When Cathy Currier was 12 years old, she hurried to her parents’ music store every day after school, armed with a Coke and a candy bar. Now, almost 48 years later, Cathy still hurries around the business in its current location at 136 West Main St. in Richmond.

 

While dashing from a guitar repair to the register, Cathy remarks, “It never ends.”

 

Angela and Clifford Currier opened Currier’s Music World in 1967 in Richmond after being frustrated by having to travel to Lexington to buy musical instruments for their three children. Spending afternoons with her father in the shop, Cathy became fascinated with how instruments were put together and made.

 

“I’m just one of those people who has always liked to fixed things.”

 

After graduating high school, Cathy’s fascination with fixing things led her to Western Iowa Tech where she studied band instrument repair. “You should never stop learning,” she says. Not being satisfied with just knowing band instruments, Cathy convinced Taylor Guitars to accept her as its first intern. She spent a year in California learning the ins and outs of how high-end guitars are made.

 

She returned home to her family roots and now manages Currier’s Music World for her aging parents and handles all instrument repairs.

 

In the shop, Cathy works alongside Mary Lue Roberts, a musician who left Ohio to return to Richmond to care for her mother. “The music I left behind comes to me sometimes,” said Mary Lue. Music and laughter can be found in abundance at Currier’s. Musicians regularly come in and stay for an hour trying out a new guitar before buying. Those musicians quickly become friends and family to the fiery, Italian Cathy. When she laughs, her laughter can be heard from across the room.

 

The shop may still be owned by Angela and Clifford, but it’s Cathy’s place. Her passion for music and people make Currier’s Music World the place it is.