George Contreras, owner of Raptor Guitars in Phoenix, has lived in the south Phoenix area his entire life. Having been a police officer for 18 years in Phoenix, he decided to serve his community another way: through the gift of music.
Contreras decided to open Raptor Guitars in July of 2007 so that he could share his passion for music. His vision was a guitar store in his community that people didn’t have to drive an hour or more just to get to, and also to give students an opportunity they might not have otherwise had.
This past month Raptor Guitars celebrated its first anniversary by throwing – what else? – a concert in its enormous parking lot. The concert continued throughout the day showcasing 10 Arizona local bands, including singer Tahlia Francine, Soul Persuasion, When Silence Speaks and the mighty Dinonicus. While the power pop vocals of 
Francine had the crowd moving along to her songs, it was Dinonicus who got the biggest reception with their gleeful cover of 80’s hard rock.
During Dinonicus’ set they brought up two of Raptor Guitars’ students – Hillary Fisher (15, who joined the band to play a cover of Alice in Chains’ “Man in the Box”) and Adam Gestrin (14, who performed a flawless version of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” with the band). These students demonstrated the teachings of Contreras and his crew. The crowd actually roared with approval upon immediately recognizing the opening chords of “Paranoid”, the strongest song of the night.
“I’m in a world I love,” says Contreras. “I love admiring guitars on the wall of my store. I love helping customers choose a beautiful instrument to make beautiful music with, and I love watching the kids in my neighborhood discover music”.
While he once had to tell people to ‘turn it down’, Contreras is currently enjoying helping people ‘turn it up’.
