Michael Aguilar played instruments both in and out of his school music programs growing up, which proved to be a wonderful background later in his career. After nearly five years in the r...
Rick Anderson was in a MBA program that required he write a research paper about a local business. This was his introduction to the Rodgers Instrument Corporation located in Hillsboro, Or...
Thomas Austin was a key part of the Sherman Clay team for over 40 years! The store chain focused on pianos; however, Thomas recalls the home organ boom in the 1970s as the company was a ...
Carma Lou Beck was an active musician and teacher when she began working in music retail in Iowa in the 1960s. She opened her own store in Cedar Rapids in 1967, after working for a few ot...
Lyle Bird grew up in a musical family with his mother playing the piano daily. As a teenager he played trumpet in several swing bands during the big band era including with such leaders a...
Steve Bird joined the piano industry right out of school and established a life-long career that he has thoroughly enjoyed. While working for Sherman Clay, Steve was asked to open up sev...
Ed Blasco was one of the best known organ salesmen in Kansas City during the 1970s. He worked for Sherman Clay, Jenkins Music and even ran his own store, Ed Blasco’s Conn Organ Center in ...
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...
Fred Buch has always been interested in combining electronic technology with pipe organs. When he entered the pipe organ business in the 1957, electronic organs were not sufficiently adv...
O’Lyn Callahan has played the piano since she was eight years old and started on organ at age twelve after receiving a Hammond B3 from her father. She came in third place at a Yamaha orga...
Robert Campbell began his career in the music industry working for Conn Organ in 1947, the year the company gave a unit to President Harry S. Truman. Bob later worked with Don Leslie, th...
Bernie Capicchiano was coached from the Accounting world to manage a new music retail store for the Brash Group in Australia in 1973.His long career in the industry includes a strong rela...
Bob Carbone is the co-founder of the Piano & Organ Center in Syracuse, New York. The store has a reputation for their quality products as well as creative lesson programs, which are o...
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...
Denny Coiro spent over 40 years of his career in the piano industry. As a salesman, Denny worked for several stores over the years and had some wonderful experiences bringing a new instru...
Jim Connors joined Norlin Corp. originally as the head of the Lowery Organ factories. With his strong background in manufacturing and process control, Jim was able to keep up with the 25%...
Hal Cowan studied business administration while playing music all through school. He loved playing organ and found himself in the company of fellow organ buffs as well as employees of org...
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...
KC Darrell always felt that his father was his best friend. They two opened a series of music stores in New Hampshire over the years, working side by side for over 40 years. KC learned th...
Fred Davis began playing saxophone as a boy and started his own band, the Freddy Davis Orchestra, which played around Ohio during World War II. He was well equipped with reeds for his gig...
Joe De Fio has had a long and exciting career in the music industry, especially in the area of piano sales! His career began in 1968 when he was hired as a salesman for Clark Music in New...
Glenn Dodson played bass for a band he started with his schoolmates called Purple Haze. The band was high class, right down to their purple shirts! It was a fun experience that provided a...
Lee Donais may be the only industry member who played piano (as part of the Navy Band) for three United States Presidents: Johnson, Nixon and Ford. After his career with the Navy Band, L...
Ken Edgington has many friends in the music industry, several of whom suggested he be included in the NAMM Oral History program, but when approached Ken was rather humble about his role i...
Jeff Falgien’s passion for the piano and organ can be traced back to the age of six. Before he was a teenager, Jeff was hired to play in front windows of mall music stores to generate int...
John Felice likes to say he was in the right place at the right time when he opened a Hammond Organ dealership in the 1960s. As the home organ market began to take off John had the staff ...
Jim Foster had worked for a few piano stores before opening his own store, with his wife Marilyn, in Bettendorf, Iowa. Foster Family Music focuses on piano and sheet music for pianos and...
C. Darby Fulton’s father opened a music store, which seemed the perfect place for Darby growing up. He enjoyed the business and worked with his father as the company grew into 26 location...
Ray Gerlich is the long-serving production engineer at Hammond Suzuki, and began playing the organ when he was ten years old. While in high school he was given the opportunity to apprenti...
Joe Goodman began playing gigs around the Los Angeles area since he was very young with his primary instruments being the piano and trumpet. With a Marching Band scholarship for college i...
Paul Graves began delivering pianos in 1957 up in Minnesota before moving to Alabama where he continued to deliver. He soon discovered that he would make more money if he sold the pianos...
