A8
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2019
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
JIM VAN NOSTRAND
Editor
Founded in 1873
JEREMY FELDMAN
Circulation Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production Manager
CARL EARL
Systems Manager
SOUTHERN EXPOSURE
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Kerri Rosenblatt and Doug Forbes of Music 101 in Gearhart.
Making music in Gearhart
K
erri Rosenblatt and Doug Forbes
are the owners of Music 101 in
Gearhart.
Rosenblatt, a piano player and phar-
macist by trade, and Forbes, a guitarist
and electronics expert, opened up on U.S.
Highway 101. We spoke with them in
their showroom.
Q: What brought you out to the
North Coast?
Rosenblatt: We moved here from
Bend about a year ago, in November.
We’ve been in Gearhart since.
We had a pharmacy for four years
together. When that closed we had a
period of driving around where we didn’t
have any place to lock down before we
decided to come over here. We always
wanted to open a music store.
Forbes: I’m an electronic engineer.
I’ve done music my
whole life, with busi-
nesses on the side since
the ’80s.
Q: Do you still play?
Forbes: I’ve played in
the past, but after a few
R.J.
hand injuries and neck
MARX
injuries, I don’t do that
too much anymore.
Q: How did you hurt
yourself?
Forbes: I used to do man-tracking
and rope rescue for the Jefferson County
Sheriff’s offi ce. In October 2016, I was
about 80 miles outside of Prineville tak-
ing a man-tracking class when a blizzard
came. I tripped getting into my motor-
home, went boom — and splayed this
pinkie like so … (shows injury)
I put it back myself.
Q: You didn’t go to the hospital?
Forbes: That was Oct. 23 and I had
intended to fi nish the class, then come
over to Gearhart for clam digging. I con-
tinued to train for the next couple of days.
We were headed from Prineville to
Gearhart when I stopped off to visit my
mom in Scio (Jefferson County). She had
recently gotten out of the hospital.
My brother and sister brought over two
cords of wood, but she couldn’t start a fi re
because there was no kindling.
I got out my search-and-rescue hatchet
and chopped with my right hand — my
left hand was all bandaged up — a whole
pile of kindling for my mom.
But there was one piece that was stuck.
I whacked down on and it closed like a
pruning shear and tried to chop this fi n-
ger off.
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Doug Forbes specializes in ‘in getting that old gear up to snuff .’
Seven days later, Halloween night, I
went over to Albany General Hospital and
got seven stitches across my knuckle.
Then I said to Kerri, “Let’s get in
the motorhome and head to Gearhart.
We’re going clam digging.” Which was
a joke. I couldn’t even zip my pants or
tie my shoes. I couldn’t do anything. We
went anyway. When we got over here, of
course we couldn’t clam dig.
Q: How did you end up staying in
Gearhart?
Forbes: I called around to ask for phys-
ical therapy for my hand.
They said, “You’re not going to like
this, being from Bend, but the only place
that’s available right now is clear over in
Gearhart, on the coast.”
I said, “You’re kidding me.”
I was literally standing across the street
from Providence rehab. I said this can’t be
true.
So I stayed in my motorhome for 10
months playing my guitar. I went from not
being able to tie my shoe to playing guitar
again to the opportunity to opening a store.
Q: Are you a lifelong Oregonian?
Forbes: I grew up in Vernonia as a kid
in the ’60s and moved back there in 2005.
I had a recording studio and a server
farm. I was doing vacuum tube design
until the 2007 fl ood came and took care
out of that.
After the fl ood, FEMA took me out to
Tigard. Doing repairs for different music
stores, just to have a job, get on my feet. I
worked doing repairs for different music
stores, before I decided to move to Cen-
tral Oregon.
Kerri and I got together there.
Q: Kerri, how did you get into music
after a career as a pharmacist?
Rosenblatt: I grew up in Jefferson,
between Albany and I-5. I started play-
ing piano at 9. Music wasn’t a “drag me
to the lesson” thing — it was something I
wanted. I begged.
In junior high, Doug moved to Jef-
ferson. We went out our freshman year.
I was playing keyboard, he was playing
guitar. By the time I was in junior high I
was playing pop music.
I went to pharmacy school. I didn’t
get to play a lot. There were 14 years I
didn’t have access to a piano.
Thirty-eight years later, Doug and I
got back together and I started playing
again.
Q: What services do you offer at
Music 101?
Forbes: For decades I’ve been repair-
ing guitars as a luthier.
Rosenblatt: He’s fi xed guitars that
people say they’ve taken it everywhere.
He just fi xed one. He got it torn down,
evaluated it and then he realized it was
a manufacturer’s defect. What they had
done was cut deep into the wood that
made the bridge pull up. Doug had to
meticulously glue it all down — and it’s
fi xed.
Forbes: You have to have the right
tools and the right know-how.
Rosenblatt: You can ruin someone’s
instrument easily. A lot of people say, ‘I
don’t take that Les Paul to anybody. This
is daddy’s baby.’ First they’ll bring you
one, the one they don’t care much about.
Pretty soon, they’ll be back with two
cases — their two babies. It’s trust. Some
of those instruments go for tens of thou-
sands of dollars.
Forbes: Guitars are less forgiving than
electronics, but it’s the same thing with
amps.
I specialize in getting that old gear up
to snuff. There’s new stuff out there, but
it’s not as good. The vacuum tube never
went away, never will. It’s resilient to the
problems of all other electronics. And it
sounds better. It’s on every tune we hear
on the radio.
Q: Do you both teach?
Rosenblatt: I teach piano and Doug
teaches guitar. We take each student as an
individual. There’s no cookie-cutter pro-
gram. I have students from age 4 and 83.
I love it when their eyes light up: “I never
thought I could play with both hands!”
It’s very rewarding to see them advance.
Forbes: We take each one on a case-
by-case basis. It’s amazing how the result
can be the same for completely different
people, the 4-year-old and the 80-year-
old. Completely different people, dif-
ferent background, different ages — but
they get the same results. They get the
music. And once that’s started, the fi re
won’t go out, usually.
Q: Do you see Music 101 as a gath-
ering place for musicians?
Forbes: Not so much just yet.
We’re going to do some recording in
the back. It’s storage right now.
But in another room in the back, has a
window here, it’s like a recording studio
already.
When my students are getting to a
higher intermediate level, I want to intro-
duce them to different amplifi ers and
stuff, have access to other equipment
where I can play with them and show
them what it feels like.
Q: How do you interact with the
area’s other music stores?
Forbes: I have great relationship with
Mike at Michael’s Music and Rick at
Thiel’s. I refer people to them constantly.
If I don’t have what they need, I’ll tell
you “Go talk to Rick,” “Go talk to Mike.”
They’ll hook you up. And when I send
them, it works for everybody.
R.J. Marx is editor of the Seaside Sig-
nal and Cannon Beach Gazette, and cov-
ers South County for The Daily Astorian.