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Business & Tech

His Dad was the "Music Man" of Emmaus

Bob Kahle carries on family legacy through Chestnut Street piano shop.

Some might say Robert E. Lee Kahle was once the “Music Man” of Emmaus. Now his son, Bob Kahle, continues part of his tradition by doing piano services out of the same store at 809 Chestnut Street.

In the 1957 Broadway musical “Music Man,” Harold Hill was a con man, who posed as a band organizer, selling instruments and uniforms to townsfolk in River City, Iowa., and playing “Seventy-six Trombones.”

Robert Kahle was no con artist. He was the real thing.

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He played the saxophone and clarinet, and provided education and repairs to two generations of students in Emmaus and Allentown.

From 1963 until 1998, the former Air Products and Chemicals employee repaired instruments and rented out rooms in the former Diefenderfers corner grocery store, where students could take music lessons. 

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And rather than conning anyone, the elder Kahle gave up his business to become a minister in the Syrian Orthodox Church in Allentown.

It has been said that nearly anyone who grew up in Emmaus and was a member of the band bought his instrument at Kahle’s Instrument Repair Service and had lessons there, too. Bob agreed. 

It’s now , a one-man company. Bob’s wife, Karen Ann Kahle, runs the Yoga Now & Zen studio upstairs and their two mixed-breed dogs, Bella and Rumi, have the run of the place. 

“We had kids starting at eight years old -- first or second grade,” said Bob, a bassoonist. It was private, with over 200 kids coming in here for lessons at 50 cents per student for a room. It had nothing to do with the school district. It was private." 

As with any family business, Bob helped out, fixing clarinets and flutes, polishing stuff or helping any other way. After graduating from Emmaus High School, he studied music composition and theory at Penn State. 

“By the mid-1980s,  he started getting into the church and the music industry started to change,’’ Bob said. “Interest for being in a band or playing sports changed. Fewer kids were taking lessons. At one time he had 22 teachers here. Now the kids have cars and jobs." 

After graduation from Penn State, he worked at Titlow’s Music Store in Allentown for about 10 years  because his dad’s Emmaus shop was full. 

Then his dad closed the  business in 1998 and used the Chestnut Street store as a church until Bob moved in  a year later with the new name. 

“There are thousands of pianos  in the area and only a dozen tuners. I do some tuning and minor repairs,” Bob said. “We also move pianos and rebuild them.’’ 

He said there are two basic type of pianos -- vertical and grand. A vertical can measure 36 inches, while the grands can be six feet long. 

Bob, who does most of the work by himself, said “there are people who use electronic tuners, but I do it by ear and a tuning fork.” 

A tuning costs $100. But prices for a piano range from $2,500 to $150,000, he said. 

Like many others involved in the music industry, Bob has an outlet for his job -- he plays in a rock and roll band. For this, he trades his bassoon for a Hammond organ and an electric piano. 

“The group is called Vinyl Diner, ’’ he said. “My brother, Jim, is the drummer. Alan Beil, plays bass, and John Jarrett plays guitar. “We play classic ’60s and ‘70s at fire companies and weddings. We’ve been around for 20 years.”

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