TOWN OF MANLIUS – Before Terry Vickery could ever get into the instrument retail business, it was a foremost prerequisite that he be a lover of music.
Born to a household full of singers, the 71-year-old Pompey resident’s affection for rock, pop and blues has seemed lifelong, but it strengthened in an instant after seeing The Beatles on “The Ed Sullivan Show” when he was a teenager. Not long after, his father gifted him a single-pickup Norma guitar for Christmas, a purchase that came with six complimentary lessons from a local instructor.
From there, Vickery performed with a band of friends at Fayetteville-Manlius school dances while studying the ways of electric guitarist Jeff Beck and fingerpicker Leo Kottke.
Later, his time spent working for Gerber Music, Onondaga Music and Bonnie Music segued into the discovery of a Liverpool location where he and his now ex-wife could open a music equipment store of their own.
Situated initially in a rentable space attached to a hair salon on the corner of Pearl Street and Old Liverpool Road, the Bebop Shop, as it was called, is remembered fondly by Vickery for its late night local television commercials, which can still be seen in the form of YouTube clips.
Eventually the shop took over the entire building, but Vickery agreed to a buyout in 1989 that left him on the search for another venture.
As a single parent in 1996, he was able to draw ideas from those prior workplaces and redirect his retirement money for the opening of Beat Street Music, the Manlius outlet he operates to this very day.
“I said to myself that I’m buying a job in an arena that I love,” he said. “I couldn’t ask for a better life.”
With no current plans to retire anytime soon, Vickery appreciates his “primo” spot on the often-busy East Seneca Street and the interactions he has with customers from Onondaga County, Madison County and beyond.
As far as the inventory inside his store, there are several hundred instruments in stock at any given time, and his selection includes something for just about everybody: harmonicas, flageolets, drum pedals, amplifiers, banjos, a hanging row of ukuleles and walls lined with guitars.
To form such a comfort zone, Vickery has accumulated supplies from trade shows, lone sellers and larger vendors, all the while thinking of Beat Street as a farm and its displayed instruments as crops.
“A successful farm is constantly growing,” he said. “There’s an old saying that if you’re not growing, you’re dying.”
Additionally, Vickery prides himself on his work as an attentive mechanic, pointing to his in-house repairs and the separate accommodations he offers like bridge adjustments and fretboard polishes.
Through the days of COVID, Beat Street stayed open and kept its hours the same as it became a steady, go-to source for people young and old who viewed quarantine orders as an excuse to learn a new instrument.
“Think about it: the government’s telling everybody they gotta stay home,” Vickery said. “You’ll start to say to yourself, ‘Hey, I always wanted to learn how to play this.’ That was one of the actual bright spots, no matter whether people were really serious about getting good or just looking to pick up a hobby to pass the time.”
Though he acknowledges the influx of guitar tab websites and online discussion boards, he said his personalized guidance, experience in the industry, and face-to-face approach is what sets him apart and helps him direct visitors to the choice of instrument that best suits their interest and style.
“An expert can make a piece of junk sound good, but a beginner needs all the help they can get,” Vickery said.
For those looking to emulate the best and practice time-honored compositions, the shop always has a shelf stacked with sheet music and songbooks by the front entrance as well.
Over 26 years, Vickery’s insistence on putting profits right back into the business has been another key through challenges like supply chain crises and inflation, as has his “modus operandi” to avert from any practices that deprive him of a good night’s sleep.
One of the marks in his head that keeps him going, he says, is to give away one item for free every single day. Depending on circumstances, it could be anything from a pen to an expensive piece of equipment.
As the sole full-time employee at Beat Street these days, Vickery admits that he misses working alongside folks like his bookkeeper, friend and fellow musician, the late Mike Casale, who he considered a “remarkable and special human being.”
Despite losses, competition, and everything else that comes his way, though, Vickery puts his focus instead on enjoying what he does and doing the best he can day to day until the second he locks up.