Milt Okun was the founder of Cherry Lane Music Publishing. His career in music, outside of his own playing, began as a record producer. He had success during the folk movement of the 1950...
Jess Oliver was the inventor of the Ampeg Baby Bass, the first electronic upright bass instrument. The fiberglass body and unique design was key to projecting the sound of a double bass i...
John Oram is known as the father of British EQ, and has played an enormous role in the way recordings are made and how sound is heard on those recordings. At the incredible age of 15 year...
Gil Orr played a part in the era of popular music known as the Surf Sound. With the steady growth of instrumental hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Orr performed and recorded his gu...
Sonny Osborne and his brother Bobby created one of the most powerful bluegrass sounds of their generation. The Osborne Brothers were powerful in popularity because of their influence as w...
Harry Osiecki’s father started a music store out of his parent’s home. In 1933, he opened up his first store, which had a living unit upstairs for his family. Although he tragically died ...
Jerry Osiecki’s grew up in the music industry. His father started Osiecki’s Music store out of his parent’s home in the middle of the Depression. When he was little his father passed away...
Lee Oskar played the famed harmonica lick in the classic 1970s hit “Low Rider” as a member of the band WARS. The success of this song led to name recognition within the music industry tha...
Tom Ostrander was the founder of Colonial Music in Mt. Vernon, Ohio. Now a string of stores, the retail company began with the simple idea of providing top quality instruments to the area...
Andy Preston has a great philosophy regarding his music store, “Our staff are all repairmen and women first, not salesmen. We want them to know all about the instrument before they begin...
Susan Brailove was the director of Oxford University Press and later formed her own music publishing company. With a tremendous understanding of the role of the music editor, Susan publis...
Dr. Richard Brittain was invited to a small gathering of music educators in the months following World War II. The original goal of the meeting was to provide a venue for the music educat...
Don Broman worked long and hard in the music products industry, striving to create quality products and dependable customer service to dealers around the world. When he joined the Lyon &a...
Max Bennett was among the jazz world’s most percussive bass players. With a strong knowledge of drums, he explored and helped design the rhythm of jazz of the 1970's and 80's in the pre s...
Jack DeJohnette is a drummer’s drummer and yet, unlike many influential players, Jack is widely known among jazz fans around the world. With credits that range from Miles Davis to Herbie ...
Roy Haynes knows jazz! His ideas and techniques have made him a legendary drummer who in many ways helped develop Bebop and Free Jazz, a form of post Bop jazz that was popular beginning i...
Thomas Siwe served as president of the Percussive Arts Society (PAS) in the early days of the organization. In fact, while serving on the board he took part in the expansion of the PAS ch...
Frank Waddy has been playing drums since he was a small child. During his long and creative musical career, he has played with artists such as James Brown and George Clinton. Frank has es...
Dan Mahoney is the president of Music Corp, a strong music wholesaler founded by industry veteran, Eddy Toporek. Dan came to the industry from the office supply world and brought with him...
Jack LeMaire took guitar lessons from the legendary Eddy Lang. Jack played on radio broadcasts and recordings with a number of top artists during the 1940s and 50s. He all but gave up the...
Richard Bridgeman was the Director of Product Management of Hammond beginning in the mid 1960s. Dick came to the company as the original B-3 organ production was coming to an end. He over...
William Zeswitz was taught the violin by this father, who formed the Zeswitz Music Store outside of Redding, PA. Bill became president and a true leader in the industry. Over the years, h...
Yuris Zeltins is the master luthier known worldwide for his artistic and engineering craftsmanship that is evident in each of his musical instruments. Yuris inspired a new way of thinking...
Gordy Wilcher believes that with the right mixture of passion and knowledge, the independent music retailer has the strength to bring music to young students, build new brands within thei...
Shenae Wilson loves providing a musical instrument in the lives of the young children who come into her store. She feels blessed that she and her husband work so closely with local church...
Johnnie Wilson has been involved with music in his church his entire life. He has performed at weddings and church services for many years. So, it seemed like a natural progression to ope...
Stephen Yu pioneered conga making in Thailand before it was common and popular. He also created a long list of items, beginning with guitars, for a number of other companies. When it was ...
Christopher Willcox was once a classical actor on the British stage. He was a teacher and writer, but feels his favorite job is that of piano salesman. For well over 35 years, he has done...
Himie Voxman was a band director nearly all his life. He studied chemistry in college but fell into music because jobs were hard for chemists to find in the days of the Great Depression. ...
Jay Valle began working in the organ industry in the 1950s and has witnessed some rather amazing changes. He was part of the organ boom of the 1960s and 70s that brought the instrument in...
