Elevate Magazine - July 2022

Ernie November | Haggerty's Music | Jason Garland

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JULY 2022

RAPID CITY MUSIC SCENE THE

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Elevate is a monthly publication produced by Elevate Rapid City. It is the premier business magazine for the Black Hills region telling the stories that make our area unique and vibrant.

MUSIC LIVES IN THE DNA OF RAPID CITY Before humans developed language, fire, or smartphones, they had music — beating their hands on makeshift drums or tapping their fingers to the beat of a thought in their minds.

That’s because music is a part of who we are. It’s in our DNA. Music is therapy.

Music is connection. Music is life.

Without music, things would be much more boring on our lonely little planet, somewhere in the Milky Way. Whether it’s watching Jimi Hendrix play guitar with his teeth (and you can’t even do it with your hands) or a perfectly harmonized tune from the Beach Boys, we transcend our mundane experiences of mortgage payments and utility bills.

Welcome to this issue of Elevate, where we explore some of the things that make Rapid City the place to explore your musical whims. We’ll take you into the world of local lyricist Jason Garland, who’s been turning words into songs for several decades. Then there are the stories of two of the hippest places in the Hills: Ernie November and Black Hills Vinyl. And finally, we bring you the tale of Haggerty’s, where shredding isn’t just reserved for guitarists, it’s the daily special.

Turn up the volume, close your eyes, and let yourself go, Rapid City.

ELEVATE • JULY 2022

Stay safe and God-speed.

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PO Box 747, Rapid City, SD 57709 605.343.1744 elevaterapidcity.com PRESIDENT & CEO Tom Johnson ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Matt Brunner MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR Shiloh Francis PUBLIC POLICY DIRECTOR Anna Hays WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT & TALENT ATTRACTION DIRECTOR Samantha McGrath INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP DIRECTOR Mitch Nachtigall EVENTS & TRAINING MANAGER Rachel Nelson BUSINESS RETENTION & EXPANSION MANAGER Larissa Hespen ECOSYSTEM SUPPORT & PROPERTY MANAGER Loni Reichert PUBLIC POLICY MANAGER Garth Wadsworth OFFICE MANAGER & HR COORDINATOR Liz Highland HOUSING COORDINATOR Laura Jones INVESTOR ENGAGEMENT MANAGER Becky Knox EXECUTIVE ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Ashley Simonson DESIGN AND LAYOUT Bailey Sadowsky, Shadow Sky Creative Co. PUBLISHED BY THE RAPID CITY JOURNAL Ben Rogers, President ben.rogers@lee.net

Tom Johnson, President & CEO

ADVERTISING Eddie Hebron, 605.394.8356 ehebron@amplifieddigitalagency.com PRINTED BY SIMPSONS PRINTING

JULY 2022 Volume 3 // Issue No. 7

HAGGERTY'S VITA SANA MUSICWORKS Longtime store focuses on creating music experience.

BY MICHELLE PAWELSKI

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ART ALLEY BUSKING

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BLACK HILLS VINYL

Cover photo by Shiloh Francis

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ERNIE NOVEMBER

Garland inspired by bagels, love, & life experience.

Calabreses keep the record store cool.

Coombes crafts niche music experience.

BY MICHELLE PAWELSKI

BY DOWNTOWN RAPID CITY

BY MICHELLE PAWELSKI

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ELEVATE • JULY 2022

a Alle

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STORY BY MICHELLE PAWELSKI // PHOTOS BY SHILOH FRANCIS

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Jason Garland thought he had written a song about his own personal journey. But as he played it for his dad, nearing the end of his battle with lung cancer, the words took on a new meaning.

And the wings come out of my feet, and I breathe out Then they start to carry me as if I had doubt Everything it turns out is everything you want to be Everything it turns out is what you planned for me.

“There is something a little mystical about songwriting,” he explained. “But if you overthink it the magic goes away.”

It’s been 10 years since his father, Bill, died. The lung cancer a result of exposure to Agent Orange during Vietnam. But Jason can still remember how his father captured a room with his words. “All my musical interest came from watching him,” Jason said. “It was his way of bringing people together.

He would sing these fun songs, and we would all gather around and sing.”

“My dad wrote a lot of songs to the people in his life – personal songs. It is like there are just some things you can’t express except through a song.

There are some emotions hard to convey without music. That’s the kind of songs he wrote. As far back as I can remember he was playing songs for us. Whenever we get together, I try to play the old songs he used to play to let his spirit continue to live.”

