Salesmen-Sales Reps

Dennis Awe is passionate about the organ! As a recording artist he has performed on many products, endorsing the Lowrey Organ for many decades. As a keen salesman, Dennis has written books on the process of marketing and selling to encourage others. As a music maker, Dennis has brought the sounds of his talents to millions, with a smile and a friendly handshake. His love of the industry is only equaled by his desire to see growth in the sales of musical products, a goal he is always willing to share with others. 

Dick Bell was surprised by the impact he had on the music industry, a fact that became clear to him at the NAMM Show 2009, when the Roland Corp gave him a retirement party and NAMM requested an interview for the Oral History program. He began his career in the music industry, as Dick said, “with no training at all.” He worked in the supply department at Kaman before the aerospace company branched out into the guitar business in the 1960s.

John Beltrandi served as a road rep for Kaman Music on the east coast for over 40 years. He traveled mostly in Massachusetts and Connecticut and helped pioneer the Ovation guitar, which was not well accepted when it was first introduced, but built up a strong audience in the early years. The Ovation guitar was introduced in 1966 and by the time John came to the company a few years later, singer Glen Campbell had used the instrument on his TV program.

Lou Berger is an energetic piano salesman in the style of the old piano traveler of a by-gone era. In fact, what Lou knows about selling pianos he learned from some of the old timers when he was a young man starting out in the business. Lou is a walking encyclopedia of the piano business and is well versed in the player piano boom of the 1890s all the way to the electronic piano disc boom of the 1990s. In fact he has provided training classes for the Museum of Making Music’s docent program on the subject of player pianos.

Larry Fresch has worked by day as a sales manager for piano and organ companies and by night as an accomplished saxophone player and singer in Southern California. He grew up in Sandusky, Ohio, where his father had a music retail store. Young Larry began playing the accordion before switching to the saxophone at the age of ten. He enlisted in the United States Navy and attended the Navy Music School in Washington, DC. Larry performed on many Goodwill Tours including those for wounded soldiers returning home from Vietnam.

Gene Fresco is one of the top sales reps of our industry. As a mentor and teacher, he has provided real and practical sales methods to countless men and women in and out of the music products industry. His first love is selling and he has made a career of it and the craft of teaching it to others. His pioneering skills revolutionized the Sunn Company in the early 70s. In fact, it was Gene's idea for them to sell lighting gear –get it Sunn light! Gene took on over 20 lines over the next 30 plus years and still enjoys the craft of selling.

Hugh Goldsmith was hired by the Mason-Risch Piano Company of Canada when he was still a teenager in 1937. Times were difficult during the depression era and into the war years when Hugh enlisted into the Canadian Air Force. After the war he returned to the industry and worked as a traveling sales rep for nearly 30 years as well as a retailer and piano manufacture.

Vince Grantano has been a fixture among traveling piano representatives. He has traveled the entire United States for several companies over the years to bring new products to retailers. His most notable job was with the Winter Piano Company where he worked for several decades. Vince joined the National Piano Traveler’s Association in the 1950s, during a time when several of the old timers could talk about the golden age of the piano in the early 1900s.

Bob Gray is often called the "Music Man" for a good reason. Over his long career, Bob sold something like 10,000 pianos! Even during his NAMM interview, it was clear that he was a passionate salesman who enjoyed his career very much. Over the years he witnessed some of the biggest changes in technology, which have greatly affected the way traveling salesmen conduct business—just think of the fax machine, two lane highways and the cell phone.

Gene Gray was a sales rep for the mighty Wurlitzer Company from 1965 until 1988. During his NAMM interview, Gene spoke first hand of the great family feelings many had while working for the DeKalb,IL, based manufacturer. Gene played in his high school marching band and had music a part of his life in college where he studied economics and began working in sales. After several years in a music retail store and in other industries Gene started his long association with Wurlitzer.