THE FINAL NOTE The Music & Sound Retailer: Who was your greatest influence or mentor and why? Rulon Brown: The “Horn Doctor,” John Kagerer of Alaska Music & Sound. When I was 14 years old, John took me on as a band instrument repair apprentice. His example and standards shaped my sense of craftsmanship and work ethic. He showed me how to manage my time and tools. Watching him manage his business was an invaluable experience I draw on frequently in my own business. John is quick with a joke but can laser focus and share that focus with others, which is a rare quality in a mentor. I can’t imagine doing what I am today if I had not grown up working in a local music store run by a master repair tech with a head for business. John’s mentorship was truly foundational. The Retailer: What was the best advice you ever received? Brown: Work smarter, not harder. I’ve always found this advice
RULON BROWN,
President and Founder, Key Leaves By Brian Berk
inspiring, and it reminds me to focus on the problems that can be improved upon and to be willing to seek and change plans for something smarter. Everything else is distraction or over exertion.
The Retailer: What was your first experience with a musical instrument? Brown: When I was a young boy, my mother would play Neil Diamond, ABBA and Carpenters songs on our blonde wood Acrosonic piano. I’d sit on the right end of the bench and plink out notes, trying to play along. She would smile at me in a way that made me feel like I was playing the most amazing duet. She filled our home with music and made instruments safe to touch. I absolutely hated the piano lessons she forced on me a few years later, but at age 10 she introduced me to the saxophone and I was smitten. That’s when my lifelong love affair with music began. The Retailer: What instrument do you most enjoy playing? Brown: That is a tough question because when I cannot imagine my musical voice without flute, sax, piano and more. These instruments are all like children to me. If I could only play one instrument for the rest of my life it would be saxophone, simply because the ergonomics of the flute are so horrible for aging bodies and saxophone was my first love. But I would miss the others sorely! The Retailer: Tell us something about yourself that others do not know or would be surprised to learn. Brown: In 2011, I quit my high-paying day job working for the Seattle Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture, rented my home, moved my young family to Costa Rica with only what we could carr y, lived without a car and focused on making music again. It was a radical leap that proved transformative in wonderful ways. The Retailer: What’s your favorite activity to do when you’re not at work? Brown: I love working with my hands. It calms and focuses me like nothing else. Art, metalsmithing, woodworking or any odd project around the house. A few months ago, it was a set of maple wood diagonal dividers for a wide kitchen drawer to store long-handled utensils. It’s a bit silly that something as simple as clean-cut maple in a drawer can make my morning, but it does.
Zorn B. Taylor
The Retailer: What is the best concert you’ve ever been to? Brown: Bobby McFerrin solo 2008 in Kirkland, Wash. He is my musical superhero. I won front-row-center seats for this special anniversary concert celebrating the venue. During the show, Bobby asked if anyone wanted to sing with him. My hand shot up and we sang a duet of “Night in Tunisia.” I was giddy for weeks.
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The Retailer: If you could see any musician, alive or deceased, play a concert for one night, who would it be and why? Brown: Vince Mendoza conducting his works for big band and orches(continued on page 40) SEPTEMBER 2020