Keeping Canby in Tune

By Angie Helvey, for Canby Chronicle

At the present time – though you’d never know it from the artfully arranged showroom within – every nook and cranny of Canby Music, the cheerful blue house near the Post Office that’s visible from 99E, is full of instruments that belong to local school districts. “We bring them here to clean and repair over the summer,” explains owner, founder, and Canby area native Brian Haines. “It will all be gone in September, but currently we’re jam-packed.”

Haines first launched Canby Music back in 2008. The musician had spent most of his 20s playing guitar in different bands, and though he felt ready to slow down, he didn’t want to give up his passion. “A friend and I were at a music store in Tigard after a stint of traveling,” he recalls, “and we started talking about the idea of a retail space.” Following that conversation, Haines opened the full-service music store’s original location on NW 1st Avenue in Downtown Canby. “I told myself I would commit for a year. I just didn’t know what to expect, and my only goal was to not go bankrupt,” he says with a laugh. 

Teaching private lessons wasn’t something he initially planned on, but the demand was there, and before long, Haines had a roster of students and was honing his craft as a music instructor. 

In 2018, he bought Canby Music’s current building, a historic house which took about two years to fully renovate. “It was worth the long process,” Haines says. “After all those years in the first space, I knew exactly what I wanted and needed for this building.” The grand opening of the new Canby Music came in September of 2020, and since then it’s flourished remarkably, growing from just two employees to a staff of nine. “It feels like a totally different business.”

Canby Music has become the region’s premier full-service small-town music store, but from the outside, the business in the blue house feels more like a welcoming home than a storefront, complete with a charming white front porch. The first floor features a stunning display of high-quality retail instruments and accessories, including an eye-catching lineup of acoustic, electric, and bass guitars from brands such as Breedlove and Fender, as well as Deering banjos. They stock ukuleles, digital pianos from brands like Casio, percussion products from Ludwig-Musser, and every brass and woodwind instrument imaginable. Instruments are available to rent or buy with in-house financing options. The rent-to-own program is very popular and the perfect way to get started, especially for students. “Every dollar they pay for the rental goes towards owning the instrument,” Haines explains. Orchestra instruments like violin, viola, and cello are also available. Customers can simply return the instrument if they decide not to continue. 

True full-service music stores like Canby Music are tough to find. Upstairs, the repair shop is extra busy, with four knowledgeable repair technicians with many years of expertise who complete every project in house. They can fix a wide range of instruments and turnaround times are exceptionally quick. 

Lana Szenasi, the Rental Fleet Manager and Brass and Woodwind Repair Technician, sits in the shop working through a stack of returned trumpets. “They all have to be cleaned and repaired before we add them back to inventory to be rented again,” Haines explains. In addition to being the store manager, Christian Engerman is a skilled stringed instrument repair technician who’s often working in the shop, and Nathan Doty is the repair shop manager and Canby Music’s longest-tenured employee — apart from Brian, of course!

Downstairs, the music store features four soundproof, climate-controlled studios for private lessons, which are taught to all ages. Each of Haines’ nine staff members is also an instructor, all skilled in multiple instruments. “Everyone teaches basic guitar and piano,” Haines says, “and some also teach percussion, brass, orchestra, or woodwind — it just depends.” In addition to guitar and piano, instructor Chloe Boehler teaches clarinet, ukulele, saxophone, bassoon, and has been with Canby Music since 2023. Ellie Piazza primarily teaches percussion and has a larger room to accommodate multiple drum sets. Rheannon Jarmer, who is also a repair technician, has been teaching flute, piccolo, and voice at Canby Music since April of last year. “I love the variety of different ages, instruments, and learning styles,” she says. 

Addison Frasier, Natalie Brown, and Jacob Crowley are three of the newest instructors. “It’s fun to witness that moment with the student when it just clicks. You can see their faces light up,” Frasier says. Crowley was originally one of Brian’s students, and in addition to teaching, he’s learning repair, including recently restringing a guitar. Haines works to maintain a multifaceted team and is a natural mentor. “When we hire new people, they always have areas they gravitate towards, and we’re all for it,” he says.

Canby Music is located at 590 NW 1st Ave in Canby. Please call them at (503) 263-2263 or visit www.canbymusic.com