Owned and operated by Doug Armitage along with his wife, Mountain-Ear publisher Barb Hardt, Brightwood Music has been in business in Nederland since 2008. It offers a selection of instruments and accessories from around the world. Armitage also repairs instruments for everyone in the area.
Armitage spent most of his teens and twenties learning how to build musical instruments, first as an apprentice then as an engineer. He moved into professional life in the woodworking machinery business, building factories and selling machinery and technology. During the great recession of 2008, all of the manufacturing was moved overseas. It was then, when his industry essentially closed, that he decided to open a music store in Nederland, Colorado.
“As a family business we try to keep different sizes of instruments in stock for every age. We have violins, violas, cellos, basses, mandolins, guitars, bass guitars, dulcimers, harmonicas, and lots more,” Armitage states.
The business makes a specialty of offering specific alterations and custom set up for their customers, based on each musician’s particular needs, rather than relying on a base factory setup. “You can feel the difference immediately when you play an instrument that has been set up properly,” Armitage adds. “We do custom work, and our major competition, online purchases, will never be a real competition.”
This kind of custom work is the most rewarding for Brightwood. “Repairing a variety of different instruments and speaking to the owners about what they want,” is exciting. “Supporting our enormous local professional talent and supplying our schools with instruments; teaching and watching artists grow.” These are the things that keep Brightwood in love with his work.
“We have customers from all over the country and have worked on instruments for musicians from all over the world. Our specialty is stringed instruments. There are a wide number of them that come to us from dry climates, and need help to live in Colorado.” This kind of skill and wisdom keeps Brightwood Music busy despite the problems created by the pandemic.
Armitage also sees living and working in Nederland as a huge advantage in his work. “Having a business in a small town is rewarding in a variety of ways. Living in Nederland makes people more cooperative, reasonable, helpful, and satisfied. The deep sense of belonging acquired from interacting in small town situations, and the community and the role the outdoors plays in the mountain town way of life enhance mental and physical health. This is the reason most musicians chose to live here.”
He goes on to say, “We started very small, with only the clothes on my back and a dream. I put everything I make back into the business, and grow a little at a time. We have discovered that there are a few suppliers who work hard to keep us happy, and learned there are some things that people just can’t get cheap enough, and some changes in the way people buy things that you have to see coming.”
Importantly, he adds, “Retail is an art form. I do not see growing to the point where our experience is the same as a big commercial store, but I would like to add a variety of instruments to our selection.” Right now the store has “multiple teachers, (more when Covid ends), myself and my wife, Barbara Hardt; my friend Eric Stone, who gives us much needed days off, and lots of musicians who make the life of a small town worth living….We have grown pretty steadily until Covid. We have invested in other products as a result of this, and we hope to grow more this summer.”
Brightwood Music covers the Peak to Peak region from Allenspark to Idaho Springs and the Foothills and Front Range. Visit the shop at 20 Lakeview Drive, Unit 109, in Nederland. You can also reach them at (303) 258-8863 or email doug. brightwood@gmail.com. Check out their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BrightwoodMusic for updated instrument and accessory photos, sales and more!
Sponsored by the Town of Nederland, with funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.
