Valley Music History
Valley Music Store was the brainchild of three of the most talented musicians in Western Swing! Andrew “Cactus” Soldi, Eugene “Smokey” Rogers and Larry “Pedro” DePaul were, and had been staples of Spade Cooley’s Orchestra for years. They all left with “Tex” Williams and formed the Western Caravan. When front man “Tex” Williams left the band to try an acting career, “Smokey” filled in and they all settled down in El Cajon and became the house band at The Bostonia Ballroom.
In September of 1952, Andrew “Cactus” Soldi formed a partnership with fellow musicians Smokey Rogers and Larry “Pedro” DePaul to run the Bostonia Ballroom and open Valley Music. DePaul soon dropped out of the business. “Cactus” and “Smokey” continued on and later dissolved the partnership and going their separate ways. Smokey took the ballroom and “Cactus” ran the music store, and it has remained in our family ever since.
The Store's Locations
The original store was on Main Street, a block east of the El Cajon courthouse and civic complex. Redevelopment hadn't hit that part of the street yet, and the wood-paneled store front barely stands out among the vacant storefronts and rundown businesses nearby. Early in 2009 the landlord informed us that we had 60 days in which to vacate the building. Unfortunately, we had to take almost the entire year to locate and ready another site to our purposes. We are now located in an unincorporated area of El Cajon at 1611 North Magnolia Ste 310. A much newer building, but we brought our history with us! We are the oldest family run business in El Cajon. 58 years and counting!