Today we’d like to introduce you to Dustin Williams.
Hi Dustin, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was originally a string orchestra director in South Texas. I taught for six years in McAllen, Texas. I loved teaching but the job is not that much fun. The kids and the music are great – all the adults and drama with administration, not so much. I looked around for something else that I could do. My father was a professional artist, a sculptor, so art was always a big part of my life. Music, obviously, was my career of choice. One day I typed in “art and music” on an internet search (which was new back then) and there was a link to violin making. You don’t get that same search result now! Violin making was something that put everything together for me and looked like something I would be very good at and enjoy. After a lot more research, my wife and I gave up everything and moved to Utah where I could attend the the Violin Making School of America in Salt Lake City. This was a four year school that taught only violin, viola, and cello making. It was not easy! Out of seven students that were there the first day of my classes, I was the only one to graduate. After four years in Utah we moved to Victoria, British Columbia in Canada where I did an apprenticeship with a luthier there for another year. So, after five years of training I was ready to go! We moved to Nashville in 2003. My intention was to make instruments and live quietly but soon realized that if I was going to pay rent I needed some extra income so I started accepting violin repair work. I got enough work that I quickly opened up a shop on Music Row on 16th Ave South. In four years we outgrew that space and moved into a much larger space on 17th Ave South. After eleven more years we built a custom building on Donelson Pike. This space has large show spaces, easy work areas for luthiers, six private lesson rooms, a small recital hall that is also a class room, and has plenty of parking. The past seven years have been good in the new building.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Leaving one successful career that I was good at was not easy. Living in near poverty for five years while going to violin making school and apprenticing was hard. The training was always interesting to me but it is not a “romantic” as people think it is – it is a lot of hard, precise, and technical work. My wife was always there and always supportive – otherwise I would have never been able to do it.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Williams Fine Violins?
We sell, repair, and rent violins, violas, cellos, double basses, their bows, and all their accessories. We do not do guitars, pianos, band instruments or anything other than instruments that are in the violin family. Obviously we sell instruments. From beginner to professional, from classical to fiddle, from symphonic to recording studio, and everything in-between. As instruments are used, things can wear and accidents happen. There is a constant stream of instruments coming in for repairs and improvements. For those who want to try out instruments or for students we have a large instrument rental program were 100% of the first year’s rent can go towards your instrument’s purchase and we have 100% trade-in-trade-up program. In our shop we have six private lesson rooms and many great teachers who can help with those who want to improve their playing or who are just starting out – we have students from five to eighty-five taking lessons now.
What matters most to you? Why?
What matters to us the most? Honestly, we are just trying to help! We work hard, we try desperately to keep our prices low (usually lower than anything on the internet), and we truly want to help musicians of all levels and ages to enjoy playing and making music.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.williamsfineviolins.com