ELEVATE • JULY 2022

At age 8, Jason Garland became Rapid City’s own “Weird Al” Yankovic.

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After hearing a song on the radio, Jason used his cassette player to record the song changing the lyrics to create his own parody.

It is a talent he still uses nearly 30 years later.

“Whatever imagination you use as a kid turns into creativity when you are an adult.”

A third-generation Rapid Citian, Jason has spent his life writing songs inspired by anything from his full-time job managing Black Hills Bagel’s Haines Street kiosk to his childhood to his father’s death.

His childhood parodies turned into songs about his personal life and at the age of 12, he started writing his own music. At 14, Jason taught himself how to play the guitar. “I picked up the guitar to try and write songs. That is at the heart of what I want to do is write songs.

Playing the guitar and singing is just a medium to accomplish that.”

Jason has written over 200 songs, performed at local open mic nights including a concert at the Dahl titled “Roasted Songwriters”, and had a song featured in a short, independent film. Like his dad, Jason’s goal is that his music brings people together. That is exactly why he spends Thursday nights during the summer busking

Jason recalls one Art Alley night. He was playing the Matchbox Twenty song “3AM” when a couple came up to him.

The wife was crying because her daughter was sick and that was their song. “It’s just moments like that that are incredible.

Something I can be a part of.”

Jason starts off with songs people are familiar with and

then moves into his originals.

One of the most popular is called “Skyline Drive,” a song about driving to the windy road to clear his head and go back to simpler times. Jason grew up at the top of Tower Road.

On this year’s first Rapid City Summer Nights, Jason was in Art Alley singing with his fiancé Taylor Shepard, the inspiration behind his song Shepard Girl.

The two also spend at least one night a week singing karaoke at Sally O’Malley’s which is where Jason proposed to Taylor in May. When the two met, Taylor did not sing or perform, Jason said. Now the couple is singing and writing songs together.

“It has been really cool seeing her come out of her shell,” he said. “It is like a dream. I never thought I would meet a girl that I would write songs with.”

Jason’s plan is to inspire others as well. He is developing an online songwriting course called “Inspired Songwriting.”

Jason hopes to have it launched by this fall. “I think a lot of people see songwriting as this daunting, impossible task, and I want these courses to break it down.”

While the courses will have the basic details on songwriting, the focus will be more on finding inspiration. “The longer I have written songs, the more I think

elevaterapidcity.com

in Art Alley. “That is by far the most fun thing for me – when you see people walk by and have a smile across their face or if they know the song and start singing along. I love it. I feel so lucky to be able to do that.

Every time I do, I think there is no place I’d rather be.”

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inspiration is the most important aspect. You can sit down and spend hours writing a song and it is not going to be great, but if you are inspired you can write the song in 20 minutes and it’s better than anything else you have written.”

Jason says inspiration can come from anything and at any time. “Songs kind of write themselves.

You just have to be there to capture it.”

For the past five years, Jason has been using his creativity to write jingles for Black Hills Bagels.

“Debra (Jensen) and I used to work a lot in the coffee hut by ourselves, and we used to come up with videos that would get people to come in and we would just do funny things.”

One morning, Jason woke up inspired to write a little ditty about pumpkin season.

It’s pumpkin season at Black Hills Bagels

So, pull up a chair at one of our tables…

“Everything just started off really simple, but I enjoyed it so much that I kept exploring more and trying new things.”

Along with writing the jingles, Jason started creating videos to accompany them as well as his own songs – all filmed with his smart phone.

“I really love making videos as much as I love writing songs,” he said.

He hopes to continue writing jingles for Black Hills Bagels and expand to other local businesses.

He also plans to help others find their creativity and continue searching for inspiration in the everyday. “A lot has to do with being in the mind space of writing songs. If you are always thinking about writing songs, you will see things you would not ordinarily see and be inspired by things you wouldn’t ordinarily think of.”

“when you see people walk by and have a smile across their face or if they know the song and start singing along. I love it. I feel so lucky to be able to do that. Every time I do, I think there is no place I’d rather be.”

ELEVATE • JULY 2022

- JASON GARLAND

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KEEPING

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CO

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DOWNTOWN RAPID C I T Y

STORY BY DOWNTOWN RAPID CITY // PHOTOS BY SHILOH FRANCIS

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"WE SAW THE 'DO BIG THINGS' BANNERS AND FELT THAT CALL TO ACTION.”

ELEVATE • JULY 2022

- MICHAEL CALABRESE

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It was 2014. Michael Calabrese was sitting in his home in Boulder browsing Craigslist.

