Nat Kusano has always been compelled to create and market ideas and products that inspire and encourage people to pick up an instrument and play. Having had piano lessons when he was a ch...
Steve Johnson played saxophone in high school and in college while earning his electrical engineering degree. He was able to apply both passions when he joined the pro audio industry work...
Mil Averwater was the founder of Amro Music in Memphis, Tennessee. His grandson, Chip, had the forethought to record his grandfather on audio tape talking about the early days of the stor...
Marshall Hawkins founded the Idyllwild Arts Jazz Program with the intention of giving young musicians the same kind of individual mentoring that he received while growing up in Washington...
Bruce Howze is the founder of Community Professional Loudspeakers, which he established in 1968 after being asked to provide sound for such venues as the Electric Factory in Philadelphia....
Joey Welz was a member of Bill Haley’s Comets as well as Link Wray’s Wray Men. He played piano in the early days of Rockabilly for Bat Records with his own group as well as with The Jay R...
Sally Duane was born the same year her brother started McMillan Music outside of Philadelphia. She is the epitome of “growing up” in the business and has early memories of filling bottles...
David Duane took over as President of McMillan Music when his uncle, Don McMillan, retired in 2017. David grew up in the business as his mother, Don’s sister, brought young David to the f...
Chris Mulkey is a well-respected actor who has appeared on hundreds of movies and television programs dating back to the mid-1970s. Chris is also a passionate music maker who has carried ...
Thomas Dolby was a champion of early synthesizers and used them often during his performances as a pop star beginning in the 1980s. For example, his 1982 hit “She Blinded Me with Science”...
Tim Dawson was inspired by his mother, a band director. All of her children played a musical instrument and Tim found the trombone! After serving as a band director for three years, Tim f...
Bill Walden began playing harmonica at the age of 11. He joined a few harmonica groups in the from the 1930s through the 1950s, which were very popular, especially in night clubs. One suc...
Chris Scialfa developed his great love and passion for music at a very young age. By the time he was five years old Chris was taking classical piano lessons, which thanks to his understan...
Jimmy Bruno has had a long and influential career as a jazz guitarist and played with many top performers including Buddy Rich and Joe Beck. Jimmy also wrote several method books for Mel ...
Beth Houlihan often reflects on the important role her mother played in establishing the family owned music store along with her father in 1974. Beth took note of the way her mother kept ...
John Stoner came into the music products industry as an outsider when he joined the Conn-Selmer team in the early 2000s. As a father of a band student, he took part in fundraising and sup...
Steve Purcell grew up in a musical family and knew at a young age he wanted a life in music. After earning his degree, Steve was hired as a band director in 1977. Three years later he was...
Colin Schofield recalls the day when he was eleven years old and received the Alice Cooper album “School’s Out.” The record changed his life by providing him with a passion for music, esp...
Pat Averwater has always been proud of the musical legacy of his grandfather, who established Amro Music in the 1920s. Since then, the Memphis based store has become a hub for the musical...
Norm Sundholm was playing bass for the rock band The Kingsmen when he had a few ideas to improve his amplifier. As the band rose to fame, thanks to the recording of “Louie Louie,” Norm an...
Dave Lopez grew up in East Los Angeles and witnessed the explosive evolution of the mobile DJ, beginning in the late 1970s. During high school, Dave was asked to provide the music for a d...
Andrew York has a powerful way of expressing himself, by using his words and his music. With his articulate delivery, he provides a special insight into the drive of playing and composing...
Kyoko Hara is proud to continue her family tradition of being involved in the music products industry. It all began in 1919 when her grandfather opened a small store. Her father, Ryoji Ok...
Alastair Dunn served as Pipe Sergeant of a 12-time world champion pipe band. He joined the band in 1998 and, in 2006, began focusing his deep passion for the instrument in the manufacturi...
Ronnie Tennant first began playing cornet when he was nine years old. His father joined a brass band when he was about the same age and, in 1952, his father joined the Army Band. Ronnie w...
Owen Clayton began playing the double bass while in school. At the time, he had to stand on a box to play, but he didn’t mind at all because he enjoyed the sound of the instrument and it’...
Frankie Connor was an original member of the Liverpool based band The Hideaways, which enjoyed success since first forming in 1963. A few of the bands’ career highlights include playing a...
Tony Bolland was just 16 when he got a job at Plug In, a rock shop in Liverpool. The store was part of Hessy’s Music, the famous store which sold instruments to the Beatles in the early p...
Keith Hubbard formed a band in Liverpool with some of his school mates and called themselves The Rebels. The band enjoyed success in the pre and post Beatles era. In 1963, the band first ...
Gaz Gaskell has fond memories of playing for AKG at the Frankfurt MusikMesse in the 1990s. These gigs were among several booth performances Gaz took part of as a product endorser, which t...
