John Allen Blue and Maureen Byrd-Blue of Blue-Byrd Haberdashery & Music in Kingston.

At first glance, it might seem that blues music & hats have little in common.  But Maureen Byrd-Blue, co-owner of Blue-Byrd Haberdashery and Music in Kingston's Rondout district, quickly dispels that notion.  "It's two good things for the head," she emphasizes.

Indeed, with the latest CD from Dr. John on the sound system, featuring a rollicking version of "Stagger Lee"; a wall of posters of blues gods gone by, including Billie Holiday, John Coltrane, and Duke Ellington; and racks of pork pies, caps, and straw hats hovering in the center, the store seems a blissful retreat from the outside world.  Two men say they are "buying fedoras together for male bonding," and another picks up three items, including a "Bob Dylan hat," to enhance his band performances.

Actually, Byrd-Blue says that musicians are an integral part of the clientele.  "There is a resurgence of people wearing hats," she observes.  "And musicians, especially black musicians, seem to be drawn to a certain type of clothing.  The hats just finish off the outfit."

Byrd-Blue opened the store with her husband, John Allen Blue, in 1992.  "We started next door in a smaller space, then moved here because of all this," she notes, pointing to the vast inventory.  Blue was a longtime hat-wearer, who had had difficulty finding the types and quality of hats that he wanted.  Byrd-Blue (whose maiden name was Byrd) was a music lover who had lost much of her collection along life's path and was hoping to rebuild it.  So they decided to blend the interests.

"John had been a manager for Record City in Poughkeepsie in the '70s and '80s, which was a premiere record store in the area, so he already had a knowledge of music," Byrd-Blue adds.  "But we went around the block about what to call the store."

In addition to local musicians, who have a special section among the musical selections, Blue-Byrd's caters to educators, college students, and baby boomers, who "might've been into rock and roll back in the day, and as those artists have come full circle back to the blues, so have the fans," Byrd-Blue points out.  The store sponsors radio shows on WKZE and WDST, and also advertises in the playbills for both the Bardavon Opera House and Ulster Performing Arts Center.  "We try to find a niche where the clientele that we're looking for would be," she says.

Though the Internet could be considered a competitor, as far as the music is concerned, Byrd-Blue says she hasn't found that to be the case.  "People come in here, they meet us, they know what our product is," she emphasizes.  "We know the history of the people that they may not know about.  People tend to want to come in, get it, and listen to it on their way home."  As for mass-market music stores in the mall, Byrd-Blue says, "a lot of this music can't be found in the mall.  And the salespeople are teenagers.  They have no clue as to who most of these people are."

BUILDING A NEST The compatibility of their names was probably a sign of a great partnership to come.  Maureen Byrd-Blue and John Allen Blue originally met as teenagers while attending an academic summer program at Marist College.  But since she was attending Kingston High School and he grew up in Millbrook, years passed before they saw each other again. "I was in Poughkeepsie with my son at Waryas Park in the late 80s and he reminded me of who he was," Byrd-Blue recalls.  "We started dating and soon decided that we wanted to be together.  The chances that we would meet and for us both to be free is really amazing.  It's a match made in heaven." After 13 years of marriage, Byrd-Blue says they've both learned many things from each other.  But one of the most important aspects of their lives is also the one that guides their business.  "I'm glad that we both have music in common, because I love music," she says.  "I don't know what the world would be like without it.  I'm glad he appreciates it too."

In addition, because of its tendency to draw in likeminded people, the store itself has become almost a meeting place.  Byrd-Blue recounts a recent example where one customer mentioned seeing a band perform while another piped up that he had seen them 15 years ago and a third started discussing the nuances of the group's music.  "One of the perks is that I get to meet a lot of these recording artists," Byrd-Blue notes.  "I get to sit down and talk with them, and they're just average everyday people.  I've become a groupie in my old age, getting them to sign CDs and programs."

The hats follow a similar line to the musical selections.  "We try to have classic hats," Byrd-Blue says.  "Just as when you look at the musical choices we have here, we have a classic type of hat."  The hats come from all over the country, including one from Texas made entirely of palm leaves, and the Toucan line of women's hats from the West Coast.  A favorite men's hat company is the New York Hat Company, which Byrd-Blue says has been in business since the early 1800s.  "We try to have as many US-made hats as possible, but it's difficult with so many being made out of the country," she adds.

The offerings change seasonally, although some fall-style felt hats can be found there now in a nod to those just traveling through.  "Hats are wonderful," Byrd-Blue points out.  "They transform you into a different being."

Lately, Blue-Byrd's itself is undergoing a transformation.  Byrd-Blue, a former case manager for a BOCES program dealing with troubled children, is coming on board to work in the store full-time; the store was previously only open on the weekends.  Her husband, who has a full-time job with the state Office of Children's Protective Services, will still operate the store "with a long arm," but Byrd-Blue is going to handle more of the day-to-day work.  "I'd like to organize some live music acts and get some trips going to music events," she says.  "Stay tuned, because I do anticipate good things happening."

Blue-Byrd's is located at 21 West Strand St. in Kingston and can be reached by calling (845) 339-3174 or via e-mail at bluesandhats@aol.com.