Michael Barnett, longtime owner of Michaels Music, dies at 62

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Michael Barnett, the owner of Michaels Music and known around town as a local guitar legend, died suddenly on May 3. He was 62.

Barnett was born and raised in Long Beach, where he attended West Elementary School and Long Beach High. He also briefly studied music at SUNY Old Westbury, his partner, Linda Pearsall, said. He married Nancy Rossetti Waters in 1982 with whom he had three sons, but later divorced. He began a relationship with Pearsall about 15 years ago.

Barnett enjoyed being his own boss, said Keith Liebowitz, a showroom manager at the Carle Place Raymour and Flanigan and one of Barnett’s closest friends.

Barnett started to buy and sell rare and used instruments out of his home in his teens, and later opened up his own store called Michaels Music.

“He didn’t have enough money to pay rent at first, so he lived in a little loft in the back in the stockroom,” Liebowitz said.

Barnett managed his store during a time when there seemed to be a decreasing number of mom-and-pop music stores, Pearsall said. “It was a dying breed,” she continued. “But he made that store work.”

And it paid off in the long run. After moving a few times, he settled the store on Sunrise Highway, where he managed it for about 30 years.

Throughout his life, Barnett performed many local gigs, sometimes at the Long Beach Public Library, and occasionally with his band “The Street Stompers.” He also played in shows with well-known musicians, including BB King, Louisiana Red, Charles “Honeyman” Otis, Big Joe Turner, Dean Brown and Johnny Winter.

“There’s a million stories with Mike,” Liebowitz said. “When we were 18, we hitchhiked up to a [festival] in Canada called Strawberry Fields. The first night, I woke up at 4 a.m. and realized I was inside a car in the middle of the field. The windows were painted pink and Alice Cooper was performing the craziest sounding music — everything was surreal. Then Mike turned around and looked at me — he was in the front seat.”

Barnett donated instruments to local charities, Pearsall said, and recalled a recent benefit where he helped raise money for the local soup kitchen.

“He was always helping kids play instruments,” she said, noting that he would reduce instrument prices for parents who couldn’t afford them.

Other than his passion for music, Barnett also enjoyed kayaking in Reynolds Channel and bicycling on the Long Beach boardwalk.

Those who were close to him said that despite his hard exterior, he had a strong sense of empathy.

“Michael was the hardest guy to get along with at times,” Liebowitz said. “Tough, tough, tough guy, especially in business. Hard as nails — but he felt everybody’s pain. If you were in pain and you were his friend, he felt it. He worried about his friends on a regular basis.”

Pearsall shared the sentiment. “He was a tough man,” she said. “He would get in your face — he didn’t back down. He never cheated anybody because he knew that karma was a [expletive]. He always tried to be fair. He loved his friends. He was a hard man, but he was a good man who had a good heart.”

A funeral service was held on May 5 at Gutterman’s Funeral Home in Rockville Centre.

Barnett is survived by his partner, Linda Pearsall; his ex-wife Nancy Rossetti Waters; his sons Gregory, Zachary and the late Jesse; and his siblings Bruce Barnett and Merrie Trembley.