By Michael Roberts, Westword | Alex Simpson is getting ready for an onslaught. It’s a few minutes before the doors open at Rupp’s Drums, and ever since the announcement last week that the store would be closing after 41 years, folks have been descending on its 2045 South Holly Street location in large numbers.
“Some people are coming in because they see the opportunity to stock up on gear at great prices,” says Simpson, who’s owned Rupp’s Drums since 2018. “But a lot of them are longtime customers who want to say goodbye to us and see the place one last time. It’s been a strange mixture of emotions — heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.”
When Rupp’s Drums founder Bob Rupp launched his namesake enterprise in 1984, he was already a major player in the local music community, and the store only deepened the connection.
In those days, Rupp was renowned for his stick work with the Rumble, a band that became known beyond Colorado after winning an MTV national talent search that earned its video two months of rotation on the network; the group also landed a record deal with U.K.-based Hi-Lo label. He subsequently kept time for a wide variety of area acts, including Fear of Sleep, Carolyn’s Mother, Love Garage, Paul Galaxy and the Galactix, Sex With Susie and Vinyl Oyster, when not running Rupp’s Drums, which earned a deserved reputation as a percussionist’s dream supply house.
Over the years, Rupp became pals with a who’s-who of drum royalty: Cream’s Ginger Baker, the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith, Missing Person’s Terry Bozzio and Stephen Perkins of Jane’s Addiction, among many others. But he had a similar kinship with pretty much anyone devoted to crashing cymbals, and the feeling was mutual.
In 2003, Rupp sold the store to businessman Brad Telepo and moved out of state, but the magic of Rupp’s Drums lingered, as Simpson experienced from an early age.
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Read the rest of the story here – and Ben’s tribute below will make sense! https://www.westword.com/music/denver-rupps-drums-closing-after-41-years-25120792
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Ben Makinen: A Farewell Skips A Beat: A Reverent Tribute
To Alex Simpson and the Colorado Drumming Community:
As a lifelong customer of Rupp’s Drums since 1983, I read Alex Simpson’s farewell announcement with deep emotion. There’s no denying what Alex accomplished in his stewardship of this legendary store—revitalizing its energy, expanding its reach, and guiding it through some of the most challenging years in retail history. His words about Bob Rupp were moving and heartfelt. And I echo them.
Because Bob Rupp wasn’t just a businessman—he was a cultural architect.
He built a sacred space for drummers. A shop where you weren’t just allowed, but encouraged to bang, test, stroke, and feel. A place where trust ran deeper than receipts—where I, and many others, were allowed to take gear out on a handshake, to test it on a gig before deciding to buy. That kind of trust… it’s rare. That kind of space? Vanishing.
That’s why I—and so many others—are reeling. Not just from the news of Rupp’s closure, but from the suddenness of it. And the unanswered question: Alex, have you offered someone else the opportunity to buy Rupp’s and carry forward this living legacy? (Michael Roberts answers this question in his article!)
Rupp’s Drums was more than a shop. It was the El Chapultepec (Angela Guerrero) of percussion—a spiritual home for drummers across genres, ages, and genders.
Like El Chapultepec, it (AND Bob Rupp) deserves recognition in the Colorado Music Hall Of Fame . It deserves preservation. It deserves memory.
I know I’m not alone in feeling this / Drummers and friends like Todd Moore, Rich Guess, Mike Marlier, Gary LeFrancois, the uber swingin Todd Reid —we all grew up in the shadow of Rupp’s. Gary was a teaching institution for decades at Rupp’s; Marlier is now professor of drums; Todd toured internationally; Rich and I used to debate snare vs quads — which is cooler? This wasn’t just a store—it was a sanctuary.
With deep respect,
Ben Makinen
Filmmaker | Jazz Drummer | Loyal Rupp’s Customer
benmakinen@mac.com | https://www.bmakinfilm.com
https://www.facebook.com/ben.makinen.90
Photo: Alex Simpson and the staff at Rupp’s