Good Stuff ain’t singing no blues

Good Stuff Guitar, a music store on Main Street, has won Blues Music Store of the Year by the Bay Area Blues Society (BABS) and the City of Oakland.

Proprietor Danny White said this week he plans to attend the BABS West Coast Blues Hall of Fame and Awards show at the end of March to pick up his award.

“I had nothing to do with it, I was just notified I had won,” White said. “I guess it’s because I do a lot in the blues community, my customers nominated me.”

Besides selling new and used instruments on consignment, White and his team make repairs and offer instruction on playing guitar, bass, cello, violin, harmonica, bagpipes, keyboards and drums.

A Martinez resident “off and on for quite a few years,” White first came to the area as an Army recruiter in the early 80s, and decided to establish Good Stuff on Main Street four years ago.

“My clientèle comes from all over, Sacramento, San Jose and Santa Rosa; I’d say we’re a destination [store],” said White.

Jennifer Henderson, a San Francisco resident with a M.A. in flute performance from Washington University who studied with the great Japanese jazz musician Toshio Takahashi, said Wednesday that she is a fan herself of Good Stuff and White.

“I think [White] is very committed to children and young people furthering their interest in music,” said Henderson in a phone interview, adding that she and White hit it off about three years ago when they discovered they’re both from Missouri. “I saw an ad Danny had put out looking for a wind teacher, and since I like Martinez a lot, I thought I’d like to teach there. [White assisted] in setting up flute demonstrations at [Alhambra High] and the middle school.”

Besides building an award-winning business, White hosts a bimonthly Blues Jam at Armando’s, the popular music club on Marina Vista. When White and Armando’s owner Roy Jeans started the series, it would attract an average audience of 20, but thanks to White’s musical and hosting skills, says Jeans, the jams have grown so that routinely roughly 70 show up on the second and fourth Monday of the month.