2015 Sarah Shaw – “Guitar” Guitar Cathy Currier, 60, grew up in her family’s music store in Richmond. “I wasn’t a normal kid. I wanted to take everything apart to understand its inner workings,” says Cathy. Her curiosity led Cathy to learn more and more about complicated instrument repairs. Now Cathy manages Currier’s Music World and made Currier’s one of only five C.F. Martin and Co.-authorized guitar-repair centers in Kentucky. Here, Cathy checks the neck of a guitar awaiting repair. Cathy (center) laughs with (from left) her boyfriend, John Hamlett , coworker Erik Davig and musician Craig Langford. Craig was traveling to Nashville from Dallas and stopped in Richmond to visit with his old friend Cathy. Cathy files a bone to be used in a ukulele repair. She is an expert in all kinds of instrument repairs, from simple to very complicated. Cathy instructs Makenzi Carpenter, 11, (center) how to properly take care of her saxophone, while Makenzi’s mother, Erica White, (left) and cousin, Honey Ray Abrams, 9, listen. Cathy dances with her old friend Bill Roberts while her 9-year-old boxer, Haley, jealously tries to interrupt. Several musicians often gather in the store. This day they gave an impromptu concert. Cathy listens while Danny Markovitch plays the crooked soprano saxaphone during an impromptu jam session in the store. Danny, a musician originally from Israel, was traveling throughout Kentucky with his band, Marbin. They stopped in the shop to look at instruments and ended up staying nearly two hours to play with local musicians. Cathy fits a new bone for an old, damaged guitar. Cathy carefully sanded the bone in order to get a perfect fit. Guitar strings rest on the bone, so it must be fitted properly. Cathy cuddles Haley while taking a short break during a hectic day. “Life is too short to be a workaholic,” says Cathy. She tries to take at least a short rest every day. “It never stops,” says Cathy, while yawning at the end of another long day, “but I can’t image doing anything else with my life.” These images are copyright Sarah Shaw and are use here by permission. They may not be used elsewhere without permission.
