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Music to Southport’s Ears
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Casey and Casey Townsend’s Waterway Music and Education makes a splash in Southport. BY RICH MINA
On a Saturday afternoon a week after Waterway Music’s opening in April 2021, the door keeps flying open as customers drift in with a wide range of requests and interests. One woman drops off her husband’s guitar for repair. Another browses the store and finally asks about tambourines. A set of parents sign up their daughter for a summer session of guitar lessons. Kirsten, a banjo player new to North Carolina, wanders in asking about repairing or replacing her broken instrument. She is excited to find several banjoes displayed on the string
instrument wall. At the owners’ urging, she takes one down for a closer look. Within a few minutes she has pulled up a chair and jumped into a banjo roll that stops all business, conversation and movement. When she finishes to her fellow customers’ enthusiastic applause, she announces, “I’m so happy you’re here!” As more residents and visitors to Southport learn about this little gem on Long Beach Road, they will also be very happy that Waterway Music is here. With plenty of parking and easy access, it is an inviting venue. It is a business that Fall 2021
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