Curt Carter was in the right place at the right time. As a piano dealer, he watched the boom of the home market explode during the late 1960s and 70s. He pooled his resources, teamed with...
Ruth Charles and her husband Dick opened a music store in Glendale, California, called Charles Music. They enjoyed a long life together as music makers and teachers and retailers of music...
Gary Chen is the owner of Stein On Vine, the historic horn and string shop in Hollywood, California whose customer list reads like a who's who of jazz and film music. Gary was hired by t...
Del Courtney was among the most popular Big Band leaders of the golden age of swing. Getting his start in the Al Hill Orchestra, Del soon found fame when he formed his own band at the Cla...
Michael Creamer has many happy music memories growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, such as attending rock concerts at the Cow Palace. His brother was a big Van Halen fan and had a gu...
Marilyn Creamer likes to tell people that the only day The Magic Flute was closed, besides holidays, was for her wedding! She met her husband Michael while both were working at the store,...
Brian Crewe fully embraced the benefits of having an organ in the home. As an industry veteran who played a vital role in the boom of the home organ, Brian has outlined several plans that...
Dolores Crooks remembers her husband working in the garage at all hours of the night on a new sound he was after. He tooled his own guitar amplifier and took it down to country dances to...
Dale Dawalt admits he knew little about band instruments being a guitarist when he first joined the team at San Diego County Music Exchange in 1990. He was however, eager to learn and he ...
Ellis Day was a familiar face to NAMM show attendees for several decades as the front line trombone player on the opening day’s Petiot All-Industry Marching Band performances. Ellis has h...
Christian Dean is the co-owner and guitar tech for The Magic Flute in San Rafael, California, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. In 1978, he purchased his first guitar from The Magic F...
Anita DeBlasio manages the Union Ave. location of Music Village in San Jose, California. The store was established by Joe Teixeina in 1964 to serve the musicians and to foster music in t...
Janet Deering has become the darling of the banjo industry as co-founder of the Deering Banjo Company. Along with her husband Greg, she has brought the banjo back to its popular roots wit...
Fat Dog is the founder of Subway Guitars in Berkeley, California. Since the 1960s, the store has become a hub for musicians to gather to discuss everything from politics and human rights...
Ken Donnell is often regarded as the foremost authority on close-mic applications for stringed instruments. While he has an extensive background across the music products industry, first ...
Rob Eastman and his wife DeAnna established Musician's Friend in 1983, which became the leading mail order musical instrument business in the country. Rob's father, Bud, opened a music st...
Maxine Eastman-Jackson met her future husband, Bud, in school when they were 14 years old. The year they married, 1953, they moved to Provo, UT, where Bud worked at Modern Music by day an...
Howard Emmons is the owner of The Drum Circuit right on Higuera Street in San Luis Obispo, California. The drum shop is co-owned by his wife and together they have created a great vibe b...
Nancy Felixson remembers attending concerts at McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica in the early 1970s. The store has a wonderful reputation for selling great instruments and gear as well...
Chico Fernandez was born in Toronto and began playing drums at the age of three. He studied piano at eight and later reconnected with the drums, playing in local bands both on stage and i...
Frank Ford was beginning to build guitars and mandolins when he met Richard Johnston. The two guitar lovers decided to open a repair shop in Palo Alto, California called Gryphon Stringed...
Kayoko Forrest was born in Japan and always felt drawn to music and in particular the piano. After moving with her mother to the United States, Kayoko played in the school music program. ...
Gary Francisco opened his own music store in Southern California in the mid 1960s. Over the years he developed a strong business calling on schools and creating lesson programs. After clo...
Bob Furst was a veteran of the piano industry for over 50 years, Bob sold nearly every brand of player, upright and grand piano that you can think of. Over the years he also became an exp...
Genett Gamber was passionate about music making from a very young age. She recalls her mother arranged to have a piano teacher come to the house and being so excited about learning as mu...
Pete Gamber, the president of Alta Loma Music in Southern California, has been one of the leaders in educating music retailers to provide successful and profitable lesson programs in thei...
Richard Gellis remembers the early days of the vintage guitar movement when greater value was being placed on "used instruments." As his small store grew in Santa Cruz, California, so di...
Eleanor Giacoletti began playing piano as a child. While in college, studying music education, she realized she had a strong passion for providing meaningful lessons to young students. In...
Bob Giacoletti and his wife Eleanor opened a small music school in 1978 that soon took on a line of instruments and accessories to become a full line retail store. The store moved to down...
Sarah Glew began her career in the music industry by selling records in a small store just south of San Francisco in Pacifica, California. Over time she added musical instruments and fou...
Greg Gohde's love for violins and bow making began in college and soon became his life's work. He moved to San Diego from Chicago, where he opened a repair shop and crafted handmade bows....
Stu Goldberg established Marina Music in San Francisco at the beginning of the guitar boom. The folk music craze was in full swing and the Beatles just hit the USA and within a few month...
