Beeb Birtles developed a passion for music at a young age when his parents bought him a piano-accordion while growing up in Amsterdam. After emigrating to Australia with his family, Beeb ...

Graeham Goble is a founding member, main songwriter and the architect of Little River Band’s sound. Graeham always had a deep and passionate love for songwriting! When he bought his first...

Claudio Cecere grew up in the music store his father established in Southern Australia. He learned to play drums at an early age and started giving music lessons while still in school. Hi...

Joe Cecere established a small music school in 1967 in Southern Australia. As a teacher, he wanted to provide a safe and welcoming place for students at all levels to learn and appreciate...

Les Brazil’s first retail job was in Manchester, United Kingdom in 1966 when he was just 15, at a shop called Reno’s. Reno was a famous violin player that worked with the likes of Stephan...

Philip Burn is currently the managing director of Hal Leonard Australia. He first commenced work for iconic Australian distributor, Rose Music, in 1976 (which in 1986 became Yamaha Music ...

Merv Cargill was the owner of Cargill Custom Guitars. After completing an apprenticeship in violin making he learned the finer details of building wooden instruments and became a qualifie...

Vera May was the matriarch figure of the iconic Australian acoustic instrument maker Maton Guitars. Wife of the founder, Bill May, Vera worked in the business from 1954 until her retireme...

Frank Corniola was born in Italy and moved to Australia when he was seven years old and he began playing drums professionally as a teenager. Like many gigging musicians, Frank took a day ...

John Payton and his brother Paul were always surrounded by music. Their father, John Payton Sr., ran the family business that he moved to Australia and expanded into music wholesaling. Jo...

Peter Vogel and his schoolmate, Kim Ryrie, created the Fairlight Computer Musical Instrument (CMI) in 1975. The innovative computer based synthesizer helped revolutionize the music indust...

Wendy Hutchings, along with her sister, Amanda, and daughter, Jody Whyte, are the owners of Hutchings Piano. The store was established by her father back in 1955 when he started selling p...

Carole Johnston is the Managing Director of CMC Music, a wholesale company she formed with her father, Pat Bonham. Pat was a pioneer in the music industry and a founding member of the Aus...

Kevin Hague is the Managing Director and founder of Australasian Music Supplies. He started his wholesale business in 1978 and grew it to become one of the biggest in the country. Austral...

Jody Whyte recalls fondly sitting in the family store as a child watching her grandfather repair pianos and then he would make banana pancakes for her. Those memories took on extra meanin...

Kim Ryrie was just a few years out of high school when he called his friend Peter Vogel to discuss a new idea. Peter and Kim worked on several electronic related projects together in scho...

David O'Loughlin joined his mother in the wholesale company his father had formed to import Fender guitars into Australia. He grew up in the business and recalls with a smile his college ...

Glenn Dodson played bass for a band he started with his schoolmates called Purple Haze. The band was high class, right down to their purple shirts! It was a fun experience that provided a...

John Egan was working for Ford Motor Company when his old friend and former colleague, Peter Hayward called him. Peter had formed a music wholesale company, which was expanding by the lat...

Margaret O'Loughlin was inducted into the Australian Music Association's Honor Roll in 2017 for her dedication to the music industry. After her husband, Peter, had taken ill and passed aw...

Norm Lurie played the guitar as a teenager and was a big fan of Bob Dylan. After working in the book publishing business in Melbourne for eight years, Norm was given the opportunity to wo...

Trevor Morrow left his native country Ireland in his 20s to relocate to Australia where he met Peter Hayward and the two established a music wholesaler called Australis Music. The company...

John Masson was front pumping organs during the great home organ boom of the 1970s. He opened Masson Organ Villa in 1975 demonstrating Baldwin Pianos and Kawai keyboards and organs. He la...

Mike Tyler has been involved with music his entire life, and at the age of five he was playing clarinet. He was a rock drummer while in college studying music education and was later a sc...

Sandra Lindsay is the Managing Director of Muso's Corner, a music store located in Newcastle, New South Whales, Australia. She purchased a small piano store and repair shop in 1967 and la...

Mark Morris and his brother formed Morris Music in Brisbane, Australia in 2001. The tradition of his family's involvement in the music industry goes back to 1967 when his father, John Mor...

Owen Ray recalls his father buying him a ukulele when he was a kid and his passion for string instruments began! Owen played a vital role in the Australian guitar market when he started r...

Ross Cole was inducted into the Australian Music Association's Honor Roll in 2017 for his life long career in music education. In 1978, Ross and his wife Marilyn opened Cove Music and lat...

Mark Barratt operates a music store that has been in his family for years. His great grandfather opened a clothing store that later sold pianos and was then expanded by his grandfather to...

Palmi Snorrasen grew up in Iceland and was formally trained on the trombone, vibraphones, and accordion as a teenager. By his eighteenth birthday, Palmi was playing professionally and he ...

John Blanch grew up learning all about solid customer service from his father, who owned a grocery store north of Sydney, Australia. Those lessons helped John during his career in the mus...

Keith Huxtable worked for Rose Music (now Yamaha) in Melbourne for 13 years beginning in the early-1970s. Starting in the service department and moving into product management, he witness...