Rick Boling

My name is Rick Boling, and I was the owner/operator of a business called The Guitar Workshop in Pinellas Park back in the '70s. We specialized in guitar and other instrument repairs and restorations, and also built guitars. The store had a clientele that included many artists who hung out at Beaux Arts, including Jack Kelly, Barry Sims and others. Barry worked for me as a guitar teacher, and Jack frequented the store, participating in the late-afternoon jams we often had around closing time. These jams would often include several local and traveling folk artists who also played at Beaux Arts. Before owning the Workshop, I spent many years as a Rock and Blues musician and singer, working with various groups around the area, including The Madisons, The Continentals, The Dominoes, The Nite Cats, and others. I also worked as a studio musician for a few local studios, and as one half of a folk singing duo with another local musician, Tom Davis.

Looking for Jack Kelly - I recently got back into music and recording, and there is a song Jack Kelly and I co-wrote back in those days that I am working on producing at the moment. I intend to give Jack credit for his part in the composition, and would like to contact him, not only just to touch base, but to see that he gets his share of the royalties should I be able to sell the song.

I know this is a long shot, and that you probably don't have any information about Jack, but in searching the Web, your site was one of a very few that mentioned his and Barry's names, so I thought I would give it a shot. Anything you can tell me about Jack would be greatly appreciated, even if it's just your last memory of his location and/or activities.

Photo of Rick in his Guitar Workshop in Pinellas Park taken by "The St. Pete Times"

My "Beaux Arts moments" wouldn't amount to much, not because I wasn't a fan who spent time there, but because my failing memory doesn't allow me to fill in many details (some of this is also due, no doubt, to a few chemical substances I used to indulge in back in those days).

What I remember most vividly about Beaux Arts is the camaraderie and sort of mutual passion for the purity and joy of art and the artists who created it. It was this attitude of "art for art's sake," rather than for commercial exploitation, that also influenced us at The Guitar Workshop, where we often did repairs and provided other services for musicians and artists down on their luck at no charge, or simply in appreciation for their musical performances at the shop. Some of your readers might remember us for these things and for our open-house atmosphere, which was, in large part, due to the influences and examples set by Tom and the crew over at Beaux Arts.

In addition to Barry, others from our shop who might be remembered by some of your readers included Mike Batell, our steel-string guitar builder, whose 12-string guitars were legendary around the area; Harley Day, a master luthier with whom I apprenticed and who later went on to become a well-known builder of everything from guitars and viola, to lutes and harpsichords; and my wife, Linda Boling, who ran the front and often saw to it that artists like Jak never went hungry or without strings and other supplies due to lack of funds.