Standing the Test of Time ...

Tower Music has a long, rich history.  The business was founded by Ray Hunsicker who opened Tower Grove Music & Jewelry on Tower Grove & Olive in 1947.  The store sold sheet music, records, greeting cards, costume jewelry, and employed a full-time watch repairman.  Ray worked a day job at St. Louis Music Supply, a distributor of music books and musical merchandise.  Ray’s wife Ethelyn looked after the store during the day until he came in to work the night shift.  Eventually Ray decided to buy a guitar from St. Louis Music to sell at the store.  This was a substantial investment for the young shopkeeper, but he decided to take a chance, and he was suddenly in the musical instrument business.

After several moves the store ended up at the corner of Tower Grove and Manchester.  When Rock & Roll caught on in the mid-Fifties, the real fun started.  The little store on Tower Grove had all the latest gear and turned into a hot spot to buy the latest equipment.

With the “British Invasion” in the mid-sixties, Ray opened a new store in the up-and-coming community of Fenton, a suburb of St. Louis County.  Town & Country Music was opened in Fenton Plaza, and was our home for next 22 years.  This store soon became known for its excellent electronic service with Tex Schroeder keeping the gear of many local bands in good working order.  The Fenton store also provided the P.A. gear for many national acts that played in the St. Louis area.

In 1984, Greg Maglione and Ray's daughter Sylvia Hoffman started working with Tex.  After a move to the former site of the Biltmore Club off Highway 30 and Tex’s retirement in 1998, we settled into making the store reflect our own personalities.

Tower Music had always done a substantial church and school business, but through the 90’s and 00’s, we began to concentrate on sound reinforcement and lighting.  We can guide you in the right direction for that first P.A. system at a price that fits your budget.  For large installations we partner with several local firms to provide all of your Audio/Visual needs.

Tower Music’s lesson program has grown to include 375-400 students per week.  With professional, college-educated instructors, we are proud that our program has become so highly respected in the St. Louis area.

And, of course, we still consider repair service to be a cornerstone of our business and are one of the few local stores still doing in-store repairs.

Over the decades we have continued to evolve while still managing to retain the feel of a friendly, neighborhood shop.  We are proud of our long heritage as one of St. Louis’ oldest independent music dealers.