This was not uncommon, as he and his wife, Jennifer, had recently started a recordcollecting hobby. “I would find steals in local thrift shops.” The listing he stumbled upon, however, was quite uncommon: a record store in Rapid City, South Dakota.

“There was a posting on the Denver and Minneapolis Criagslist for anyone that was interested in buying a record store…

the owners wanted to keep the store in Rapid City but wanted to make sure that the record store remained cool,” Michael recalled.

That listing changed Jennifer and Michael’s life, and downtown Rapid City, forever.

Jennifer and Michael Calabrese grew up in suburban Pittsburgh. Michael’s job took him to Boulder but the couple knew that the expensive Colorado lifestyle was not

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Black Hills Vinyl started in the Creamery next to Hay Camp Brewery in 2012. The business will celebrate its 10-year anniversary this September.

Black Hills Vinyl also carries Disc Golf discs. Michael realized they were hard to find so the store began carrying them to help fill a void in the community.

Jennifer’s favorite album (though impossible to actually choose) would have to be American Beauty by the Grateful Dead. “It has gotten me through a lot in my life and our first dance of our wedding is on that album also.”

ELEVATE • JULY 2022

In 2021 the couple purchased the building from the longtime owner to help ensure the shop stays here in Rapid City.

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BLACK HILLS VINYL // 622 ST. JOSEPH ST. RAPID CITY // 605.791.4040

going to be their final destination. “We came to Rapid City to visit before making the move and it just felt right here,” Michael explained.

“We knew this was a small community but we knew the potential of the city as soon as we got here. We knew we could make our mark here.”

“We saw the ‘Do Big Things’ banners and felt that call to action,” Jennifer added.

Owning a small business is not easy, especially to start. “We didn’t have much money when we started but we knew we needed some merchandise,” Michael recalled.

“So we would go to thrift stores and buy comfortable t-shirts and our friend would print our logo on them and we would sell them.”

ELEVATE • JULY 2022

“We wanted to keep our style. That was the same hustle as when I was selling albums online as a hobby, I think that’s what made us successful over time,” Jennifer added.

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That same hustle allowed the owners to continue to thrive during the pandemic as well. “We had a great online presence, and my wife has a great eye for finding the diamonds in the rough in the $2.00 bins at other record stores,” Michael described. During the pandemic, while people were staying home

and reconnecting with their families the idea of vinyl has seen a resurgence in popularity.

“In the past two years Vinyl has blown up, and as we continue to find great items, we try them in the store and bring them to the community. If they don’t sell, we put them online for others outside of the community to buy. Our town is a lot cooler than people know right now,” added Jennifer.

Michel and Jennifer came to Rapid City to not only buy Black Hills Vinyl but also wanted to leave their mark on their community. In their short time the two have already gotten involved in different areas of the community, Michael ran for State Senate in 2020 and in 2021 Jennifer sat on the Vision Fund Committee. “We see how much potential there is here in our community, and we want to help it see its potential,” Michael explained.

The Calabreses will continue to build their brand in Rapid City at Black Hills Vinyl and through community involvement. “Everyone has helped prop us up in the community and we want to do the same for others. All of the businesses here look out for one another, it’s pretty cool to be a part of it. We feel like we grew up with the owners of Hay Camp and it’s been fun to watch the transformation downtown,” added Michael Calabrese.

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Ten years later, she still calls AinsworthBenning Construction home.

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ELEVATE • JULY 2022

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a music store

NOT for the masses

Ernie November provides lifestyle store for niche audience

BY MICHELLE PAWELSKI // PHOTOS BY SHILOH FRANCIS

Keith Coombes was 15 years old when he decided Cheyenne, Wyoming needed to expand its music profile.

“I wanted something different for my boring, lame, cowboy town.”

ELEVATE • JULY 2022

And the teen was determined to make it happen.

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Using the small earnings garnered from his paper route, Keith started to bring punk and metal shows to his

western hometown creating a new music scene for those who wanted something different. The young entrepreneur would give his bands everything from sales at the door and use his paper route money to pay for whatever venue he could get.

“I went to an illegal show at a vacant building in Denver and talked to some bands and put it all together a month

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“It’s exhilarating to see people half my age getting excited about their record purchases. It is more of an engagement than listening to music on your phone.”

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later. It was trial and error. It was nice to be that naïve,” said Keith who now manages the Rapid City Ernie November and has been with the eclectic retail and music store since 1996.

