Michael Kirman was on hand for the 50 Year Milestone Awards during the 2015 NAMM Show. The award went to Steve's Music, a chain of stores in Canada, which were established by Michael's f...
Don Kong is the manager of Music Village in San Jose, California. Don worked for a few other music companies before begging to be hired by the store's founder, Joe Teixeina, in the early...
Robert Levin was the youngest of Chuck and Marge Levin’s three children, literally growing up in the store. From his earliest memories, he can remember observing and learning his father...
Chuck Levin’s Washington Music Company serves as a focal point for the music makers all around the DC area and is one of the premier music retail stores in the country. The store also st...
Melvyn Libman was a child prodigy and toured the world as a classical pianist. He performed in many of the grand concert halls in Europe and Town Hall in New York City. When he decided ...
Les Lillo grew up in the music industry; his parents founded Lillo's Music in 1963. Les recalls growing up and working in the family business, playing drums in the family band and perfor...
Victor Lillo Jr. grew up in the music industry attending his first NAMM when he was 12 years old at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, CA. Vic reflects on his exposure to music and how a go...
Vic Lillo Sr. and his wife Doreen started a business in 1963, opening Lillo’s School Of Modern Music Ltd, a music school and retail music store in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Lillo’s Music...
Sally Lindner once owned and operated a beauty shop in the small farming community of Watertown, South Dakota. After her husband, Rod, opened a music store in town, she could hardly wait...
Rod Lindner and his wife Sally truly own and operate a mom and pop music store. They have no employees, so when they are sick or out of town, the store is closed. Lindner Music is locat...
Joe Lindner has a real passion for playing and teaching music. He gives lessons, mostly on drums and guitar, in his parents’ music store, Lindner Music in Watertown, South Dakota. Joe i...
Leigh Maples played her ukulele as her sister sang when the two were small and remains an important memory for Leigh. She later played guitar in high school and went on to study music bu...
Reese Marin is the president of Bellevue American Music in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue, Washington. The store reflects Reese's passion for music with carefully designed display space ...
Mark Maxwell’s love for music retailing goes back as far as he can remember. His parents started Mom’s Music in "Kentuckiana" with stores in Jeffersonville, IN and Louisville, KY. Mark li...
Marvin Maxwell opened Mom’s Music in Louisville, Kentucky with his wife Beverly in 1981. He also designed and developed a line of music themed toilet seats called “Jammin’ Johns,” which w...
Beverly Maxwell and her husband, Marvin, established Mom’s Music in Louisville, Kentucky in the early 1980s. Beverly took care of the books and the business end of the store while her hus...
Bryan McCann is the president of Instrumental Music stores, with three locations in 2014 in and around Ventura, California. Bryan’s career began when he teamed with a friend to purchase ...
Paul McDermott is one of the most passionate music retailers you will ever meet! As founder of Hot Licks Guitar Shop in Waldorf, Maryland, Paul has used his passion to bring the joy of m...
Tom Merritt is the general manager for The Music Center in Kenosha, Wisconsin and the right hand man for the company's president, Jim Paulsen. The two have worked side by side for severa...
Bernard Michaelson was just a teenager when he began working for Frank Hessy. Hessy’s Music store in Liverpool was the hangout for all of the young musicians in the area at a time when ba...
Sara Michaelson grew up in the music store her father, Frank Hessy, established in Liverpool, England in the late 1950s. Hessy’s Music was THE store in town to find all of the local bands...
George Miletich Jr. and his brother run Music One Workshop in Kalispell, Montana. As they continued to play gigs in and around town, they also provided repairs for their bandmates as wel...
Dave Miller was just 14 years old when he cut grass for a summer to pay off a neighbor for their old guitar. He and his friends would hang out at the local music store, which was Western...
Stan Morgan became the president of St. Louis Music after Mark Ragin purchased the company from LOUD Technologies in 2008. The new St. Louis Music retained its strong combo products for i...
Jeff Mozingo cannot recall a time when he did not have music in his life! His father was a band director who opened Mozingo Music in the St. Louis area. Growing up, Jeff's love and sinc...
Larry Noto’s father, Joe, opened Music Land in 1971. Back then Joe wanted to create a store that would provide instruments and repairs to both the gigging musician and students. Larry gre...
Jim Paulsen's father opened a small music store in Kenosha to focus on his instrument of choice, the accordion. When young Jim encouraged his father to expand into guitars, they started ...
Alice Phillips met her future husband when she joined a band while in high school. Dave sought to learn about the technical side of the business while Alice developed a background in the...
Dave Phillips met his wife in a band he created in high school. They have been making music ever since and as of 1977 when they opened their retailing business, they have assisted countl...
John Pollard first walked into Swords Music in Fort Worth, Texas as a customer. In fact he took music lessons in the store before he was told of a position to work in the store. The sto...
Jerry Portman learned so much from his father and his grandfather about how to treat customers. Those lessons became key as Jerry set out to not only take over the family’s music store, ...
Mark Ragin jumped from working at the retail level of a music store into wholesale when he realized there was a real need for a band instrument and accessory distributor geared toward the...
