Salomon Family - A Musical Mainstay for 45 Years

Main Street Mainstay: Northern Lights Celebrates 45 Years

Paul Hayes phayes@littletonrecord.com Staff Writer, Jun 30, 2023 Updated Jun 30, 2023

LITTLETON — How did Dan and Moocho Salomon know they were meant to be together? Moocho has a thought.

After meeting at Franconia State College in 1976, she recalled, “Dan went through my record collection in the dorm and saw
that I liked the same San Francisco band as he, so I guess I passed the test!”

The husband and wife have been making music together ever since: As a couple, as musicians, and as business partners.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of their shop, Northern Lights Music, which has become a mainstay on Main Street.

Through the years — from funk to punk, hair bands to hardcore, glam to grunge, modern rock to metal — the business has changed with the times and supported generations of musicians across the North Country and nationwide.

While the store may look and operate differently than it did in the disco era, the song remains the same.

And, with a second generation on board (sons Asher and Ben), Northern Lights is poised to rock on.

Said Dan, “After 45 years in, our most notable success is the resilient business model that we have developed, a nice hybrid of a destination location on one of America’s best Main Streets and a great website.”

FROM THE START

It began at Franconia State College, where Dan was a music major, and Moocho was a weaver and artist.

“I wasn’t immersed in music like he was but I played flute and piano and came from a musical family,” Moocho said.

“For us, music was there from the start,” Dan said. “I used jamming with another guitar player who lived in Moocho’s dorm as an excuse to hang around and meet her when she first showed up at school. And we had a lot in common as far as musical taste goes, and still do.”

While Moocho was wrapping up her final semester at FSC, Dan taught music to pass the time. They planned to become adjunct faculty, but the college went bankrupt and shut down in January 1978.

So the Salomons went into business instead.

Northern Lights opened on Monday, March 6, 1978, in a rented space underneath what is now Gold House Pizza.

It moved three times: To a since-demolished building at 6 Green St. (behind the Littleton Diner) in Oct. 1978, then a retail space at 128 Main St. (now Bingo Nails) in 1981, and finally to the current location at 57 Main St. in 1982.

Over four-and-a-half decades, Northern Lights has gone from analog to digital and from local to nationwide.

However, while the technology changed, their mission never did.

“Our store now is an actual expansion on the original. We did adapt to economic circumstances over the years but never forgot our roots,” Moocho said. “There was the era in the 80’s where we sold everything from TV’s, VCR’s, car stereos, satellite dishes and phones. We always catered, though, to the musician. There were a lot of rock bands gigging in the area at times and we were able to provide them with equipment from PA to guitars.”

Helping Northern Lights to pivot to ‘The Online Age’ are the Salomon’s sons, Asher and Ben.

They were raised in the business and returned home after completing their educations and living away for a spell.

“Home pulled them back though at just the right time. We have benefited tremendously by having Asher and Ben come back. Their technical skills have moved us into the era of the internet,” Moocho said.

PLAYING ON

For the Salomons, music is a bond.

“Music is everything to our family,” Moocho said. “Family gatherings frequently progress into a jam session.”

She is a multi-instrumentalist (piano, flute, ukulele, guitar) who plays bass for local band “Not Your Mother” and performs with her husband in the jug band “The Mother Pluckers.”

Dan (guitar, lap steel, bass) has performed with numerous bands such as “Blues Lightening”,“The Dan Salomon Blues Band”, “The Western Swingtones”,“Bluesbus”,and “Jazz Nite.”

Asher and Ben both play guitar, Ben holds music degrees from Berklee College of Music and Mills College

“We have this shop because we’re musicians, we play a lot when we’re not “working” and we take little gigs for fun,” Dan said. “The Mother Pluckers will be playing the July and August “First Fridays” and I take pick-up gigs with different friends. The local scene is growing thanks in part due to North Country Community Radio and The Loading Dock. We try to sponsor a fair amount of shows as well.”

The Salomons have witnessed first-hand Littleton’s socioeconomic transformation, from a handful of major employers to a diversified and robust economy.

There were hard times along the way.

“Forty-five years ago Littleton was a working-class town with many factories employing the population. Many have closed and things have been rough at times for our gigging musicians,” Moocho said.

Despite numerous challenges such as business shutdowns, the Great Recession of 2007-2009, and COVID-19, Littleton has established itself as a regional hub for travel, tourism, hospitality, arts, and culture.

Northern Lights has changed along with the town. Now a purveyor of high-end domestic guitars, and the go-to music store for musicians locally and nationwide, they aim to remain part of the mix for another 45 years.

Said Moocho, “We’re looking forward to Asher and Ben taking on more responsibility as we age. Of course there are offspring coming up, so who knows what the future holds!”