Whether you realize it or not, you're all receiving a big block of coal for Christmas this year. Santa might even leave it on your couch to make sure there's a stain.

Well, that's not entirely true, but come Yuletide, some of you might be wondering if you've been bad since Mountain Music is closing its doors some time between now and then.

If your response to that news is, "So what?" you've probably never visited the Dayton Boulevard store.

Mountain Music is one of the few places left in the area where you can purchase acoustic instruments and related gear. That might not seem like a big deal to some people, but if you're a fiddler or hammer dulcimer or resonator guitar player, it can be difficult to find equipment in a pinch.

The store was one of the first places I visited after moving to Chattanooga. At first, I went to pick up strings and extra picks, but then I discovered it served as a kind of crossroads and watering hole for folk musicians.

Owner Steve Daugherty has played matchmaker for many musicians in the area over the last seven years. Mountain Music was also ground zero for the formation of many acoustic jam sessions around town as well as the new folk school.

Daugherty said he's decided to pull out of the business for a couple of reasons.

First, as with L&M Music and Blaylock Music, which are closing or recently closed, Daugherty said he can't compete with Internet dealers and corporate wholesale. Second, he said, it's time to move on.

After introducing so many people to acoustic music and seeing his dream of a folk music school realized, Daugherty said he's ready to do some picking and grinning of his own.

"I'm going go around and hit all the festivals," he said, laughing. "I bought a little camper, and it's possible from this area to leave in March and not come home until November."

Even if I'm pleased he's getting a chance to strum his way from Georgia to Alaska, it'll be sad to see the store close. I know I'll miss it.

In the meantime, he's liquidating his inventory, so if you're in the market for a new banjo, now's the time.

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Essential Listening Project purchases for week 34 (Oct. 15): Sex Pistols' "Never Mind the Bullocks Here's the Sex Pistols," The Byrds' "Sweetheart of the Rodeo," Emmylou Harris' "Pieces of the Sky" and Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue."

E-mail Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfreepress.com.