Russ Bullis took up the trumpet as a child and played throughout high school. During his college years he gave trumpet lessons at the local music store and took a strong interest in teac...
Kevin Cranley grew up in the music industry and has a passion for all elements of the music business as if it were in his blood. As a young man, he completed odd jobs around the Willis M...
Bill Eckroth enjoyed being a band director in his home town of Mandan, North Dakota, just across the Missouri River from Bismarck. He started out teaching junior high school students, ma...
Mary Ann Eckroth quietly sat behind the desk working on the books while her husband Bill traveled to the local schools to help the band directors. She took care of the customers and clea...
Jeff Eckroth is the son of the founders of Eckroth Music in North Dakota. His parents, Bill and Mary Ann, established the store in 1972 and Jeff recalls numerous stories about growing up...
Horace Gamlin was born to a piano tuner who taught his son the trade with hopes he would follow in his footsteps. While Horance enjoyed piano tuning, he felt he would be just as good as a...
Richard Gore’s father was a band director who expanded the school’s bookstore into a music store in Denton, Texas. As the store grew, Richard’s passion for music grew, as did his interes...
Janet Gratsch began working at Willis Music when she was 17 years old in the Choral Department. She remained with the store until she retired and even after her retirement she would be c...
George Hauer established Madison Music Center in 1998 in the small Connecticut town of the same name. His main focus is sheet music and band instruments, but if you ask him he may admit ...
Victor Himbaugh was still a teenager when he purchased used instruments and sound systems from newspaper ads just to clean them up and resell them out of his mother’s basement. He took vi...
Bob Kohl was hired by Music & Arts in Maryland just before turning sixteen years old and has been in the industry ever since that time. The store was located in the local mall and he...
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...
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...
Barbara Meeks fell in love with music at an early age and played flute all though school and into college where she majored in music education. While working at Buddy Roger’s Music in Oh...
Joyce Pinnell-Martin served as president of the famed print dealer Wingert-Jones Music in Kansas City. The store opened in 1960 and just two years later Joyce was hired as the book keeper...
Richard Rejino has spent much of his career in print music. Along with Charles Ashley, he owned and operated the print music department within Brook Mays Music stores in and around the D...
Dee Starkey recalls the days when his father, Jim, had a well known dance band in Wichita and played at night while teaching music during the day. In 1954 he opened Jim Starkey Music wit...
Rick Valentine is the founder and president of Valentine’s House of Music, a retail store dedicated to piano sheet music and method books. Over his career, Rick developed not only a true...
Dwight Vicks, III serves as president and is the third generation to run Vicks, a content delivery company originally known as Vicks Brothers Printing. Started by his grandfather, Dwight ...
Gail Warnaar started a double reed camp for high school band students in the Michigan area, which lead to her involvement with the music products industry. In 1981 Gail formed the Double...
Carol Wilbur worked closely with Richard Rejino during her career in the print music side of the music industry. She worked at Brook Mays Print Music before being hired by Richard Gore at...
