Valley Piano Co. is celebrating 52 years of business in 2026!
Chapter 1: The Origin Story
Valley Piano Co. was offically established in January 1974. Prior to that, the business was known as Valley Furniture & Appliance. That is where Alfred Chenowith started as a salesman. During his time as salesman he convinced the owner of the furniture store to add musical instruments to the existing inventory which consisted of couches, kitchen tables, mattresses, refrigerators, washer & dryers, tvs and stereos.
Alfred's interest in musical instruments came from his days as a gigging musician in the local band, The Galaxies. He performed under the stage name, Al Chaney. Over the years, when someone would recognize who he was, he was constantly being told how much they enjoyed going to 'the Stomp', the local Legion Hut, to dance and listen to the band.
Alfred caught the attention of Chart Records label in Nashville which released a couple of 7" singles he recorded during the mid 60's in the legendary Sun Studios in Memphis. But when he was contacted by William Morris Agency about being an opener on a national tour he turned down the offer because he would have to fly to Philadelphia. Alfred was afraid to fly on planes so being a touring rock 'n roller wasn't meant to be.
Alfred settled back in to life in the Arkansas River Valley. He got married and soon had a wife and 2 boys to support. He tried his hand at several jobs before getting the job as a furniture salesman.
After a few years of working as a salesman he was able to secure a loan to buy the business. As the new owner, he phased out the furniture and appliances to only sell musical instruments. He renamed the business to Valley Piano Co.
Chapter 2: The Early Years 1974 - 1989
The business was located on the "64 curve" which is the property where the East Main Walgreens is currently located. Before that it housed a strip mall that included several businessess over the years. It started as a furniture store on one end and a grocery store on the other but later businessess such as Auto Zone, A1 Pawn and Compute had setup shop in store fronts there. There was a Kentucky Fried Chicken in it's own building located at one of the entrances into the parking lot. More to come...
Chapter 3: The 813 E Main era 1990-2019
In the 90s, Russellville had completed an overpass that connected Hwy 64 from the court house to the "64 curve". It was now a straight shot from the east side of town into the west side. As businessess started popping up on the new stretch of road, Alfred moved Valley Piano into one of the strip malls located on this stretch. More to come...
Chapter 4: The 3515 W Main era 2020-Current
More to come...
