Building on Rock Solid Foundations

If you haven’t stopped into Rock Solid Music in Midland lately, it’s worth a visit. But rather than rely on your phone app for directions, ask a local musician. The music store, formerly located at 419 Saginaw Road (or 419 ½, give or take) and known as Little Bighorn Music, moved its location to the back of the building in 2021, which effectively changed its address to 420 Cambridge St.

When callers ask for explicit directions after driving in circles (or in Ashman Circle, specifically), they are told to proceed through the Hungry Howie’s parking lot on Saginaw Street, et voila! Violins, mandolins, ukeleles, and guitars of many styles and makes, await them. Stringed instruments – and much more – comprise the ever-expanding inventory that populates the aesthetically pleasing environs. From keyboards to congas to kalimbas, Rock Solid Music caters to musicians across the spectrum.

When Jeff and Kristine Schock first moved to Midland in 2021, they were looking for a guitar for their daughter, who had just started taking lessons. Jeff, a musician himself, befriended Owner Tim Ortiz, while buying a few more guitars from the shop for himself. When Tim started to experience health issues, Jeff offered to help out at the store part-time. Eventually, Tim confided that he might have to sell the store. 

As Jeff recalls, “I told him, ‘If you’re serious, my wife and I are looking for a new business venture and this would be right up our alley.’” Tim said he’d think about it. Then one day, thought turned to action.

In February 2024, the Schocks became the new owners of Rock Solid Music. The store still employs Mary Altman and luthier Doug Glazier from the previous regime, and Dan Belleville offers lessons on a variety of (mostly) stringed instruments. One of his banjo students is Kristine. “I love bluegrass music and I took guitar lessons when I was younger,” she says of her attraction to the instrument. One month in, she notes her progress is going “pretty well.” 

Recalling the early days of ownership, Kristine says, “Our initial goal was to have something for everybody. We made a list. If someone came in and said, ‘Hey I notice you don’t have any drum heads,’ or ‘I really want an acoustic bass.’ Whatever people wanted, we tried to get it in the store.” Carrying an array of products that met the needs of area musicians, from the school band kids to the weekend troubadours and everything in between. 

“We knew we wanted to grow the shop,” adds Jeff. “We wanted to offer a selection of used and new items.” They amped up their vendor partnerships, re-establishing or initiating connections with brands like D’Addario and, most recently, Gretsch guitars. “We have Jackson coming in next year, and we’re hoping for Charvelle.”

The store carries JC Customs, a Midland-based producer of guitar pickups, and is always looking to forge new partnerships going forward. 

Eventually, Rock Solid is planning to add music production capabilities to its in-house services. Jeff

recently earned an associate’s degree in audio production from the Los Angeles Film School. Instruction for the 16-month program was remote but “totally hands on,” and tuition included close to $8,000 in hardware and software, including Apple hardware and Pro Tools and Logic Pro software, JBL studio monitors, Shure microphones, and other essentials. 

Catering to a Musical Community

Browsing can take the casual shopper down various rabbit holes, whether exploring the variety of guitars on one wall, ukeleles on another, stomp pedals, percussive instruments, or even the guitar case by the front door that’s filled with hundreds (maybe thousands?) of stickers depicting bands of every rock subgenre, plus logos, icons, and assorted pop sticker-y to adorn gear cases and the like.

On a typical weekend afternoon, the casual visitor to Rock Solid will experience a coming together of the music community. Conversations start percolate amongst the random tinkering of strings, keys, and occasional woodwind instruments. On this particular day, a harpist, who has been testing his instrument’s amplification system, is playing “Wildfire” in the background. A bit later, the harp notes have yielded to a baritone saxophone tentatively feeling its way through “Day Tripper.” 

Until the store unveils its website (“sometime in 2025,” promises Jeff optimistically), Facebook is the main point of contact, with key information readily available as well as prompt responses to inquiries about sales, lessons, or just about anything else. “Just message us,”  suggests Jeff, with Kristine adding that Google, Yelp, Yahoo, all have Rock Solid listed at #1 in local music searches.

Word-of-mouth in the music community reverberates over the decades, with Jeff’s history of playing in local bands dates back to the mid-90s. While he prefers to keep the earliest incarnations “off the record,” he does fess up to being a contributing member of The Miscreants, The Situation (with Matt Burgie  and Brett Mitchell), and The Living Stones. His current projects include Qorky (with members of Silverspork), Auburn Sunset (cover band playing popular tunes by the like of Chris Stapleton and Tyler Childress), an as-yet unnamed R&B cover band (with horns; coming in 2025), and Dead By 28, (thus far contained to a remote collaborative recording project). Such is the case when musicians connect and interests flow.

“My dad [Bill Schock] was a pianist,” says Jeff, who started out on piano at age 4 or 5 before settling on the bass. “I want to know how to play every style,” he says, adding that the beauty of the bass is being able to add color and depth with simple variations. 

One day when Jeff was 14 or 15, his dad, who was an engineer at Dow Corning, set up with a music playdate with the son of one of his co-workers. That was the first – and definitely not the last – time Jeff jammed with Matt Burgie.

One more development on the horizon that will shine a light on Rock Solid Music to amplify their presence behind Hungry Howie’s: Saginaw mural artist Eric Schantz (whose work can be seen on buildings throughout Saginaw, including on the side of Whites Bar facing Bay Road) is planning to paint a mural on the wall outside of the store to make the location more conspicuous. 

“We met him at the Midland Folk Festival,” says Jeff, “and he offered to do something that would add some visibility.”

This holiday season, whether your search is for an elusive replacement handle for a custom Taylor guitar case or a suitable beginner guitar for a budding shredder, Rock Solid Music is a rabbit hole worth diving into. Who knows? You may find something you weren’t even looking for. Just don’t rely on Google Maps.