They say you only need three chords and the truth to make it in music, so Mayor of Maidstone Gordon Newton’s almost there.

Cllr Newton was on hand this week for the grand launch of Toothless Guitars and The Rock Music School, a joint venture in Starnes Court, Union Street, which owners hope will become a new hub for musicians around Kent.

Maidstone Mayor, Gordon Newton, opens Toothless Guitars and The Rock Music School, before having a go at the guitar

With Maidstone having lost the last of its music shops after the closure of Music Matters last year, the new venture is a welcome one for bands and artists - with Toothless offering instruments and repairs, and The Rock Music School offers lessons in guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and vocals.

The school will also offer lessons for whole bands, who will then have the chance to perform at a festival run by the school.

And could that festival feature the mayor?

After cutting the ribbon on the new business, Cllr Newton impressed onlookers with a chord on the guitar, followed by another with the assistance of music school staff, who were offering taster lessons during the day.

They would have been even more impressed if there had been an accordion on hand – the instrument of choice for Gordon who plays occasionally in a folk band and launched the Rochester Sweeps festival in 1981.

Speaking at the launch Cllr Newton welcomed the new venture.

“It's brilliant because we used to have a number of them in Maidstone and for various reasons I suspect, we lost them, but it's great to have one back.

“It is important. There's not so many of them about these days - locally there's nothing, and I'm certain that they should do well. Looking at what's on display, people will come and try and hopefully buy.”

“I know my grandson would if he was here.”

Cllr Newton said he hoped to bring grandson Theo – a skilled classical and rock guitarist, according to his unbiased grandad – to the shop on his next visit, meaning director Steve Wright can look forward to another new customer.

Meanwhile, Rock Music School director Katie Lawrance, who runs the school with co-director Kim Blundell, was also optimistic the joint venture would give both sides of the business a good chance, bringing customers to each other.

“We're quite unique,” she explained “The idea came from when I hosted my first festival in 2021 in Joss Bay at Broadstairs. It was called the kids' rock festival and it was for 3,000 people, and I thought it would be fantastic if we had our students perform at the festival because it's all about building confidence through performance, so that's where the idea for the school came from.

“I think it's a good idea to link the shop and the school together. Steve does guitar repairs, servicing and design as well, so putting all of them together will make it a lot stronger than just having a music shop separate to a school. I think that's what's going to make it really strong.”

While the long term trend has seen internet sites crush high street instrument dealers, Katie said there was a new wave of support for actual shops.

“There are a lot of suppliers now that won't sell to just online shops, because they want to keep the high street going,” she added. “So they are focussed on keeping the shops open and avoiding the online shops, so I think that's really going to help.”

Steve, who directs Toothless shop with Grace Wright, was also quietly optimistic. Having played guitar since he was 11 and grown up playing in bands at venues around Kent and beyond, he’s seen the music scene evolve but believes there’s enough interest in and around the County Town to support the business.

“It goes in waves I've seen,” he added. “There's a lack of venues in town and it's been left to the pubs to do gigs, although they've taken that on quite strong, which is great but I think there needs to be more actual venues to get bigger bands passing through.

“It's always been a good scene. Unfortunately Covid kind of killed it off. along with a lof of business and the arts. We're just bringing it back really.

“I've got to give it a chance. If I didn't do it, I'd never know if it was going to work, and I'd kick myself if I didn't do this.

“We're here to advertise local bands as well. They're welcome to put stuff up in the window like flyers for any gigs, or 'musicians wanted' posters.

“I've started off small so I can listen to customers and see what they actually want, and see what sells. We're just here for a chat and to listen to people and get business going that way. We're here to support all the musicians and I hope they're here to support us.”