SAFETY HARBOR, Fla. — The Music Man may have had 76 trombones in the big parade, but there’s an artist in Safety Harbor who has about 76 trombones in his garage, along with any other instrument you can think of.
Every year, Bob Richardson turns between 300 and 400 used instruments into pieces of art that continue to keep the music playing.
It all started about 40 years ago when he decided to combine his two favorite hobbies: art and music.
“A good friend of mine had a trumpet that she wanted to turn into something as a legacy for her father and had asked me if there was anything I could do with it, and I said, 'Why don’t we turn it into a lamp?'” said Richardson.
In the blink of an eye, his garage was being overrun with old, broken-down instruments in need of a new beginning.
If not repurposed by Richardson, many of the instruments would have most likely ended up in the trash.
“So this piece is made out of a euphonium that was probably run over by six or seven trucks,” he said while explaining one work of art.
He said he’s never come across an instrument he didn’t think could be repurposed.
“The number one instrument I sell year after year after year are violins,” Richardson said.
Richardson collects instruments from all over the country, and for the majority of them, the music lives on through speakers controlled by your phone.
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