The Staff -- Downtown Sounds

The Staff

Joe Blumenthal

Joe Blumenthal, owner of Downtown Sounds, has been selling musical instruments for over thirty years. In his spare time, he plays electric and string bass for Klezamir (a local klezmer band), XOPO (a Balkan dance band), and Mando Paradiso. Joe also leads our ukulele club, AEIOUkes. See Downtown Joe playing his novelty instrument, the nose flute, on YouTube!

Jim Weeks

Jim Weeks is one of the Valley's most respected musicians and recording engineers. He has been selling instruments at Downtown Sounds since 1982, and runs his own private recording studio, Cloud Cuckoo Land. He is a multi-instrumentalist and has contributed a great deal to the local music scene. He has produced/engineered many CD's for Ray Mason, Lonesome Brothers, Superkart, Morbid Man and many others. Check his music and art out on YouTube.

Keith Levreault

Keith Levreault is the Downtown Sounds resident drum expert and one of the busiest drummers around, doing a variety of live and studio projects. He has played with Square One, Doom Nation, Blood Oranges, Kevin Salem and Freedy Johnston. He currently drums for Robert Holmes' Love Bomb and Klezamir.

Dave Trenholm

Dave Trenholm is one of the most versatile members of the Downtown Sounds staff. He plays guitar, sax, flute, clarinet, bass and drums, and is a member of the local band King Radio. He also teaches guitar, bass and sax at the store.

Aaron Borucki

Aaron Borucki plays bass, guitar, keyboards and drums. Outside of work, he runs his own computer-based recording studio Something Studios and performs with his groups The Smokey Wambas, The True Believers, Merene and The Trials & Tribulations.

Robert Kapitzky

Robert Kapitzky is a local guitarist, bassist and vocalist. He also does sound engineering and mobile on-site digital recording. Ask him about guitars!

Mike Benoit

Mike Benoit is a local percussionist, bassist and singer. He has been playing music professionally since middle school and is currently a full-time member of several projects: Mountain Interval, Fashion People, The Trials & Tribulations and Merene. Mike has studied percussion with Keith Levreault, Steve McCraven and Christopher Swist, theory and musical direction with Mitch Chakour and Janet Polvino and songwriting and voice with his father, the late Harold Benoit.