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...
Ron Lorenz has enjoyed a long career in the music business beginning in the early 1960s. Ron worked in retail, as a road rep, owned his own music retail store, and was the founder of Rap...
Steve Judge is the president of Griggs Music in Davenport, one of the oldest music retailers in the country. Formed in 1903, the company has gained a reputation for staying power, which ...
Phil Jost had a very interesting career in music as a musician before joining the sales team at St. Louis Music in 1974 and thus entering the music products industry. In his early days, b...
Casey Jones began his musical career as a Chicago-area blues drummer in the mid 1950s. He had only been playing a few years when he was encouraged to sing at a gig. He imitated Little R...
Syl Johnson recorded a string of popular blues and R&B songs in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, which have been inspirational for generations of musicians. Soul, funk and Hip-Hop artists hav...
Carol Holtz was hired by the Martin Band Instrument Company in Elkhart during World War II. She has many fond memories of working for the company and the family feeling it had. Speaking...
Willie Hayes was a Chicago blues drummer renowned for his versatile style, making him an ideal fit for a wide range of performers and media. Over the years, he became a prominent figure i...
Bob Gand opened a music shop in Deerfield, IL in the early 1960s, which was an influence not only to the community but to his son Gary. Gary went on to open his own successful retail bus...
Christi Foster-Nunnally grew up in her parent's Iowa piano store and recalls with fondness getting paid a nickel to dust each piano. She became a buyer for a local chain department store...
Marilyn Foster supported her husband's idea to open a music store in her home state of Iowa. From the beginning, she looked after all of the books and accounting for the store. She enjoy...
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...
Tracy Dean is a well-known and well-regarded independent rep based in the St. Louis area. He began his career in the industry at St. Louis Music where he began as a telephone salesman. ...
Peter D’Addario is proud of his family’s long association with the music industry. In fact, his family’s string making goes back to the seventeenth century. Peter recalls going to the w...
Eddy Clearwater was a teenager when he left Mississippi to live with his uncle in Chicago. There he discovered his love for the blues. As a guitarist, Eddy became a sought after session...
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...
Stanley Miller received the 2009 Parnelli Audio Innovator Award for his long and successful career in the music and concert production industries. In 1962 he opened a small commercial au...
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 ...
Penny Kline grew up in the music business as her mother was the founder of Kline Music in Sacramento, California and her father was a band director in area schools. When her father neede...
Brian Jemelian didn't think of himself as a musician, although he played violin as a child and later as an employee of Yamaha he took both piano and guitar lessons. Brian studied busines...
Roy Bickel joined the circus as a teenager and at one point held the record for traveling the longest distance after being shot out of a cannon. One day he was asked if he wanted to make...
Charles Anderson displayed his love for music education beginning at a young age. In fact, he was hired at the age of 15 to teach while he was still in high school. Over the years he ex...
Mark Engebretson has enjoyed a very long and successful career in pro audio product design and engineering. In fact, when he was introduced at the 2013 Parnelli Awards to receive the Aud...
Rick Wakeman was a powerful force in the development of progressive rock thanks in large part to his keyboard musicianship, songwriting and his deep passion for electronic musical instrum...
George Travis has been to nearly every Bruce Springsteen concert since 1978! As a noted concert producer, George has been a key element in the innovative concert experiences fans have co...
Mo Morrison could often be found behind the stage at every concert and performance by Lady Gaga. As a concert production and tour manager, he worked with many of the biggest and brightes...
Betty Kline was getting a little tired of running to town for band accessories when her husband, a music director, needed something for his students. What started out being a large box o...
Hitoshi Fukutome has enjoyed a long and interesting career at the Yamaha Corporation. He joined Yamaha in 1982 and has served in many roles for the company over the years including Manag...
Bonnie Fitch has always considered herself a music teacher. After her time in the classroom, she formed her own music store in Las Vegas and tried to make every customer experience a lea...
William Thomas is a recent retiree who served as first the head Band Director at Lakota East High School outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. He gives insights on the challenges and rewards of be...
