Some places hum even when they’re quiet.
You feel it before you hear it — a soft thrum in the floorboards, a promise tucked into the corners.
Dave Boyd Music is one of those places.
Tucked along Main Street in Penn Yan, this isn’t just a music store. It’s a living room for melodies, a workshop for dreams, and a gathering place where generations of musicians — and would-be musicians — have crossed paths. Step inside and you’ll find guitars waiting to be played, amps ready to roar, keyboards inviting wandering fingers, and shelves stocked with the small essentials that keep songs moving forward. But more than that, you’ll find a feeling: you’re welcome here.
π€ Meet the Heart of the Store: Dave Boyd
At the heart of it all is
Dave Boyd — and what makes Dave Boyd Music feel so authentic isn’t just the gear on the walls, but the passion of the man behind it.
Dave didn’t simply open a business; he followed a calling. Music chose him early in life — from banging on makeshift drums at age three to leading his first band by thirteen. Over the years, that calling carried him everywhere from nightclubs to corporate events, across stages large and small throughout the Northeast. Along the way, he honed his craft as a true multi-instrumentalist, mastering guitar, piano, and woodwinds — a lifetime of musical curiosity that now quietly shapes everything he does.
When Dave eventually settled in the Finger Lakes, that long road of performance turned into something even richer: a place where local talent could grow. Dave Boyd Music became a space not only to buy instruments, but to learn, practice, experiment, and be encouraged. For many, Dave isn’t just the owner behind the counter — he’s the mentor cheering them on, the steady presence reminding people that music is meant to be explored, not rushed.
A Community in Tune
What makes Dave Boyd Music feel especially rooted is how deeply it belongs to Penn Yan. This is where parents bring kids after school to “just look,” where local musicians stop in to chat between gigs, where someone new to town can wander in and leave feeling a little less like a stranger.
The shop has grown and evolved — including a refreshed Main Street space — but its soul has stayed the same: music as connection. Rehearsal, recording, and conversations that drift from strings to stories all live under one roof. It’s a reminder that small towns don’t just preserve culture — they create it.
That spirit comes alive most clearly on
Wednesday nights.
πΆ Wednesday Open Mic Nights
Every Wednesday evening, Dave Boyd Music transforms into something even more intimate:
Open Mic Night. These nights aren’t about perfection or polish — they’re about courage, creativity, and community.
You’ll find first-timers nervously tuning guitars, seasoned musicians sharing new material, poets testing lines, friends clapping a little louder than necessary, and strangers becoming familiar faces by the end of the night. Dave is often right there — listening, encouraging, offering a nod or a smile that says you belong here.
Open Mic Wednesdays feel like the purest expression of what this place stands for: music as a shared language, creativity practiced out loud, and the understanding that sometimes the most meaningful stages are the smallest ones.
Why It Matters
In a world of quick clicks and boxed-up deliveries, places like Dave Boyd Music matter. They remind us that music is meant to be touched, tried, tuned, and shared. That creativity thrives best when someone takes the time to listen — really listen — to where you’re starting and where you hope to go.
Dave Boyd Music isn’t flashy. It doesn’t need to be. Its magic lives in the everyday moments: a chord struck just right, a smile of recognition, a song that finally finds its way out.
If you find yourself in Penn Yan, wander down Main Street and step inside — maybe even on a Wednesday night.
You might come looking for strings… and leave with a story.
111 Main Street, Penn Yan, NY
daveboydmusic.com
Stay Rooted. Stay Keuka. πΆ
