Turners Falls music shop a treasure trove of history

Locals seeking healthy forms of fun can easily find a vibrant resource on the outskirts of downtown Turners Falls. Those wishing to express themselves musically need only step into a shop known as Replay to find countless ways to add interesting sounds to their homes and lives.

Art forms sustained and inspired people even more than usual over the last few years. With live concerts, exhibits, and other events curtailed, many people turned to online offerings, while others decided to make their own fun.

Long before the pandemic, however, the jury was solidly in regarding the positive effects of artistic endeavors — with music showing particularly large benefits. So it was no surprise to Allan Cadran that his music store continued to draw a steady clientele as people turned to music for diversion and creative outlets.

Cadran’s store originally became popular 15 years ago while located at Greenfield’s main intersection; since 2019, it’s based at 370 Avenue A in Turners Falls. A stroll through Replay not only brings one into contact with musical instruments and artifacts from around the world, it also affords a glimpse into a fascinating lineage rooted in the former mill town.

Now a Leverett resident, Cadran grew up in Turners Falls in a family with strong Franco-American and musical roots. “I’m fifth-generation in this town,” he said, “and my family’s history is intertwined with immigration, like many others whose ancestors left farms in Québec in order to find factory jobs.”

Waves of French-Canadians settled in western Massachusetts and many other New England regions, bringing spirited personalities based on self-sufficiency, scrappy survival instincts, and propensities for celebrating life through many art forms, including music.

“My great-great-great-grandfather, Joseph Cadran, came to Turners Falls from Yamaska, Québec in 1873 with his wife and three children,” said Cadran. “Six more children were born in Turners. Five of the brothers formed a national circus act known as the Flying Cadran Brothers.”

Wallace, George, Alfred, Joseph (Jr.), and William entertained crowds with acrobatics, tumbling, and other skills. Wallace, who possessed superior abilities on the basketball court, also played an instrument with the St. Mary’s Temperance Society Quintet around 1902.

Wallace’s brother Joseph went on to have a son named Harry Henry Eli Cadran, who in 1959 became the grandfather of the man who now operates Replay. In a shop filled with treasures, the legacy of creativity lives on. Behind the main counter where Cadran helps his diverse clientele, there hangs a photo showing Harry with about a dozen other members of the St. Mary’s Drum Corps in Turners Falls.

“My grandfather was the timekeeper and paymaster of the Millers Falls Tool Company for 40 years,” said Cadran. “He initiated all sports activities in the company and started the tool outfit’s newspaper.” Apparently, Cadrans don’t generally sit around doing nothing; Allan Cadran learned well from his elder.

“My grandfather moved in with us in the mid-1960s, after my grandmother died,” said Cadran. “He was a small man, about 4’11” in height, having been born tiny. His first bed was a shoebox.” Being short in stature, however, did not hold Harry Cadran back from a life filled with accomplishments and skill.

Today, Harry’s grandson oversees a hub of activity that draws people of all ages. “My oldest customer is 93 and is learning to play the guitar,” said Cadran. “My youngest customer is two years old.”

Voluminous research shows that music can help develop areas of the brain related to languages, mathematics and emotion regulation. Young children can benefit from startling increases in brain connectivity when exposed to music. Yet the benefits are available to all ages, which helps explain why Cadran continues to do brisk business.

“I’ve always been drawn to music,” said Cadran. “I come from a musical family, and I did audio/video stuff before I ran this shop. Year after year, I find that used instruments are the key to my success.”

Cadran’s shop is like a musical tour of the globe. In addition to the standard fare of guitars and drum kits, one might find an Afghani rabab, a national instrument of Afghanistan, also commonly used in parts of Pakistan. Its name derives from Arabic, meaning “played with a bow.” In Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, however, the instrument is plucked.

One might run across Pakistani bagpipes or an African drum called the udu. Sometimes called a pot drum, the udu is essentially a large jug producing resonant bass tones. It originates in Ghana or Nigeria; the ceramic type from Ghana has two openings, while those from Nigeria tend to be metal.

On a recent day in Replay’s Acoustic Room, Cadran offered ukuleles, guitars, banjos, mandolins, violins, a purple viola, and a cello. Elsewhere in the shop, two kinds of dulcimers (mountain and hammered) seemed to chum with autoharps and amps, while the woodwind and brass room house clarinets, a silver flute, various saxophones, trombones, tubas, a euphonium, trumpets, cornets, bugles, wooden flutes, a krumhorn, recorders, slide whistles and harmonicas.

“Someone just bought six harmonicas,” said Cadran. “Some days are like that.”

A journey through the shop yields fascinating similarities and differences. The baritone horn – often simply called the baritone – is a low-pitched, piston-valve brass instrument in the saxhorn family with a bore that’s mostly conical, but narrower than the similarly pitched euphonium. Cadran had one of those, too, on this particular day.

Percussion instruments abound: in addition to drum kits and a forest of drumsticks, there are djembes and other hand drums. A rainbow of shaker eggs practically beg to be gently agitated.

Many instruments are beautiful as well as functional. West African balafons draw the eye; the graceful gourd-resonated xylophones resemble lovely bridges in some distant land.

Incidental equipment is everywhere: guitar cases, microphones and cords, headphones, digital mixers and other sound equipment, reeds, a large megaphone, mouthpieces, instrument oils, even kazoos. Cadran says his biggest sellers are acoustic guitars, strings and FX pedals.

Amongst the jumble of shapes and sounds, a potted hibiscus tree thrives near asparagus ferns. A closer look reveals additional evidence of Cadran’s creativity: a standing lamp fashioned from old tubas illuminates the shop’s main counter. On the opposite wall, there’s a giant clock made of guitar headstocks, necks and fingerboards. “I like to make stuff,” said Cadran. “When instruments or parts come in that aren’t musically usable, I turn them into something else.”

In a workshop at the rear of the store, Cadran not only repairs and adjusts instruments, he also transforms irreparable items into objets d’art or useful pieces, including obsolete accordions destined to become unique jewelry boxes.

The impish father of five and grandfather of five had several careers before this one, including nearly five years in the U.S. Air Force following his 1977 graduation from Turners Falls High School. “I’ve done lots of sales work,” said Cadran. “I’ve handled time-share apartments and condos, sold vacuum cleaners and cars, space in landfills, radio airtime, and motor homes.”

Cadran has lived all over the place: England, California, Florida, Colorado, even a stint in Nashville. But he’s come home and happily provides musical supplies and opportunities to people throughout our region—whether they’re on track to becoming professionals, or simply want to make sounds at home, alone or with friends.

Eveline MacDougall is the author of “Fiery Hope” and an artist, musician, teacher, and mom. She grew up in a family of professional musicians in upstate New York and Québec. She welcomes messages from readers at eveline@amandlachorus.org.