Diana White is like so many factory workers within the music industry because most of her friends and many members of her own family have worked in the same plant over the years. Diana i...
Dennis Vaughn began working in the Selmer factory in Elkhart, Indiana in the early 1970s and stayed on when the company merged with Conn. His first bench job was for Armstrong Flutes bef...
Elaine Taylor began working on the bench at Selmer in Elkhart in 1975, where she covered cases. Over the years she has worked in the cork and padding department for saxophones, also in t...
Gary Shanholt began working on the bench at Selmer in Elkhart on Main Street back in the 1970s. He continued to work for the company after it merged with Conn, becoming Conn-Selmer. Gar...
Bernice Pelmear began working in the Selmer factory in Elkhart, Indiana in 1973. She was trained by veteran co-workers, a tradition she carried on as a trainer years later. Her work foc...
Deb Hart began working in the Selmer office in Elkhart, Indiana in the early 1970s and stayed on when the company merged with Conn. Among the elements of the company she has enjoyed the ...
Viola Smith Viola played drums in a number of big bands and small combos during her career in music. She joined Phil Spitalny's all-female orchestra as the drummer and later appeared in s...
Leon Russell was the noted musician and songwriter who contributed greatly to popular and rock music during his long career. As a studio musician, Leon was active in the development of t...
Mary Henkin was well known in the band and orchestra business as the hostess with the mostest. Along with her husband, Danny, they put on extravagant parties that were still talked about ...
Nat Clark worked for the York Band Instrument Company for over 40 years! He was hired in New York in 1957 because his older brother was working for Carl Fischer, which owned York at the ...
Ace Cannon grew up in Mississippi singing with his father on street corners and in church, and he knew even as a small child that he wanted to have a life in music. When he was ten his f...
DW Caffey was very young when he found himself enamored with the piano. In 1940, when he was just fifteen years old, DW taught himself how to tune pianos. He read a book and asked an ol...
John Allegrezza began working in the piano business in 1957 and soon discovered he had a real passion for the business and the people. In 1981 he opened his store, Allegrezza Pianos, in R...
Kenny Loggins has enjoyed a long and prolific career in music as a performer and a songwriter! In addition to his celebrated musical career is his dedication to music education and the m...
Howard Rumsey may have played the first electric bass to be recorded on a jazz recording. While performing with Stan Kenton’s first orchestra in the early fall of 1941, Howard was asked ...
Milton Kyser was raised in a small, poor farming family in East, Texas. He grew up during the Great Depression and in fact as a boy told himself if he ever had a business of his own he w...
Jeff Eckroth grew up surrounded by music retail, having been raised in the family business founded by his parents, Bill and Mary Ann Eckroth, in 1972. From an early age, Jeff was immersed...
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...
Jon Gold grew up playing in area bands and hanging out in local stores. He soon was able to answer customer's questions about guitars hanging on the walls and found he was offered a job....
Fred Decker formed the retail store Music Villa in Boseman, Montana, which is now run by his son. Fred's passion for the music business became an inspiration for several members of the m...
Jim Crockett was the first official editor of Guitar Player Magazine as he was hired by the founder, Bud Eastman, four years after the magazine began. Bud and Maxine Eastman owned Guitar...
Ernie Borr was a band director from Mandan, North Dakota who was an early supporter of the Eckroth Music store. Ernie was on hand for the Eckroth Music Center's 40th anniversary party in...
Sharman Beasley-Vesecky grew up in the music business as her grandfather, William Howard Beasley, served as the president of the NAMM Board of Directors from 1939-1940. Sharman has becom...
Dean Zelinsky wanted to bring cool guitars to the market place and when he set out to do just that he was still in high school! The year after graduating, he opened Dean Guitars and atte...
Art Wiggs has always admired the Gretsch brand of guitars. He grew up in a musical family, as his parents played in church and on the radio together. As a kid he played the guitar with ...
Sam Wangler ran a music store in Bismarck, North Dakoda for 35 years before his retirement. He taught himself guitar after hearing "Walk Don't Run" by the Ventures as a kid. He later pl...
Ren Wall proudly followed his father's footsteps and worked in the Gibson Guitar Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He began working for the company in 1960 and continued until 1982. A few...
Robert Walker worked for the retail stores of the Baldwin Piano Company. He was located in the San Francisco store but later traveled the western states repairing and adjusting organs as...
Mike Stoll has had a passion for electronics and music since before he can remember. He pursued an education in electronics and began working with the famed Crown International in Elkhar...
Joyce Shelven was a factory worker for the Gibson Guitar Company when it was located in Kalamazoon, Michigan. She was hired in 1947 just after the war and began working in the sanding de...
