Audrey’s Music Shop

Finally Boundary St West End, home to musicians galore, has another place to buy guitar strings other than Manna (yeah yeah, that’s on Vulture St… but only just). Audrey’s, with its quirky pop art logo art and range of cute ukeleles, will do well among the young, funky and musically interested populace.
For me I’m excited to have somewhere local to get replacement steel strings for my acoustic, with a far greater range than the «whatever’s in the shelf» and better product knowledge than you’ll find at the aforementioned anna (to be fair, they are primarily a clothing shop).

Go up the stairs, down to the end of the hall, start to head back because you think you’ve gone too far, go back down the hall, and turn right. At the end of the corridor you’ll hit the door to Audrey’s Music Shop. Enter.
Most likely, you’ll enter into a room full of wonderfully odd and curious folk who will all be tinkering with musical instruments. While I was waiting at the counter, a lady turned around clutching a saxophone like she was caught red handed in an attempt to steal it (she was infact repairing it).
«Hello. Sorry to interrupt, I’m looking for banjo tips».
«Yes. Well, here they are, but I don’t quite know what to do with them. Our banjo expert is on the phone. He’ll be just a minute».
The room fills with laughter. The man on the phone is no banjo expert. Not at all– but he may have had a better idea of what to do with banjo tips than the lady had. I was waiting for perhaps five minutes and decided I should run off to work. I could come back. A fellow customer and obvious friend to the store keepers intervened. «Banjo tips ey. Well… I think you just need a couple of these ones, and one of these ones right here». He pretended to pick with the picks on to demonstrate. It looked like it would work. I brought the picks.
Being in Audrey’s is really like watching a live version of Black Books. You’ll find several versions of Bernard and Manny throwing in their two bob here and there amid raucous laughter.
They sell all sorts of instruments here, and do repairs as well. The store keeper has a reputation for drawing you in for loooong conversations and being exceedingly generous with advice. My partner went in looking for parts for his guitar and was told at the end of a two hour conversation that he could find the parts online for half the price. Gold.

I am the most un-​coordinated person I know,
so it goes that after an unsuccessful stint at plucking guitar strings
I have come to regard musicians as sorcerers.
Stepping into the lovely and intimate space of Audrey’s music and repair shop
(situated in the busy hub of Boundary St.)
I am confronted with what could have been.
I could have bought my «AXE» in here for repair,
chatted to the friendly owners about music type things
or simply showed off my skills by testing the many beautiful instruments on hand.
.Perhaps its not to late to salvage my music career?
In any case I have placed my dibs on the penguin shaped ukelele.