Mike Greene is the president of Greene Music in San Diego, California, a store he started with his father in 1974. Mike grew up in the business and recalls dressing up like a circus bark...
Kevin Hague is the Managing Director and founder of Australasian Music Supplies. He started his wholesale business in 1978 and grew it to become one of the biggest in the country. Austral...
Charles Hale had an idea to hire a monkey to show how an easy-play organ could be operated by anyone. The hysterically funny ads were one of a million clever ideas Hale used in selling ke...
Jim Hallwyler is a music retailer in Eugene, Oregon whose introduction to the industry was thanks to his father's friend Lyle Heater. The LD Heater Company, formed by Lyle's father in 191...
Robert Hill became the president of the Organ Exchange shortly after it was established by Curt Carter. Together the two men worked long and hard at creating a business model that helped ...
Don Holcombe owned and operated several music stores during his long career. Among the most noted stores were those he opened with fellow salesman Russell Lindquist in and around Houston ...
Kazuo Ishibashi spent over 25 years in the Special Equipment Division of JVC (Japan Victor Corporation) and headed their musical instrument engineering section. JVC marketed electronic o...
Carol Jones-Zadel introduced new organs and keyboard products to music dealers around the world for over 50 years. Her sharp technical abilities made her a favorite with manufacturers and...
Keith Jorgensen opened a piano-focused retail store in the Salt Lake City area that would grow to 13 stores in three states! Keith Jorgensen's Music stores were all run by Keith until hi...
Sam Keeney loved playing music! He had a road organ he hauled to performances nights and on weekends. Starting in the late 1950s, his day job was music retailing. In 1970 he bought a stor...
George Kirkwood joined the Rodgers Instrument Corp. in the engineering department just five years after the company was formed by Rodgers Jenkins and Fred Tinker. Beyond his fourth year ...
Roy Larrick was a distinguished sales representative for Hammond Organs and Panasonic's Technics products before launching his own retail business. After gaining invaluable experience at ...
Jack K. Lewis served as President and COO for the Conn Organ Company after years of serving as it's Manager of Marketing Administration, General Sales Manager, Director of Marketing and S...
Russell Lindquist joined his uncle’s piano store in Iowa in his early 20s, and soon discovered his love of the business. He especially loved selling. Russell opened a Hammond Organ dealer...
Carlo Lucarelli graduated with an electronics engineering degree in 1963, marking the beginning of a distinguished career. After three years with GTE in Milano, he joined the music produc...
John Maher began his career as an employee of a retail store in Illinois before joining the sales team at St. Louis Music Supply. He worked for the wholesaler for 11 years and traveled to...
John Masson was front pumping organs during the great home organ boom of the 1970s. He opened Masson Organ Villa in 1975 demonstrating Baldwin Pianos and Kawai keyboards and organs. He la...
Tom Mathis spent over 50 years in the piano business! Just think of how many instruments he must have sold and all the music currently being made thanks to him! He developed his sales sty...
Joe D McBrayer always took great pride in the craftsmanship he put into the servicing and restoration of pianos. In a career that began when he was a kid sweeping up the store, Joe D mana...
H. C. McMurtry sure knew a lot about the Wurlitzer Company! Not only did he work for the company for nearly 20 years, he traveled throughout the country, selling the company’s product l...
Rob Meads recalls his father purchasing a Lowrey Organ and how he could think of nothing he would rather do than have a career making music! As a teenager, Rob was hired by legendary musi...
Lloyd Meyer was the president of Renner US, the world-renowned provider of piano keyboard actions. His long and productive career began with retail experience in Minnesota at the large Da...
Don Middleton taught music lessons around town before working for Billy Hill at Hill’s Music in 1967. A few months later Mr. Hill announced his retirement and asked Don if he wanted to bu...
Herbert Newton opened his piano store in 1939, a few years after becoming a piano tuner in the Norfolk area. Back in the beginning of the store, traveling out to nearby farms was key to h...
Sean O'Shea began front pumping the organ during the big boom of home organs in the 1970s. His first gig was for a music store when he was just 14. He grew up in the business and worked f...
Art Olson brought his love for playing music together with his experience as an instrument salesman to form his own store, Artistic Pianos. The store opened in 1999 in Encinitas, Californ...
Dick Papalia witnessed a need for organ and piano owners in his neighborhood to have their instruments serviced in the early years of the home organ boom of the 1960s. As a result, in 196...
Antoni Punti and Gabriel teamed up with Keith Mardak in 1972 to form Hal Leonard Spain. The company’s success was fueled by the home organ boom, which was an important milestone of growth...
Frank Reda began his career in the insurance business, where he honed his skills in customer service and sales—skills that would later prove invaluable in the music industry. In the 1970s...
Allen Riley served as the district sales manager for the Baldwin Piano Company. Allen learned guitar as a child and continues to play music. He became a Minister for several years befor...
Jack Ripperger was the director of marketing for the Hammond Organ Company for seven years, at the height of the home organ boom in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s. During hi...
Brian Schmidt opened up a small piano and organ retail store in Calgary, Canada, in 1973 with a strong focus on the Baldwin Products. He was just 21 years old at the time and benefited g...
