Music has been a part of Dan Confait’s life since he began taking piano lessons in second grade. Now, the owner of DC Guitar Studio is seeing the years of practice pay off as his store was named to the 2024 Top 100 Dealers list by the National Association of Music Merchants.

The annual list recognizes independent music retailers both in the U.S. and internationally who go above and beyond to help their customers, communities and local musicians. Confait said only a handful of stores join the top 100 each year, so being selected is a big honor.

“They don’t really change very often, so it was sort of a big deal for us to get in this year,” Confait said. “They said that this year there was 11 new off of that top 100, which is pretty rare, and we were one of the new ones.”

This year also marks the 10th anniversary of DC Guitar Studio opening in Madison and will celebrate its fifth year in Meridian in November, Confait said. The timing, he said, is fitting.

“It’s sort of cool that we got to be named one of the top 100 for our 10-year anniversary,” he said.

Confait, who swapped the piano for guitar at 13, previously worked for Mississippi Music, which has since been bought by Music & Arts. It was then he was introduced to NAMM and began attending the trade group’s annual show in California.

At the time, Mississippi Music had locations in Meridian, Hattiesburg, Biloxi and Flowood, and Confait worked at all four stores. On top of work, he was part of a rock band and traveled frequently for that as well.

“So I went all around Mississippi and then ended up in Madison with my wife in med school,” he said. “And we had a little baby boy.”

Confait quit his job to stay home and watch his son and played music at night. Later on, he began offering guitar lessons and quickly built a customer base.

“My wife was like ‘You gotta find somewhere else to teach. We can’t have this many people come through our house with babies,’” he said. “So I found a little spot in Madison and started teaching, and then it grew from that.”

One of the things that sets DC Guitar Studio apart is that the teaching aspect has continued as the core of the business while the retail store has grown around it. Confait said his approach to music is very customer focused, with custom lessons built to meet the students at their individual levels and to meet their individual goals.

“I feel like that’s a big part of our success,” he said. “Instead of doing a blanket educational program for each student, it’s specifically catered to that student individually.”

Quality is also a key focus. Drawing from his own experience as a musician, Confait said the products sold in his stores are products he would be comfortable using. Cheap instruments also make it harder to learn to play, he said.

“We pride ourselves in the quality of our products that we have here,” he said. “And also, servicing everything that we sell. So we can teach, service or just sell whatever we have in the store.”

Being named to the 2024 Top 100 Dealers list could not have happened without the staff at both stores, Confait said, as well as the loyal customers in both Madison and Meridian. Both locations enjoy the support of the local music community, he said, and benefit from the small town solidarity that wouldn’t be possible in larger cities.