Trade Regrets: Evelyn Brue-Roeder

On March 3, NAMM‘s Dan Del Fiorentino shared this sad news about someone featured repeatedly in MMR over the years:

Evelyn Brue-Roeder passed away on February 1. She was 101.

To say she was a pioneer as a women music retailer is an understatement as she ran the business on her own for many years, beginning 80 years ago.  This is a fact for which she was very proud, especially in considering how many women are now running music businesses.

Evelyn opened her music store in 1940! Her main focus in the early days was music lessons, however she soon added sheet music, accessories and musical instruments. She developed a passion for steel guitars as she witnessed their development over her career. When the pedal steel guitar was introduced she had to have one and had been playing and giving lessons on the instrument ever since. Evelyn and her husband George became active in various musical clubs including the Pedal Steel Guitar Hall of Fame.