Carter Schuld's father purchased an accordion for him when he was just four years old. Thanks to church, Carter took a liking to the organ, which his father noticed and purchased a home ...
Cheryl Seppala has given the gift of music to countless students in her organ store over her career. She has never lost that spark in her eye that has encouraged her students to stay with...
Wayne Seppala was playing organ for shoppers at the Montgomery Wards in San Diego before he was a teenager. When the store stopped selling organs, he landed a job at Ozzie’s Music where h...
Dan Slick grew up in Johnstown, PA playing the family’s upright piano but soon switched his focus to the organ. He began his career in the music industry working at Fulton Piano and Organ...
Al Slivinski was in the third grade when a salesman visited his school with the pitch “you too can be an accordion player!” Al developed great techniques on the accordion that served him ...
Adrian Smale grew up in a very musical home. His mother played and taught piano while his father played the violin. He witnessed firsthand the joy music can bring a person’s life and, yea...
Craig Smith began piano lessons at the age seven and by the time he was twelve, was fascinated with the sounds of the home organ. He started demonstrating organs for Karnes Music at thirt...
Kenny Smith serves as the Managing Director of the Peavey Hollywood store on Sunset Boulevard. However, this is only part of what he does in the shop. Kenny is a born salesman and enjoys...
Bob Snyder enjoyed his 40 plus years in the music industry, driven by his passion for music. His father was a professor of music and instruments of all kinds seemed to be everywhere in hi...
Ellie Stevens has a smile that lights up the room. And when that room is the lobby of Ted Brown Music in Tacoma, people seem to feel right at home right when they walk in the door! As a k...
Robert Tall is among the most successful and popular organ salesmen in the music industry –historically and presently. He earned his masters and doctorate in music performance and began w...
Bill Tarpley remembered the stories his father used to tell him about the early days of the family music retail store in west Texas. Times were hard during the era of the dust bowls and d...
Buzz Tarpley grew up in the music business. His grandmother was selling pianos as early as 1917 in West Texas. The Tarpley family officially opened a music store in 1927 in Pampa, Texas. ...
John Tarpley likes to echo the message his great-grandmother lived by when she established the family business over 100 years ago: the customer is most important. Since taking over the bu...
David Tarpley remembered crawling around in the ceiling of his current church as a child, hauling the wires for the Allen Organ his father and uncle were installing. As a member of the Ta...
Milton Thomas has had a long and well-respected career in the music products industry. Milt served as National Sales Manager/Director of Marketing for the Lowrey Organ Company before beco...
Tom Thompson first heard an organ in a small church as a child and knew at that moment that somehow, someway, that instrument would be a part of his life. He was right! His first job in t...
Victor Tibaldeo Sr. loved to talk about the accordion boom of the 1950s, an element that helped establish his music store. The Miami-based store also was one of the country’s most success...
Jim Trimper, Sr. was the president of Denton, Cottier & Daniels, a chain of piano and organ stores in the upstate New York area. The company was formed in 1827 and thus has a long his...
Russ Turner opened his own organ repair company in the early 1960s in the early days of the home organ boom. He worked with all of the organ dealers in and around the San Francisco Bay Ar...
Tom Tuson was just 12 years old when he was hired by the Wurlitzer company to demonstrate their organs. As a “Wurlitzer Kid” he played at state fairs and supermarkets to gain the attentio...
Mike Vaccaro is a true piano salesman veteran! Having worked in the piano business for over 40 years, selling for several retail stores and running his own dealership for over 20 years, M...
Jay Valle began working in the organ industry in the 1950s and has witnessed some rather amazing changes. He was part of the organ boom of the 1960s and 70s that brought the instrument in...
Nelson Varon is the founder of the Nelson Varon Piano and Organ Studios who has enjoyed a long career in the music products industry. During his career in the retail business, which focus...
John W. Ward began working in the music industry as a piano salesman in the late 1950s, before working for the Sherman Clay store chain in 1961. After earning a position as one of the com...
Bob Williamson was involved in the piano and organ business since he was a boy. His father sold Baldwin Pianos out of his barn in Southwest Nebraska. The Williamson Baldwin store never ha...
Paul Winther took over his parent’s music store in Boise, Idaho, which was opened in 1943. Paul enjoyed the selling side of the business, especially selling pianos and organs. Paul took...
Mel Wisniewski gave music lessons in a small music store in upstate Wisconsin and soon discovered he was interested in the idea of owning his own store. Not wanting to compete with his fr...
Sonny Wittkopp studied business in college and landed a job as a bookkeeper for a local music store in Washington state. This experience generated a great passion for the music industry w...
Margaret Woods receives great satisfaction bringing joy to others as an entertainer! Even as a small child dancing on tables, Margaret realized she could make others smile. When her fathe...
