Nick remembered how much he had enjoyed the little bit of instrument repair he’d done in high school.
He found an instrument repair school in Wisconsin, took the course and returned to Santa Barbara in 1974 to work at La Grandeur Music.
In 1986
Nick started his own business in 1986 with Nick, one employee and no band instrument franchises.
Nick Rail Music now has seven stores,
- Agoura Hills
- Bakersfield
- Camarillo
- Redlands
- San Diego
- Santa Barbara
- Valencia
Nick Rail Music supplies rental inventory to four other music stores,
is a major service center for schools in southern California,
has every major band instrument franchise available,
is the largest Yamaha and Conn-Selmer band and orchestral instrument dealer in the state of California,
and actively sells to school districts in close to forty states.
He
was an active member of NAMM (National Association of Music
Merchants). He was featured on the cover of Music Inc
magazine in 2012.The company has grown yearly since it opened, and in 2021 has forty employees.
But now Nick has sold the business and returned to his roots in Northern California.