With a black beanie resting atop his shaved head Victor P. Hudak stared across the counter from eyes hidden behind a thin-rimmed pair of glasses creeping down the edge of his nose. A “chin-strap” beard curved around a strong jaw-line and a couple days worth of stubble ordained deep sunken cheeks. Hudak, co-owner of the locally iconic Atom Heart Music in downtown Pullman, is himself a Pullman legend.
Hudak opened Atom Heart Music in order to fill what he saw as a pressing need in Pullman. There had not been a music store in Pullman since 1974, Hudak said. For 30 years Pullman residents traveled to Moscow for their musical equipment needs—whether it was a guitar from Guitars Friend or orchestral sheet music from Keeney Bros. Music Center. Now Pullman musician have a shop to call their own.
As a customer carrying a small, brightly colored toy guitar walked into the store Hudak casually expressed a greeting from behind the counter.
“Can you make this sound like a real guitar?” the customer asked setting down the toy instrument across the countertop. The toy guitar is his four-year-old son’s and it doesn’t stay in tune, he said.
“I’ll try,” Hudak responded, his voice slow and methodical. “I still consider this a toy.”
Hudak worked for over four years in Moscow, Ida. before opening Atom Heart Music. The co-owner of Atom Heart Music, Steve E. Ashby, worked as the manager at Guitars Friend during that time. In 2003 Hudak and Ashby left Guitars Friend as their relationship with the owner dissolved, Hudak said.
While working at Guitars Friend people often asked Hudak why he didn’t just open up his own store, Hudak said. The circumstances were right soon after he left Guitars Friend and in 2004 Hudak and Ashby opened Atom Heart Music at its original location on Grand Ave., Hudak said. He hoped with the new store to offer the complete gamut of instrumentation.
As Hudak began to fiddle with the strings on the toy guitar, hoping a replacement string might fix the problem, he and the customer discussed guitars. The customer soon expressed interest in buying a real guitar. Within moments Hudak, whose speaking style is normally paced and rhythmic, rattled off enthusiastically his professional advice on which guitar would best suit the customer’s wants.
The customer walked up the single step separating the main floor with the guitar section and passed a wall covered in handwritten letters of gratitude. He sat down and strummed four times across the open fret board of a new acoustic guitar.
In the summer of 2007 Atom Heart Music moved to its current location in downtown Pullman, 255 Olsen St. It’s a better location with more foot traffic and cheaper rent, Hudak said.
Pullman resident Javier A. Suarez, 24, has worked at Atom Heart Music for only three months, but he’s known Hudak since he was 10 years old. He describes him as having always been a friendly face. Atom Heart Music is a cultural addition to Pullman and Hudak has always been the center of that, he said.
WSU student Levi E. Del Mar, 20, a self-admitted avid guitar player, interacted with Hudak for the first time a couple weeks ago at Atom Heart Music. After only one short interaction Del Mar described Hudak as someone with a naturally friendly and knowledgeable air about him. He seems able to help musicians of any level, Del Mar said.
For the last eight years musicians—inspiring and professional alike—have been able to walk into Atom Heart Music and see a friendly familiar face—Hudak. Hudak, supporter of local radio stations, who’s lived in Pullman since he was 12, who graduated from Pullman High School in 1987, and who attended Washington State University. Hudak, who first played drums and trumpet but who put away everything else after he fell in love with the guitar. Hudak, who now plays bass regularly in band that can be seen about once a month in Rico’s pub.
On a Thursday morning a customer walked into Atom Heart Music to fix a toy guitar. Within twenty minutes, thanks to a conversation with Vic Hudak, he walked out with a brand new $200 guitar, a $40 guitar case, some free picks, and a new found desire to become a musician.
“We’re here to encourage people who are potential musicians to play,” Hudak said.
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