“We saw this place and said, ‘this is it.’”

  Music teacher Ed Vallee, who has played with longtime Rhode Island staple Steve Smith and the Nakeds, the Tombstone Blues Band, and Killer Kane and the F.O.’s, is talking about Studio Eleven.

  These days, Vallee, along with partner John Provost, is the owner of the only business in the South Kingstown area that exists exclusively to teach students music. Vallee and Provost teach in a small two-room studio in the Palisades, an old mill building that has morphed into somewhat of a business complex.

  Many of the rooms remain bare and unused, but Studio Eleven is somewhat decorated, with a few small pictures of famous rock stars and a neon sign illuminating “LESSONS” on the back wall. On the far side of the studio sit a typical music lesson setup: two metal folding chairs sitting across from each other, with an electric guitar, cables, and an amplifier on the ground next to them.

  Vallee talks about the potential of the bare room         

  “We’ve got room for guitar circles here, you name it,” imagines Vallee. “There’s a huge amount of possibilities.”

  “If we want to develop a program, we’re free to do that.”

  Studio Eleven was born out of PM Music, a hybrid recording-teaching establishment located on Tower Hill Rd. Pete Venditoulli offered Vallee an opportunity that Vallee considers instrumental to the creation of Studio Eleven. As Vallee’s client list began lengthening, he needed a facility to teach in.

  Vallee found out about PM Music Studio through the South County Music Exchange, which Venditoulli used to own part of. Once he got there, teaching music cemented itself as a major part of Vallee’s life. PM Music, though, is a hybrid recording studio-teaching facility.

  So Vallee, along with partner John Provost, took the first step toward claiming a niche in the South Kingstown music scene.

  “We’re the only local business that is exclusively for teaching music,” he explained. “Besides a few private teachers that do lessons from their house, we’re really the only people you can find whose sole purpose is to educate.”

  In Wakefield, there are other places to get music lessons, such as the Neighborhood Guild and Wakefield Music, but lessons are hardly a priority at the Guild. At Wakefield Music, the store owners rent out small rooms in their basement to teachers. Studio Eleven is a departure from that style: the main room, well lit with a high ceiling, could easily fit four SUVs inside of it.

  Off to the side is a smaller room, slightly darker but with a more personal feel to it. There’s less open wall space, as well as floor space. As we walk in to this room, Vallee starts to really talk. Just like the famous musicians on his wall, he himself has some history in the music business.

  But it’s 2009 now. Vallee has developed a new passion, and has found the facility to fuel it. However, to him, it’s always been about the music. That’s why, unlike any other local business, Studio Eleven is about one thing: music lessons.

    “What we’re trying to do,” said Vallee, “is create a unique experience here.”