To enter Mountain Music Shoppe is to enter an alternate instrumental universe, one in which the grass is always bluer on the other side and the
Deliverance theme "Dueling Banjos" replaces "Stairway to Heaven" as the string-strumming showcase tune of choice. The Shoppe stocks rare and unusual instruments such as bassoguitars, but they aren't stored behind protective glass -- everything is available for a test run. Instructional videos (
Slapbass: The Ungentle Art) and booklets line the walls, but those looking to pick up some new tricks should just ask omnipresent owner Jim Curley, an inductee into the Old-Time Country Music Hall of Fame and a champion-level player of the mountain dulcimer, the clawhammer banjo, the musical saw and the spoons.
