a cozy little music store with great deals and amazing service! I go there for all of my equipment,…read moreand at this point I trust no own else with my gear.

Thank you Ted taking the time to help me to find the best guitar I need for right now (as well as…read moreadvising me on some technique) and for giving me a great deal! I like to shop locally so appreciate your willingness to help! I'll be back

The Boy picked up drum sticks at nine years old and was instantly better at drumming than anything…read moreI have ever done in my life. Wanting to feed this precocious talent, we purchased his first kit from Donn Bennett Drums (see my review)) and signed him up for lessons with School of Rock (see my review) which at the time was just a few minutes from our house. A couple of years into that routine, a close friend who is a professional drummer mentioned that if The Boy really wanted to accelerate his progress and vastly expand his skills he couldn't do better than lessons with Garey Williams. During summer break that year (2011), The Boy did take lessons with Garey and enjoyed them, but at that time, he was enjoying the live music programming that SOR offers, so when the school year kicked in, it was back to SOR. A year later, he again took lessons from Garey over the summer, but returned to SOR in the fall. However, this time around, things had changed. It was probably his own maturity, combined with improving skills and a sudden appreciation for jazz, but upon returning to SOR, The Boy immediately announced that following the conclusion of that semester, he was leaving SOR to take lessons from Garey exclusively. Because I am not a musician - if I'm being honest, I can't even keep a beat - I don't really feel like I'm qualified to describe what it is about Garey that makes him such a successful educator. So, I asked The Boy to describe that to me and here's what he had to say: "Because every lesson is fun. There's not a lesson that I'm not learning new things that have helped me in my music career. He has ton of great stories to tell and knows tons of people. There's really nothing about taking lessons from Garey that I don't like. If I had stayed at SOR I would have stopped drumming by now, but taking lessons from Garey has taken me to a new level. There's stuff I can do now, and can hear that normal people can't. It's incredible what he's been able to teach me." High praise indeed. As the parent paying the bill, I can say without a doubt that we are seeing a massive return on investment with The Boy's lessons. His skills have improved exponentially. He has grown a deep appreciation for different genres of music - particularly jazz and big bands - and his commitment to his craft is unbelievable particularly considering he's not yet 16 years old. After one year of bi-weekly lessons, we are now up to weekly lessons. Also this year The Boy was accepted into his school's jazz program - a direct result of the work with Garey - and he already feels like he has progressed well past students who were in their junior high jazz programs, but who are not taking private lessons. I credit Garey with much of this. You see, Garey doesn't just teach drumming techniques. Drumming is his life's work and he approaches it with his students in a similar way. As The Boy wrote in a thank you note to a family member who gave him some money for his birthday, "I believe I was put on this earth to play drums." How perfect it is then to have a teacher and mentor who shares that experience. As The Boy heads into his final years of high school, he will start the process of identifying and applying to college and he and Garey are already having conversations about what that will look like. Just a few weeks ago The Boy came home from a lesson and excitedly told me how Garey was going to help him put together an audition video for college. I love that Garey can take on this role, supplementing the work that will take place at home, in ways that my wife and I simply do not possess the knowledge and skills. If you're considering SOR or Seattle Drum School, those programs are fine. But just know, that they will only take your student so far. If, on the other hand, you're looking for a true education from a true educator, who will provide your student with the skills they need to play at an elite level, Garey is the clear choice. Pro tip: Garey offers a 10% discount if you prepay for a full semester (5 months) ahead of time. Fall Semester is September - January. Spring semester is February - June. Pro tip: Town Center at Lake Forest Park is only about a five minute drive from Garey's studio. It's a great place for parents to hang out while their kids are in lessons.

Drumset Artistry is great and Garey Williams is an amazing teacher. I have known Garey since 2007…read moreand studied with him when we lived in the Seattle area. He took me from a beginner through novice levels. I left his teaching studio for a deployment to Iraq, when I returned, I came home to a completely set up and tuned drumset. My wife called him and told him how much I missed drumming. When I walked in the door, there it was, perfectly set up. Garey came to the house and provided an amazing service for us as a gift. His gesture was beyond words. When we moved to the East Coast, I started playing more seriously and took lessons from a local legend here in Charleston, SC. I went as far as I could go with my local teacher before I hit a significant plateau. I sent Garey an Email to say hello and he told me about Skype/ FaceTime Drum lessons. I was skeptical at first but it worked out. In some ways, even better than face to face. I schedule a time, we connect through the internet and the lessons are great, they are working, I am starting to progress again. I was worried that internet method would be an problem. It has not. Its uncanny what Garey can hear. For instance, the camera was on on my hands and Garey halted the lesson to ask about my bass drum pedal technique. He heard the problem without seeing it. Instantly, he described my issue and talked me through the fix. I am extremely happy with the Skype/ FaceTime Process and would recommend it in a 16th note. Garey is always positive, and always pushing me. The 3400 mile difference does not get in the way. He is an exceptional teacher. His prices are not cut-rate bargain discount prices, and the lessons are worth every penny. As a matter of fact, you save in the long run, no transportation costs, no travel time to the lessons. This is an excellent way to study. 5 stars.

