O'Sheas Music Centre is run by one person: me, Brandon Hayward. I'm a self-taught musician — guitar, bass, ukulele — and I hold a Bachelor of Audio. Before any of this, I spent years in recording studios doing session work, mixing, and mastering, plus time in live sound. I still take on session and production work today, alongside the shop.
That background is exactly why I do things the way I do them here. I'm not just someone who can point you to a guitar — I've recorded them, mixed them, mic'd them up on stage, and set them up for other players for years before I ever owned a shop. When I talk gear with you, it comes from actually having used it professionally, not off a spec sheet.
Teaching came next. I started Rural Guitar Academy, running private lessons and group programs at rural schools in Chinchilla, Dalby, and Tara — work I still do alongside the shop today.
I bought O'Sheas in September 2025. It's the only music shop for a long way in any direction, and this community deserves to keep it that way. I didn't buy it to chase a return — I bought it because a region this size needs somewhere local with real gear, real service, and someone who actually knows the craft, not just an online order number and a shipping delay.
Running it solo means long weeks — between the shop, private students, school programs, and the odd session job, it's a lot of hours. But it also means when you call or walk in, you're talking to the person who actually knows the gear and the craft behind it, not a call centre reading off a screen. If I don't know the answer, I'll find out and get back to you.
Rural Guitar Academy and the shop run side by side — so if you're after lessons as well as gear, it's the same person, same phone number, one less thing to coordinate.
Built a working musician's grounding in guitar, bass, and ukulele — all self-taught, all through actually playing.
Years of session work, mixing, and mastering in the studio, plus live sound experience — the technical grounding behind everything the shop does now.
Private lessons and group programs at rural schools across the Western Downs — still running strong, with a long waiting list and very few students who ever leave.
Took over the region's only music shop to keep it open, keep it stocked, and keep it staffed by someone who actually plays.
Running the shop, teaching across three towns, taking on session/production work on the side, and building out event sound as a side venture — all so this region keeps its music shop.
Rural music shops don't survive on volume — they survive on trust. Every guitar I sell, every repair I do, every kid I teach to play their first chord is someone I'll likely see again. That's not a burden, it's the whole point. I'm not trying to be the biggest shop in Queensland. I'm trying to be the one that's still here when you need it, for as long as this region needs it.