S HINE A LI GHT
GET ON THE BANDWAGON By Michelle Loeb
Bandwagon Music & Repair is a relatively new entry into the Nashville music scene, having first opened its doors only four years ago with the goal of making musical instruments — particularly those in the woodwind and band or orchestral categories — more accessible to everyone in the community. “I didn’t see any wind shops where you could test things out,” said Linden Lantz, who grew up in northern Indiana before moving to Tennessee for school. “I didn’t know this was an option.” The desire to create the kind of music store he always dreamed of is what motivated Lantz, a certified instrument-repair technician and former band director, and his wife Jennifer, a music educator and choir director, to open Bandwagon Music & Repair, first as a repair shop and eventually as a full MI store offering sales, rentals, lessons and repairs. Short of the business knowledge Lantz gleaned from growing up watching his father run a fuel business, neither he nor his wife are business people, which is something Lantz feels sets them and their store apart from the competition. “Especially on the band-and-orchestra side, the stores tend to be run by a person with a business degree or someone who played in high school but isn’t a music person. A unique thing about us is that we aren’t business people; we’re music people,” said Lantz, who earned degrees in music education and conducting. “I can not only repair the instrument, but also listen to the child play and talk to them about the physical things that have to happen to make the instrument sound good,” he continued. “I love seeing people come in and say, ‘Oh, this is what a music store should be like.’” Bandwagon Music & Repair is a small operation with Lantz front and center, wearing multiple hats throughout the work day. His wife, who just had their third child, comes in when she can, and there are currently two additional employees: one working in the front of house and one operating as a repair apprentice under Lantz. Because of the limitations that come from maintaining a small team, Lantz set up the store so that he can do his repairs from the middle of the sales floor. Not only does this setup allow him to interact with customers at the ready, but it also gives the store a novelty element that customers have come to really enjoy. “The biggest thing we get compliments on is our repair facility being front and center in the store,” said Lantz, who noted that Bandwagon Music & Repair is the only in-house repair facility in Davidson County, 34
Bandwagon Music & Repair 7639 Hwy 70S Nashville, TN 37221 (615) 721-2263 www.bandwagonmusicandrepair.com Mon.–Fri. 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Sat. 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Linden Lantz, Owner
Jennifer Lantz (left) and Linden Lantz (right) with their three children.
Tenn. “Most stores have their repairs in the back where you can’t see it, but we have a 20-foot counter that surrounds the repair area, and people can watch me do repairs. I could be soldering with a torch and people think it’s the coolest thing.” Interacting with customers has been a motivating factor for Lantz since day one, and it has become even more of a necessity now that his shop, along with the entire music industry, has settled into the new reality brought about by the continuing coronavirus pandemic. Lantz had closed his store completely for a few months before slowly building in modified hours. At this point, the store has returned to full business hours, with extra precautions in place to keep customers safe. These range from an in-store mask mandate to carefully marking instruments customers have played and taking them out of commission for three days before they return to the sales floor. “I’m definitely seeing an increase in in-store traffic,” noted Lantz, “because people are craving human interaction. I relate sales tactics to NOVEMBER 2020