Situated on the busy corner of Joppa Road and Loch Raven Boulevard, Ryan Fowler’s Guitar Experience has been a staple of Baltimore’s music community since 2014. The shop sells acoustic and electric guitars, basses, and pedals. Along with providing lessons and repairing instruments, this has been the basis of Ryan Fowler’s Guitar Experience.
The walls are decked out with the newest guitars from a few different brands, but most of the guitars are either Paul Reed Smith (PRS) guitars, or acoustic Taylor guitars.
PRS guitars have been a staple of the store since Fowler decided to leave Guitar Center, the largest guitar store chain in the country, and open his own guitar store.
“The day after I left Guitar Center, Paul [Reed Smith] called me at 6 a.m. and told me I should come over to the factory and try some prototypes. I figured, if I’m starting my own guitar business, I probably should talk to Paul Reed Smith if he wants to talk to me,” Fowler said.
The PRS brand carries a large amount of weight in Maryland. The guitars were first made in Annapolis and the brand is now headquartered in Kent Island. PRS produces all kinds of models, from hard rock and metal guitars to smooth blues guitars, and their guitars are known for being very versatile.
“Our job is to make the tools that inspire you to want to create music,” Jim Cullen said, the director of sales at PRS.
These tools help create a vibrant local music scene in Baltimore. There are always new artists and bands popping up all around the Baltimore region.
Smaller independently-owned guitar stores are a staple of these local music scenes. Local stores have been helping people get their first guitars, inspiring the music they write, and supplying artists with their gear needs.
“Having a local guitar store nearby means more than just a place to buy instruments, it’s about community and personal connection,” Ben Ostrowski said, a local musician.
“Shops are also preserving music culture for local areas. Independent guitar shops often become cornerstones for a region’s unique musical identity and help to preserve and celebrate the area’s cultural heritage,” Ostrowski said.
“There’s a ton of talent that comes out of our town. Turnstile, All Time Low, Good Charlotte, Jimmie’s Chicken Shack, they’re all from Baltimore. If you go back a few generations, Joan Jett and Frank Zappa are from Baltimore. There’s a lot of history in Baltimore music,” Ryan Fowler said.
An important moment at Ryan Fowler’s Guitar Experience is the opportunity to pick a guitar off the wall and immediately sign up for lessons, helping foster a passion for the instrument. The guitars can become so much more than just an instrument to whoever picks them up.
For more insight and information on Ryan Fowler’s Guitar experience and the Baltimore music community, visit www.ryansguitarexperience.com or find him at 1648 E Joppa Rd, Towson Maryland.