Ernie’s, as it is lovingly referred to by locals, has been operating in Rapid City since 1987, the second store opened by a couple of music lovers who no one else would hire and who wanted a place for the community’s misfits.

The first store opened in Sioux Falls in 1983 followed by Rapid City in 1987, Billings, Montana in 1993, and Cheyenne in 1996.

The draw of Ernie’s and what has sustained the music store in a time when online streaming is the norm is that it sells much more than media. “We realized back in the day basically the sky’s the limit. We can sell whatever we want. We are a lifestyle store and that’s what attracted me (to Ernie’s) in 1996. I wanted to be a buyer and use my own creativity to bring stuff in I wanted.”

Aside from having a large selection of vinyl, CDS, and DVDs, the independent music store also carries T-shirts, tapestries, incense,

"Ernie November was never for the masses. It was never our goal. We pride ourselves on being brash at times, being real, not placating."

- KEITH COOMBES

ERNIE NOVEMBER // 1319 W MAIN ST. RAPID CITY // 605.348.0768

Keith had been working a professional job at the Musicland in Cheyenne but knew the corporate life was not for him. He knew one day he wanted to work at Ernie’s and move his way up in the company.

Keith started working at the Cheyenne store in 1996 and has been with the company since. He didn’t veer far from promoting the unique music scene and started bringing shows into the back of the Wyoming Ernie’s. With the town lacking music venues, Keith was again not going to wait around for something to happen. He brought in dozens of brutal death metal and hardcore punk bands including

some big names like Ringworm, Goatwhore, Negative Approach and MDC. Keith and his friends and coworkers did more than 200 shows.

provided a perfect opportunity. He now manages the Rapid City’s Ernie November’s and buys merchandise for three of the four stores.

In 1991, Keith traveled to South Dakota with a band out of Laramie.

“I was blown away at how cool Rapid City was in 1991.” While it was about the same size as Cheyenne, the music scene was energetic with a sense of fellowship he didn’t see in his hometown.

Keith believes every community should have an Ernie November.

Live music at Ernie’s not only provided another means of entertainment for locals, it brought a sense of camaraderie, Keith said.

Something he found many years earlier when visiting Rapid City.

“That really just stuck with me,” Keith said.

So, in the beginning of 2019 when Keith and his wife were looking to move out of Wyoming, Rapid City

Keith is seeing a resurgence in the interest in purchasing vinyl and CDs. “It’s exhilarating to see people half my age getting excited about their record purchases. It is more of an engagement than listening to music on your phone.”

“I think the biggest thing about Ernie’s is that it feels like a hometown store because it is. It has a heart and soul. It is a labor of love with the energy we put in to making it successful.”

It is also not a store for everyone.

“Ernie November was never for the masses. It was never our goal. We pride ourselves on being brash at times, being real, not placating.”

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posters, lava lamps, stickers, and a variety of other offbeat items.

Ernie’s success is also attributed to the personalized guest service of their staff. If they don’t have something, they will find it.

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ELEVATE • JULY 2022

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a r e

A NEW

OF

LONGTIME STORE FOCUSES ON CREATING MUSIC EXPERIENCE

ELEVATE • MAY 2022 elevaterapidcity.com

STORY BY MICHELLE PAWELSKI // PHOTOS BY SHILOH FRANCIS

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In

2006, Marcus LaVake walked into Haggerty’s Musicworks for the first time and asked the sales associate for a Taylor Grand Symphony guitar. His dad said it would “move him.”

“He told me if I ever made it out to Haggerty’s Music, they had this amazing guitar I had to play,” said Marcus, who lived in Aberdeen at the time.

Marcus played it and then listened while the sales associate played “Key to the Highway” on it. His dad was right. He fell in love.

“I had to have that guitar. My dad always told me that if you find a guitar that moves you buy it, because you can’t recreate that.”

With three kids and one on the way, Marcus decided to return to Aberdeen without the Taylor. That did not last long, however. “I couldn’t stop thinking about it.” He called up

Dan Haggerty and asked to finance the guitar.

“We struggled to pay it off but eventually did, and I still have that guitar.”

Not only did he name his fourth child Taylor, that 2006 guitar purchase changed the course of his entire life.

“That was my first purchase and when I moved out here in 2012, I continued to be a loyal customer,” Marcus said now sitting in his office at the top of the staircase of the West Main store.

Not only did Marcus stay a loyal customer, but Dan, Tom and Adam Haggerty saw much more.

