Steve Rees is The Man

LIFE HAS BEEN good at Fifth and Maine recently. So good, in fact, that we've officially hired a part-time employee.

Santa Steve?

Steve Rees has been with us from the start. I will never forget after we opened the store at Eighth and Washington more than five years ago, and Steve ambled into the store from his place just down the street. He had all sorts of used instruments he wanted us to sell for him - banjos, guitars, basses, seven-string guitars. We instantly tripled our inventory and improved the "wow" factor of walking into our store.

Steve has worked seasonally for us and always helps when we go out of town. This month we've had a ton of band rental sales and more traffic, so we've decided to hire him on a regular part-time basis.

Sheryl feels a lot better about it, especially since I'm in lessons most afternoons. Steve is also a wiz at doing repairs and restringing instruments. He's just a great guy to have around. And he's a fantastic musician who plays all kinds of instruments. I consider the highlight of my musical career the night we played "The Joker" by Steve Miller at open mic night, with Steve on the bagpipes.

He'll be here Wednesday and Friday afternoons and all day Saturday. Fast Eddie drives him nuts when we aren't in the store, so make sure you stop by and play with the cat this weekend. Steve will appreciate it!