Award presented by Paul Reed Smith, with acceptance speech by Alan Levin.
At this year's WAMMIE Awards, Chuck Levin's Washington Music Center was presented with the WAMMIE Legacy Award — a recognition of our store's decades-long commitment to musicians, music, and the greater Washington D.C. community. We were honored to be introduced by guitar-building legend Paul Reed Smith, who shared that his own career began right here — as an intern and apprentice in our repair shop at the age of 18. He described Washington Music Center as "the cornerstone of the Washington DC market musical instrument business" and called a first visit to our store "a rite of passage" — one that, he said, still holds true today. He also noted that a large percentage of our employees have been with us for decades, and that it "says a lot about the caliber and the care of the store and its highly dedicated employees."
Alan Levin took the stage without a script — because that's not really how he operates. What came out was something honest: a reflection on why this business exists at all. As Alan put it, his parents got into this business because of the people. His father loved musicians. He talked about the unique thing that makes this industry special — the way everyone in it, no matter the genre, respects what the person next to them is doing. "It's one of the few places where everybody, everybody gets along and understands one thing, the passion that they have for what they do." He shared that even Chuck Levin himself, when he first met the Rolling Stones, came home scratching his head — but that he got it eventually. The through line of Alan's remarks was simple: we do this because we love it. And as long as that's true, we'll keep doing it.
We are beyond HONORED to have received this award, and to be able to serve so many musicians in the DMV and beyond.
Learn more about the WAMMIE awards at http://www.wammies.org
Learn more about The Musicianship at http://www.themusicianship.org