Marcus now owns the longstanding music store, opened another in Aberdeen, and has big plans for the future of Haggerty’s. “That was just the catalyst,” Marcus said of that first guitar purchase. “There was just something special. When I moved to town, I instantly had that contact and relationship. It was this little drop of water that created this tidal wave in my life.”

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"Today there are 3 million more guitarists because of the pandemic.

So many people wanted to learn an instrument."

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- MARCUS LAVAKE

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Haggerty’s started nearly 60 years ago as a department store in the Baken Park Shopping Center. In 1979, Tom Haggerty had moved back to Rapid City from Nashville and opened the music section in the back of the department store. The goals were to offer musicians what they wanted and to provide excellent guest service – two things Marcus continues today.

Haggerty’s Department Store closed in 1997 with the music portion, Haggerty’s Musicworks, moving to its current West Main Street location.

The music business boomed with the Haggertys offering a state-of-the-art music store for all levels and expanding to add instrument repair and an audio/visual section.

After moving to the area, Marcus helped with sales training at the music store and in 2015 the Haggerty brothers asked him to be a partner.

Marcus left his job at Titan Machinery and joined forces with Dan, Tom, and Adam. On March 7, 2019, 56 years to the day Haggerty’s was incorporated, Marcus and his wife Amanda took over ownership.

“When I came on board in 2015, I really had a lot of energy to drive this store forward as an

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unforgettable music experience for not just the local crowd, but nationwide,” Marcus said.

Marcus partnered with Taylor Guitar in launching the first of the Taylor Guitar Experience Rooms. “We were one of the first in the nation to pilot that effort and really create an unbelievable guitar purchasing experience. That effort brought us from barely being a blip on the radar to being a top 10 Taylor Guitar dealer in the entire United States.”

Marcus said it is imperative to offer people something that is special, different, and a true experience. The Taylor Room offers each person just that. Each guitar has a different feel, different wood, and a unique sound. “Every time you hear a song and love it, there is a specific guitar, a sound, that moves you. I can give you that sound.”

He envisions one day having every product line and division an experience like the Taylor Guitar Room. He has recently added violin and keyboard rooms.

The Taylor Guitar partnership allowed Marcus to greatly expand the Haggerty’s Musicworks

“If someone doesn’t have an instrument that creates new pathways in their brain when they play, then I want to help them with that. That is what I love.”

-MARCUS LAVAKE

brand, business, and staff. He has added an entire internet division, a shipping and receiving manager, and staff photographers. He also recently hired an operations manager, and marketing and purchasing directors. “These are all new positions to this store because I can’t keep up with everything.”

That partnership along with launching the online portion of Haggerty’s helped the local business not only survive, but grow, during a pandemic despite losing a backbone of their business – the sale of school band and orchestra instruments. “We did a lot of neat marketing and growth not knowing a pandemic was coming,” Marcus said. “We went from selling band and orchestra instruments to facing over $80,000 in a deficit that year.

We had a mass exodus of school music.”

Internet sales, however, boomed. Haggerty’s was prepared to have an online presence when many other stores in America had to shut

down. “People were calling us because we were open and shipping stuff all over the country. We have been able to be a resource to help people stay at home and learn while still providing an experience that you wouldn’t get in Denver or Seattle,” Marcus said. “Today there are 3 million more guitarists because of the pandemic. So many people wanted to learn an instrument.”

And while the school music side has been back on the rise, Marcus said he has also seen a shift in the instruments that students are choosing– ones they can play individually and learn through online lessons.

During the height of the pandemic, Marcus also expanded to open a second store in Aberdeen. This summer they held a grand opening of a new location in Aberdeen that tripled its previous square footage.

Marcus says the success goes back to the two goals of the Haggerty family when they started in the music business

decades ago: offer musicians what they want and provide excellent guest service.

“When people walk into our store, especially locals, they may say they are not looking for something, but they are. They are looking for inspiration,” Marcus said. “It is our job to create some sort of inspiration whether that is a new playing technique, new sounds, maybe it is just a conversation or maybe it is jamming with someone.”

Marcus never envisioned having a career in the music business. But, as his brother-inlaw once said, Marcus has found something that “makes his soul leap.”

He now just wants to share that with others.

“Music is an experience and when you do it right it moves you. If someone doesn’t have an instrument that creates new pathways in their brain when they play, then I want to help them with that. That is what I love.”

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HAGGERTY'S MUSICWORKS // 2520 W MAIN ST. RAPID CITY // 605.348.6737

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