Lisa Turner Maddox was bringing back an Augusta tradition when COVID-19 hit.
The owner of Turner’s Keyboards on Washington Road remembers the days of the “house of music,” where people would open their homes when a guest artist appeared in town for a symphony concert or other music event. These cozy gatherings allowed people to meet the artist and have a question-and-answer time.
She’d started them back with great success in 2019.
“People were grateful we were offering them. They weren’t big events, but they were totally different and unique,” she said.
She’s restarting the musical gatherings this weekend with Scott Kirby presenting two events at the piano showroom.
Kirby has been called one of the greatest interpreters of ragtime music. He’s served as the musical director of the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia, Mo., the rocky Mountain Ragtime Festival and American Music Festival in Boulder, Colo., and the director of the San Juan Islands Ragtime Institute.
At 5 p.m. Saturday, Kirby will present Main Street Souvenirs, a “musical and cinematic celebration of Classic Americana,” according to Kirby’s website. “We will explore 150 years of music through Kirby’s live piano performances of some of America’s greats.”
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He will present a different program Sunday. Pan-America will be at 2 p.m. It explores the traditions of North America, South America and the Caribbean incorporating music from New Orleans and Cuba and visiting styles such as Brazilian tangos and classic ragtime.
Both performances are free, but people are asked to RSVP at turnerskeyboards.com.
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Maddox said she’s excited for the programs to return and hopes to have more. The events build relationships and foster a sense of community.
Building relationships with people is something Maddox believes is at the heart of her business, which began in 1955.
Maddox’s parents, Wylene and Ed B. Turner Sr. started the company on Walton Way.
He was a World War II Navy fighter pilot, and unlike many other women at the time Wylene Turner, didn’t stay at home, she worked in the store.
They weren’t the only piano dealer in Augusta at the time. They were one of four or five, Maddox said, but each one specialized in a different brand of piano. Turner’s focused on Baldwins in the early days, but now are one of only two companies in Georgia to sell Steinway and Sons pianos.
The Turners moved from Walton Way to Washington Road into a former ice cream shop called Crazy Cecil’s. Maddox said she and her siblings thought their dad was crazy when he bought it. It looks a circus tent, but now she realized he was onto something.
She said it’s a great location.
Maddox said she, along with three of her five siblings, purchased the business in 1986. Two have died and one has retired, but Maddox keeps it in the family with her daughter, son-in-law, niece and a longtime best friend working in the location.
Maddox said those other piano businesses have since closed, and even though Turner’s Keyboards is the only piano dealership in the area, they don’t take that lightly.
“We feel we have to be trusted,” she said.
Not only does the company sell pianos, but it offers service as well.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
