The Sound of Music
By Sharon Hicks,
KP News
Anyone driving
along Tacoma Avenue South cannot miss the 10 foot
tall, red neon, grand piano symbolizing the home of
Clinton’s Music House, owned and run by Kip Clinton
of Longbranch. The store is an exclusive Yamaha
dealer but does carry a few used Baldwins.
Kip Clinton in the
showroom of Clinton’s Music House. Photo
by Mindi LaRose |
The store was
started in 1898 by her great-grandfather, Frank
Clinton. He would load several pianos aboard a
horse-drawn wagon and sell them door to door as far
south as Chehalis. By 1916, this was a thriving
business; in 1946 her grandfather took over the
business. He located it around 11th and Fawcett,
where it operated for 18 years until its move to the
current location at 23rd and Tacoma Avenue South.
The original store
sign was built by Clinton’s great-grandparents and
consisted of a sheet of plywood in the shape of a
grand piano painted red; 50 years ago it was
replaced by sheet metal and more than a year ago the
Neon Sign Co. made a new one of aluminum with
baked-on enamel. This sign, intended to last 70
years, stands 10 feet tall and 10 feet square above
the building.
Throughout the
store, the walls are decorated with plaques awarded
to Clinton and her father, stating, “Touchtone Award
for outstanding performance and commitment to
customer satisfaction.”
Among the dozens
of pianos, the oldest is an 1855 vertical Yamaha in
the basement, whereas the showroom displays an 1880
Baldwin upright. For the novice, the store offers a
couple of low-back styles but most on display are of
varied sizes and instrumentation of acoustic and
digital (complete with dozens of background sounds).
One player grand piano utilizes a floppy disc system
that stores 50,000 song set ups; just push a button
and there is piano music without a person at the
keyboard.
The “Big
Red Grand Piano sign,” which has been
something of a landmark on Tacoma Avenue
for years, after being taken down for
repairs by American Neon in September
2006. Even though the sign is
non-conforming, the business was able to
get a permit to remove, repair or
replace it, and put it back on the roof
of the building. Photo courtesy Clinton
Music House |
The Clavinova
Yamaha has been in business since 1887 and in 1889
it displayed a reed organ at the New York World
Fair. For more than 50 years, Clinton’s has had a
Yamaha display under the grandstand at the Puyallup
Fair, generating many sales.
Clinton was born
in Tacoma and has lived on the Peninsula since the
early ‘70s. Her parents bought a beach home in the
early ‘60s and when they moved, Kip inherited it.
She came into her father’s music business 20 years
ago. When he died in 2004, she and her brother,
Curt, inherited Clinton’s Music House; Curt runs a
second store in Olympia.
Clinton does more
than run a business. She is also a Key Peninsula
parks commissioner on her second term as a clerk.
She was also commissioner with the old park
district. Along with her busy life, she has a
3-year-old Filly and loves to ride. Keeping active,
Clinton does gardening, rowing and working on
interconnected trails systems for the community; her
goal is to help save the environment and have trails
for hiking and riding.
This petite,
ambitious businesswoman invites anyone who drives by
the big red piano looking to the sky to “stop and
say hello.”
