KEZAR Music

Kezar Music is located in Thief River Falls; a small Scandinavian community in northwestern Minnesota, 70 miles south of the Canadian border. Thief River Falls is famous for Arctic Cat snowmobiles, Digi-Key Electronics, agriculture, and is where the Thief River joins the Red Lake river.

Thief River Music began here in 1922. During the depression era, the business was acquired by lars larson and transitioned to larson co. It was a diversified business, selling electric radios and appliances, along with musical instruments.

In the late 1940s, the business was turned over to Lars’ son, Justus Larson. He changed the name to Larson Music and expanded the musical instrument department, boasting the largest inventory of name brand accordions, pianos and guitars in northwestern Minnesota. In 1952, Larson Music was the first music store in the state of Minnesota to take on the new line of Fender guitars and amplifiers.

In 1972 Justus Larson turned the reigns of the business over to his son Jon. He operated a broad based music store that had now grown into a full-line name-brand music store, adding recorded music, stereos, televisions, and car audio to the store inventory.

By the late 1980s Jon could see changing tides with the oncoming of big box stores. In 1990 he decided to sell. In the spring of 1991, he sold the business to Joe Kezar, changing the name to Kezar Music: Thief Rivers’ Music.

Over the past 25 years, Kezar Music has kept the name brand instruments that were acquired by Justus and Jon Larson, in addition to adding many more. Names like Fender, Guild, Washburn guitars, Ludwig Drums, jbl pro audio, Conn-Selmer and affiliated band and orchestra instruments; Knilling stringed instruments; Samick Pianos, casio keyboards and much more.

In the fall of 1999, Kezar Music purchased a vacated church building, remodeled it and moved in the spring of 2000. This would be the fourth move for Thief Rivers’ Music in eighty-three years.

Joe Kezar has been committed to expanding the depth of the business. boasting the largest selection of musical instruments of any full-line store in northwestern Minnesota, including; guitars, amps, drums, pianos and keyboards, band and orchestra, print music, sound and lighting, recording equipment and sound installation for schools, churches and home theatre’s.

Kezar Music offers a wide variety of services for their customers; Music lessons, lutherie services for guitars and violins, repair of band instruments, sound system installation, live sound production and pa rental.

Kezar Music

315 Duluth Avenue N. 

Thief River Falls, MN 56701

Tuesday-Friday 10 - 6
Saturday 10 - 4