Santa Monica Mosaic Returns on Sunday, March 22 with Old Friends: A Toast to Legacy Business

Xavier Banister, co-owner of Cuttin’ Up! Barbershop

When Xavier Banister took over Cuttin’ Up! Barbershop in 2004, he was continuing a legacy that had anchored a corner in Santa Monica’s Broadway neighborhood for 60 years. The Michigan native and Master Barber had already opened two other salons in the Crenshaw area of Los Angeles and was skeptical about a Santa Monica location. One of his clients, an investigator with the Santa Monica Police Department, assured him that this was the only Black-owned barbershop in Santa Monica and was being sold. Banister took a chance and over the years, he’s become an integral part of the Broadway community, offering a welcoming place to get a haircut or just hang out, play a game of chess or listen to a neighborhood musician. Xavier and his co-owner wife, Tamara, raised their son in Santa Monica and take pride in giving back to their community, such as volunteering with the Boys and Girls Club and providing free haircuts to the homeless.

Walt McGraw, co-owner of McCabe’s Guitar Shop

Raised playing the fiddle in the mountains of East Tennessee, Walt McGraw grew up where music is a natural force, more like the weather. After studying poetry in Chicago, he headed into the corporate world, spending years at Nickelodeon, CNN, and Microsoft. What he didn’t realize when he got married in 2002 was that he was also marrying into a legendary guitar shop. Walt and his wife, Nora, are now the second-generation stewards of Santa Monica’s storied McCabe’s Guitar Shop in the Pico neighborhood. The place remains exactly what it has always been: a refuge for the curious, the hopeful, and the devoted listener. Music happens there. And the community, too. Walt recently picked up the ukulele, which makes him especially grateful that McCabe’s is the kind of place where anyone can grab an instrument — virtuoso or beginner — and feel welcome.