Skip was a ton of fun at our wedding! He did a great job tailoring the music to our requests just…read morebased on the general input we gave him. He even included a same day request to change one of the key songs for the first dance to a custom track. 10/10 would recommend!

We hired Skip during the height of the pandemic, thus we didn't even get to meet him until our…read morewedding day, but even before that, we knew he was the perfect choice. Not only had he worked at our venue before, but our coordinator was also singing his praises and rightfully so. I had a fear going into it that the dance floor would be depressingly empty (we come from a more sedentary group of friends and family) but Skip did the impossible and we had a good group of dancers on the floor the entire night. Our wedding was on Halloween night and he did the perfect job blending in great dance music with thematically spooky songs as well. He took silly requests from our friends and was even able to procure an obscure song for the mother-son dance. He ensured the day had a healthy flow and I would recommend him to anyone looking for a DJ who has mastered the art.

Go here!!!! Very very helpful and friendly staff. They…read moregenuinely wanted to help me get the best deal and did not try to upsell me on anything, which was a relief. They weren't condescending to me as a beginner either, and gave me the information I needed. Great atmosphere, super chill and laidback. Incredible prices too. I got a fender amp for half the price of what it would be at other shops.

I came in looking for a small travel size guitar. Hannah welcomed me with a smile and took time to…read morefind me exactly the guitar that would fit my needs. She (and Darren) gave me expert advice, and I ended up with a guitar that was great. They even did a pro set up on the guitar (awesome service BTW!!) Highly recommended!!!

The lead singer does a great job on lead guitar and lead vocals (he has great range, btw). as a…read moremusician friend of mine noted last time we saw them, they play "tight". that means they play really good. And the other guys are awesome too on all the various instruments and back-up vocals. They do great rock-n-roll cover songs that cover the past 4 decades. lots of classic rock...I highly recommend a night out to see the band if you're in the mood for some awesome live entertainment - WITH COWBELL. They even have a customized video screen behind them showing off all their talents and the dance floor's talent too...

Note: this review only applies to the professionalism of Emerald City, not the actual DJ…read moreexperience. It started off fine with Dan from EC. I currently don't live in Seattle, but my wedding will be in Seattle. So I spoke with Dan over the phone, we even did a Skype session to discuss what musics I like, what uplightings I wanted, everything was going fine. I was ready to move forward with Dan, so we scheduled an on-site visit. Because I am from out of town, we made the appointment two months before the actual visit. Then a week before the appointment, I emailed Dan to confirm, and he said no problem. Guess what, the NIGHT before the appointment, after 10pm, I got an email from Dan's brother, saying Dan just realized he has another "engagement" at the same time slot the next day and couldn't make the appointment. Now here comes my complaints: First of all, if an appointment was made two months in advance, you work your schedule around it. I was only in town for two days to visit friends and family, and I made sure I stuck to my appointment, why can't you?! It'd be different if you have a family emergency, then I'd understand. But noooo, he had "another engagement". I was completely speechless when I read the email. Speaking of the email, here comes my second complaint--show some respect to a prospect customer, at least CALL, APOLOGIZE, and say you can't make it to an appointment you made two months before. Not only didn't Dan have the respect and decency to personally call me, he even asked his brother to EMAIL. I wish I could copy and paste the email here, but I assure you that the email was not apologetic at all. It was just a normal email, stating Dan couldn't make it to my appointment the next day because he has another engagement. Third and lastly, even after the fact, Dan didn't make an attempt to reach out to me, to again, APOLOGIZE. Sure I am just one bride and will only get married once, but I have a wedding planner and I make sure she will never recommend such unprofessional services to any of her other brides. Not to mention I have enough younger friends in Seattle who will eventually get married. In summary, again, this review only applies to their professionalism. But ask yourself, if you are a bride, do you want to hire someone that's flaky? I think not.

Dan was an exceptional DJ at our wedding! He brought his wife along to man the photobooth (which…read morewe HIGHLY recommend... so much fun!) and they were great! Dan played exactly the music we wanted, and was open to the reasonable requests from all our guests! The volume was perfect, and he was very professional throughout the entire event. He was such a good sport... our wedding was all outside and it POURED. Being a DJ, I'm sure that's one of the worst things that can happen, with all of the expensive equipment, etc. No complaints from him, though. I'm more than glad that we hired him :)

My company hosted a retirement party at the Hotel Sorrento and we selected Mr. Pajer from their…read morelist of recommended musicians. He was able to rearrange his schedule on short notice to accommodate our date and time and was simply perfect for our event. He was a lovely presence and provided superb background music with almost no direction from us. Not that he should just be in the background, people, he can play Chopin!

From the owner: One of Seattle's leading pianists and piano teacher. Served as banquet pianist for Boeing,…read moreCedarbrook, Salish Lodge, Bergman Draper Ladenburg, PLLC, Snoqualmie Ridge Golf Club, Hotel Sorrento