We chatted with the dudes from Lunar Music Supply about their experience at NAMM – the biggest event for music boutiques.
The coolest little guitar shop in Oklahoma
Lunar Music Supply is a musician’s paradise – instrument repairs, gear, accessories, and an extremely cool environment that’ll make you feel super trendy and cozy. Located in Moore, Oklahoma, it’s definitely a great place to go for local musicians, and also has a wide range of resources for online followers from near and far looking for unique items.
Lunar is one of the only places where you can get Oklahoma-made gear and national gear. They are passionate about being a home-base for Oklahoma musicians to get all the gear, info, and repairs they may need. Plus, it’s a neat little shop with good vibes and people.
The team at Lunar Music Supply was super excited to attend the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) conference in Anaheim, California in January, and we sat down to chat with them about the takeaways from the conference.
NAMM: A Recap
NAMM is a nationwide conference that happens twice a year – once in Nashville and once in California, and it’s mainly a resource for boutique music stories to interact with people who are creating instruments, pedals, amps, drums, software, in-ear monitors, and even lighting.
Grant Miller, Lunar Music Supply store manager, said they were able to meet a lot of the vendors they sell in the store like Walrus Audio and Keeley Electronics (both Oklahoma brands), and JHS pedals.
The highlight of Miller’s experience was getting to meet the team from Supro amps. David Bowie uses one of their guitars, and Supro is currently making a David Bowie signature guitar. Miller also said said he was really excited to hear John Mayer’s signature guitar at NAMM.
Miller said it was a great opportunity for them to really try out the new effects and amps so they know what they’ll want in the store. He said the whole experience was really overwhelming.
“We got the opportunity to really establish ourselves and build our online presence,” Miler said. “It was awesome to connect with people. This was the first year that we went to a couple private parties, so that was fun.”
The Lunar M
“NAMM is a great place to go and talk to the people who are making the new gear and improving the gear that already exists,” Lunar Music marketing manager Chris Fox said. “It’s a really good opportunity for a music store like Lunar to go and talk straight to those gear makers and see those things being used straight from the makers – like we heard from Colt Westbrook at Walrus audio about the Lilian pedal. That’s a really unique opportunity within the show.”
The Youtube Series
Fox helped the Lunar Music team create a video diary documenting their experience at NAMM. They wanted to show their customers and other viewers about the new products. They also wanted to highlight the “interesting or outlandish” things they found – like a $1.2 million guitar strap made with gold and jewels.
Although there are content teams who cover NAMM, Lunar wanted to make it a really unique experience and give people an idea of what it’s like to be at the conference, just walking around and talking to vendors.
“As long as we can keep putting out interesting and relevant content, I’m hoping that will be the break-off point where we can really be that authority in boutique music gear,” Mark Quenzer said.
The Impact of NAMM
Miller said the experience at NAMM will likely help local musicians because, if they follow along with Lunar, they can get connected to all of these national brands and learn more about what they’re doing and learn some interesting new things about the music industry and about music gear.
Lunar Music Supply closed its doors for a week while they went to the conference. Quenzer said this shows just how dedicated the team is in making sure they get the right gear for their customers. While at the conference, they made sure to look for gear that was right for their customers – things that have been requested, or things they knew a specific regular consumer might like.
That’s one of the perks of being a locally-owned and operated business. They were also eager to make national connections so that it’s easier in the future for Lunar to connect customers with national brands
“We want it to be Oklahoma’s shop or a shop that they feel connected to or can feel like you can call a home base,” Quenzer said.
This past conference was Quenzer’s third time at NAMM, and he said this was the best year because of the video content they were able to shoot and the connections they made. They also had a ton of fun, and Quenzer said he’s excited for what Lunar can do moving forward.
The Future of Lunar Music Supply
Lunar Music Supply will soon have lots of new products from Suhr, new amps from Supro, and Jennings guitars. The team said they’re excited for customers to come try the new gear.
Quenzer is also working on creating new guitars, which is a huge deal. Stay tuned for updates on that.
Lunar Music Supply is open Tue. – Fri. 10-7 and Saturday 12-5. They also have a pedal swap meet coming up Feb. 22.
All around, this is a dope place to go for anyone who’s interested in learning more about instruments and gear, and the team here is dedicated to connecting its customers to the best possible accessories.
