Crossroads Music Is Closing
Crossroads Music, an instrument shop at Amagansett Square that has served customers including Paul McCartney, Leon Russell, Chris Martin, Chad Smith, and Gwyneth Paltrow, will close at the end of 2015, its owner, Michael Clark, announced on Monday.
Maintaining the shop, which opened on North Main Street in East Hampton in 2006 before moving to the Square, is not financially viable, Mr. Clark said, given the South Fork's long off-season and incessant competition from the online marketplace. "It's been inevitable for a little while," he said. "But you go with your heart and try to make it work."
"This isn't a 'greedy landlord' story," Mr. Clark said emphatically. In fact, he said, Amagansett Square, which is owned by Randy Lerner, has been particularly accommodating and engaged in continuing the store's presence. "We just can't make it happen any longer. We've had a good run, we've tried to make a difference in the community, and feel that we've done all we can at this point. Maybe this becomes a steppingstone for somebody else to do something a little different."
In addition to its music merchandise, Crossroads offers instrument lessons, intimate concerts and workshops with professional musicians, and even knitting circles. It has also served as a meeting place for local musicians ranging from teenagers and regulars at South Fork open mike events to the guitarist G.E. Smith, who lives in Amagansett. Simon Kirke, a co-founder of the bands Bad Company and Free, performed at the store last month, while Andy Aledort, a guitarist who plays with Dickey Betts and Great Southern, a group fronted by the former member of the Allman Brothers Band, has given both concerts and workshops there.
Cynthia Daniels, a music producer who lives and operates a recording studio in East Hampton, hosted a series of concerts featuring local musicians at Crossroads that were recorded for later broadcast. "We've tried to do a lot of things to keep us on the map and bring people in," Mr. Clark said, "and we've had incredible experiences. We've given people the opportunity to play in front of people."
Mr. Clark expects that the music teachers, who are independent contractors, will continue to offer lessons, though he is not sure where. Previously scheduled TinyRoomShows, the shop's concert series, will continue until its closing, with the Kennedys set to perform on Oct. 27 at 8 p.m. and Robert Bruey on Nov. 10, also at 8. Tickets are $20, with proceeds going to the Crossroads Music Scholarship Fund.
In February, the Amagansett Chamber of Commerce named Mr. Clark the grand marshal of the Am O'Gansett Parade, a lighthearted take on St. Patrick's Day. "If we ever need anything, if anybody's having a benefit, he's the first one to step up," Joi Jackson Perle, the chamber's director, said of Mr. Clark at the time. "He's such a great asset to young musicians, old musicians, everybody. He works so hard, and his whole family is great. We just adore him."
Many in the community share that sentiment. Within minutes of Mr. Clark posting the news of the store's closing on Facebook, dozens of comments appeared, all expressing surprise, sadness, and appreciation.
He, too, is saddened by the shop's imminent closing. "It's bittersweet. The music lives on, but we won't necessarily be in the middle of it." Nonetheless, he said, "Everything in life is temporary. Things will go forward and something else will happen. This, hopefully, will lead to something that expands on what we've tried to accomplish."