Couple striking a chord with music store

MICANOPY — Steve Leonardo sailed the waters of the Gulf and the Caribbean for years, but chose Central Florida's rustic towns nestled amid forests and lakes when they decided to settle inland.

Steve moved from the Tampa area to Hawthorne three years ago and began visiting nearby Micanopy with its eclectic collection of antique shops and restaurants. Last fall, shop- owner Larry Roberts told them that over the years, he had noticed that Micanopy, one of the oldest towns in Florida, seemed somewhat insulated from the overall economy.

That sounded like music to the ears of the Leonardos.

I had a bunch of stuff I wanted to sell," Steve said. "Larry said we could try putting a canopy up in front of his shop. We did that, and I even brought along a couple of guitars, although I hadn't really planned on getting involved in this."

But after selling a guitar the first day and another guitar and a violin the next week, the couple asked if they could rent a nearby vacant shop on Cholokka Boulevard and opened in early December as Leonardo's Junque, Antiques & Musical Instruments.

What catches your eye as you step inside are several gleaming guitars — and a 1879 square grand piano.

"That's probably just about the nicest one available anywhere in the world," Steve said. "We've had it for 30 years. I bought it from a man who brought it down from Maine. His wife didn't like Florida, so they were moving back up there. He told me, ‘I'm not going to carry this back up there!' "

"Leonardo's is wonderful," said town resident Wendy Sue Bennett. "I went in after they opened and bought some of their art, and a friend bought one of their mandolins. They are just wonderful people. Their energy is so Micanopy."

The shop reflects Steve's fascination with vintage musical instruments, said Paula. Offerings range from a 1920s-1930s era banjo in its original case, to a number of guitars for beginners. With the excellent music program at the University of Florida in Gainesville, there's definitely local interest in music, Steve said.

Though its quiet most of the week, musicians and singers come around on weekends. "The people in one of the shops down the street from here are folk singers," Steve said "So they come and bring their friends, and they all sit down and play banjos and guitars together and sing."

The building they rent was built in about 1902, and has been home to a yoga business and a security company. When actors and camera crews came to town in the early 1990s to film "Doc Hollywood," the brick building was transformed into an old butcher shop.

Steve moved to Florida in 1985 from Rochester, NY.  Steve owned and operated Tampa Bay Yacht Sales since 1998.

Now, having sold all his boats and set up shop as a musical merchant in a tiny town with a long history, Steve said everyone who likes the sound of music is invited to stop by and play a while.