Listen Up

Blue Rider’s unassuming sign on West Ustick Road. PHOTO BY KAREN DAY

BLUE RIDER MUSIC— IDAHO GROWN

BY CHERIE BUCKNER-WEBB

Remember the song, “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?” by James Ingram and Patty Austin?

Well, I now know the answer. It takes more than great musicians and scores to keep the music playing—it takes impeccable equipment in top condition. You see, my granddaughter recently announced that she wanted to be the third-generation Buckner trumpet player. The horn needed attention! So Boise musician Billy Mitchell recently introduced me to Robin Boles, owner of Blue Rider Music & Instrument Repair. It seems that every brass and reed player or music teacher in the valley knew about Blue Rider but me. I got schooled.

Robin, born and raised at Lake Lowell, started playing trumpet in 5th grade at Marsing. She continued through her second year of college with the goal to be a band teacher, but a very direct and honest conversation with her advisor changed that. He expressed concern about how difficult it might be to become certified to teach, as she has dyslexia. Instead of giving up her dream, Robin made a decision to shift direction.

Armed with talent, an affinity for working with her hands, and a fierce love of music, she headed to Allied Corp in Wisconsin, the premier “supplier to professional band instrument repair technicians.” If she couldn’t be a teacher, Robin decided to use her knowledge to help students in another way. She was the only woman in the training sessions, but she held on to her dream to open a music and instrument repair service in Idaho.

Robin inspects a Boise high school student’s saxophone.

PHOTO BY KAREN DAY

Returning to Idaho, she purchased a property with an old milking barn and got busy. Her vision, friends, family, and tons of labor brought Blue Rider Music to fruition in 1983. Her skill at instrument repair was rare at the time and she set out across the valley, introducing her company with a business model that Idahoans understood: personal attention, knowledge, and a friendly handshake. Capitol High School bought the first instrument.

Renowned jazz musician and Adjunct BSU Faculty Member Chuck Smith said that Robin and Blue Rider Music are making an unsung difference in their 40 years of service to the music community. Robin does more than fix instruments for the community; Blue Rider is a community service that values what music contributes to life. Her wealth of knowledge is evident as offered in free clinics on maintenance, proper assembly, and care of instruments. Her love of music flows in the students she hires to work at Blue Rider.

Thanks to the dedicated technicians at Blue Rider, my granddaughter is now busy trying to toot her horn properly. And Robin can still be found in her little Blue Rider Music barn mentoring students, polishing brass, soldering, dent removing, and doing whatever it takes to keep the music playing in the Treasure Valley.