens’ music teacher, teamed up both personally and professionally to create this musical space. ey say they have learned a lot from Bill Davis, who started the Rocky Mountain Music Exchange almost 10 years ago and now is retiring.

Alpine Music Exchange is named after the couple’s husky, Alpine.

Rich said she started giving private lessons while teaching at the Bergens, and the demand for private violin, viola, ukulele and piano lessons continued to grow. Last summer, she wandered in the Rocky Mountain Music Exchange to look for a new ukulele, rented a small room to give lessons and then learned Davis was retiring.

Hutchins was interested in running the music store, while Rich decided to make private lessons a full-time job.

She said having the Evergreen School of Music nextdoor was symbiotic, creating a hub for creativity, and there doesn’t seem to be a shortage of music students.

Alpine Music Exchange at 3997 Evergreen Parkway is open from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Rich at Juniper Acoustics, which is nextdoor, can be reached at erin@ juniperacoustics.com.

Candy and gifts at Sugar Jones

If you’re looking for sweets or gifts, Sugar Jones in Bergen Village might be just the place.

e shop, which opened in midApril near where HearthFire Books & Treats used to be, showcases Keith Meyers’ candies. Keith looks at himself as a candy maker – creating fudge, candy bars, marshmallows, nut clusters, brittles and bark.

e Pine resident, who worked in the board-game industry for 35 years, began dabbling in making candy about ve years ago when he came across a great fudge recipe and made it better. After ve years, he said, laughing, his wife Brenda was tired of him clogging up the home kitchen making candy.

So the couple decided to open a shop – focusing on candy and using Brenda’s retail skills to add a unique gift shop. ey named the shop Sugar Jones because they thought it was a hip name, and as you walk into the shop, you will nd a gure personifying Sugar Jones as a sassy cowgirl.

Her gure friends help de ne the other vignettes in the shop for romantics, home/entertainment, a nature lover, creative soul and more. Near the gures are gifts for that type of person.