For decades, Frank Hayhurst, who died of cancer on Oct. 14 at age 78, was at the center of Sonoma County’s music community. He will be honored at a Celebration of Life from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, March 22, at the Sebastopol Community Center (490 Morris St.)
As the owner of Zone Music in Cotati from 1982 to 2010, he offered not only instruments and equipment, but guidance and encouragement to generations of players.
“Anything he could do to help young people, he would do,” said his longtime partner, Dodi O’Neill.
After stepping away from the business, he turned the store over to employees, who later opened Loud & Clear Music in the same location.
Hayhurst also co-founded the nonprofit Musicians Helping Musicians, which assists performers with medical expenses. He established the organization with Blair Hardman, founder of the adjacent Zone Recording studio in Cotati.
A guitarist, Hayhurst performed in the 1960s and ’70s rock band the Bronze Hog, a regular presence at the former Inn of the Beginning in Cotati, alongside Richard Hughes on bass and Don Connolly on drums.
In 2013, he helped launch the free Peacetown Summer Concert Series at Ives Park in Sebastopol, which continues today, according to its founder and director, Jim Corbett.
Beyond music, Hayhurst was a teacher in the Toltec shamanic tradition. Writing under the name Francisco Rico, he published “A Shaman’s Guide to Deep Beauty” and led trips to the pyramids at Teotihuacan, northeast of Mexico City.
“His dedication to live music, musicians, Toltec knowledge and the importance of peace is a testament to a life well lived,” Corbett said.
Hayhurst is survived by O’Neill and four brothers: Larry Hayhurst of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; James Hayhurst of Savannah, Georgia; John Hayhurst of La Crescenta, California; and Bob Hayhurst of Ephrata, Pennsylvania.