Remember the iconic ‘80s haircut that was short on top and long in the back? Wags described it as “business in front, party behind.”

That might describe Elvis’s Fine Jewellery and Music Room on the corner of Main Street and Spartan Drive in Osoyoos.

Owned by Elvis Furmanek, the main part of the store is a high-class emporium featuring exquisite jewelry, watches, decorator items, and artistic displays of gems and minerals. Daryl Kay, the resident master goldsmith, creates one-of-a-kind items.

But you get a hint that something else might be going on when you walk by the tongue-in-cheek Elvis Presley statue and posters out front, a play on Furmanek’s name, and into the showroom.

When you stroll past the pristine showcases and through the small door on the right, you enter a different world.

Crammed into a tiny space is the Music Room. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of 33 1/3 record albums, musical instruments of every description – guitars, mandolins, ukeleles, saxophones, flutes,  accordions, harmonicas, trumpets, and an African drum – suspended from walls and ceiling, along with vintage posters featuring the likes of Janis Joplin, Bob Marley, and of course, Elvis. Beautifully restored electric guitars gleam. A glitter ball rotates overhead.

Presiding over it all is Trevor Furmanek, younger brother of Elvis. His genial, self-deprecating demeanour conceals a wildly creative spirit.

How did the brothers come to create such a unique place in Osoyoos, you may ask.

Elvis, Trevor, and middle brother Darrell were raised in Stony Plain, Alberta, where their parents also had a jewelry and music store. Their family discovered Osoyoos on a trip to the Lower Mainland in 1958.

“It was a strange and beautiful oasis for somebody from Stony Plain,” Trevor recalls.

Their family returned time after time as they were growing up. Eventually the siren song of the Okanagan proved so strong that the brothers all wound up here. Elvis owned a jewelry store in Vernon for 45 years before relocating to Osoyoos in 2008, and Darrell owned stores in Oliver and Penticton.

Trevor broke the family mold to become an interior designer, specializing in commercial kitchens. He practiced in Edmonton and was involved with the visual arts community, but the Okanagan lured him back to create Spirit Ridge’s first restaurant, Pasa Tiempo. He followed up with BiBo’s Wine Bar, the predecessor of JoJo’s Restaurant.

In 2016 he decided to join Elvis full time, and that’s when the fun really began.

Elvis had already assembled a modest record collection, just when appreciation for vintage vinyl’s superior sound quality was beginning to grow. People came in to look at what he had, and often donated or sold their old records to him.

He also stocked musical supplies like guitar strings and picks as a convenience for local musicians who would have had to go to Penticton otherwise.

When Trevor stepped in, he took things to another level. More Elvis paraphernalia, including a drum skin signed by Elvis’s drummer. More posters. Vintage and new instruments. The electric guitars, some quite rare, restored by a musician on the coast. A unique record turntable crafted by a former rock musician who lives here in quiet anonymity. And records, lots more records.

He sources them from everywhere: private collections, online vendors, people who simply walk in. Many are handshake deals, and integrity is paramount. He recalls one instance when he discovered that a collector who sold his library to him had underpriced it. He and Elvis tracked him down and paid him its true value.

“We’re not here to make money.  As long as we’re having fun, we hope other people do, too.”

Trevor learned some things on the job. “Who knew there were thousands of guitar picks?”

About five years ago, things exploded.

“It’s a musical oasis, and people really responded to it. Friends tell friends, and collectors who love music love music.”

Well-known performers en route to and from the coast began making it a habit to stop by.

“And a hidden community of professional musicians has settled here for the same reason we did.”

He has collected colourful stories along with records. Some have seemed a bit of a stretch, “But I never judge.” He recounts one that proves his point. A petite white-bearded gentleman of European descent came in one day and while browsing, remarked that he had been Bob Marley’s guitar carrier. Trevor just nodded. Later he looked on a Bob Marley website and there, amid Marley’s towering Jamaican band members, was the very same fellow.

Glamourous patrons are part of the fun, but Trevor says his real goal is to be a music resource for teachers and performers and for people wanting someone to repair or restore their instruments.

“We have a tiny little bit of everything, and if we don’t have it, I can order it.”

What’s the next musical trend, now that vinyl has been restored to its rightful place?

“Eight track tapes are hugely popular now,” Trevor says.