CHAMPION — Frank Fordeley’s show is going on the road. But first, he’ll draw the curtains on a 40-year gig in the Mahoning Valley.

Fordeley’s Music & Instrument Repair, 4922 Mahoning Ave. SW, is ending operations. When the inventory is sold, the building goes next. Fordeley said his wife, Tracey, ultimately was responsible for the move.

“She’s been begging me to retire,” the LaBrae High School graduate said. “And I kept saying, ‘No.'”

During Christmas, she underwent two open-heart surgeries.

“I ended up with COVID in the hospital at the same time,” he said.

Plans changed.

In the background, Fordeley had a long-term goal: taking his group the Frankie Fordeley Band on tour. Prior to the family’s health issues, he published a song about his grandmother and signed with a California record label. He said a tour was in the offing.

“And I’ve been putting it off and putting it off,” Fordeley, 65, said. “And then finally I told (the record label), ‘You know what? This might be the time to do it.'”

A career in music was never in question.

“I always knew since I was a kid,” he said. “I play every instrument, and I knew that someday, that’s what I wanted to do, and I did it.”

It started 40 years ago with a friend, a pawn shop and a couple of guitars, he said. When those guitars were sold, Fordeley said he built an inventory.

“And it just kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger,” he said. “And then recently, I bought out a pawn shop that went out of business.”

Through the years, Fordeley built relationships with school districts, music departments and students. Those relationships established the store’s reputation.

“Actually, students that have taken lessons here at the store became band directors,” he said. “What a wonderful feeling, too.”

When not running the store — or the car dealership he owns — Fordeley directed bands at area Catholic schools.

With customers learning the news, Fordeley said he’s been receiving words of sadness and condolences. He said it’s appreciated but unneeded.

“I’m thrilled. Are you kidding me?” he said. “Yeah, people will go out of business, and they owe money on the building. They owe money on this; they owe money on that. I don’t owe nobody nothing.”

When local business has concluded, Fordeley said he expects his band to take off. The group opened for artists Rick Springfield, Peter Frampton, David Lee Roth and Blue Oyster Cult, and cut an album with Michael Angelo Batio, billed as the world’s fastest guitarist.

“Once that starts, it’s gonna be huge,” he said. “It’s the perfect time.”