Longtime Cape Coral resident Sandra Markowitz’s performance gig schedule was busier than ever. She, along with husband Doron, had just reached the half-year mark of the opening of their D Guitars & Lutherie music store in North Fort Myers when the coronavirus crisis hit. They kept the beat going while safer at home restrictions were going on and have just returned to regular operations with safety precautions in place.
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“It’s great seeing youngsters getting into it, seeing the progress, helping the next generation of musicians,” Sandra Markowitz said of private classes for all ages that were recently conducted via Zoom and are back to being offered in a special room. “Some take parts of what they heard from their parents, like the Beatles, and combine it with the music they’re into, and then see where it leads.”
Michael Stirn teaches guitar, bass, banjo, ukulele and songwriting. Travis Phan, a sophomore at North Fort Myers High School and part of the Tri-M Music Honors Society, instructs on the violin. Markowitz said lessons can still be done online if the student isn’t comfortable with the in-person format.
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Doron Markowitz, an accomplished guitar player himself, focuses on repairing, restoring and maintaining instruments, which includes changing strings and cleaning.
“No two guitars are the same,” he said. “Even if the wood was from the same tree, the tonal properties will be different.”
“Some repairs are routine and some are real nail biters,” he added, mentioning a 1974 Gibson acoustic guitar that he said needs “a neck re-setting and a bunch of cracks fixed.”
During the recent restrictions, he made appointments with customers for them to drop off and then pick up their instruments.
Before the pandemic struck, they hosted small concerts and open mic events, and taped solo or band videos.
The store has about 40 guitars, ranging from $50 to over a $1,000, along with violins, banjos and mandolins plus songbooks, amplifiers, strings, parts and accessories. A portion of online sales, which ramped up during the current crisis, are being donated to the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund that assists performers whose recent and ongoing gigs have been cancelled.
With the stage name Siren Voxx, Sandra Markowitz, a vocalist for 20 years, is the lead singer of the Bits and Pieces duo with Mike Federline, who plays guitar and keyboard and also sings. Since October 2018, they have opened for Ambrosia and the Atlanta Rhythm Section at the Southwest Florida Event Center in Bonita Springs. They also play at taverns, residential communities, corporate parties and special events.
Markowitz also belts out tunes with the four-piece Siren band with her husband playing guitar. A Linda Ronstadt tribute band starring Markowitz was being formed right before the crisis hit. She also provides backup vocals when Bee Gees, Neil Diamond and other tribute bands play area gigs.
Markowitz also plans to publish a local music magazine to “connect artists, venues and the public.”
If you go
What: D Guitars and Lutherie
Where: 1888A North Tamiami Trail, North Fort Myers
Connect: 239-997-2350. dglmusicstore.com, dguitarsandlutherie.vpweb.com, dglmusicstore@gmail.com, Facebook @dglmusicstore.
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Sweet sounds: Six-month-old North Fort Myers music store keeps strumming along - News-Press
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