George Benson played trombone during school and studied piano during college. It was during that time that he began working for a local music store. He worked for Hoover Music in Jackso...
Don Broman worked long and hard in the music products industry, striving to create quality products and dependable customer service to dealers around the world. When he joined the Lyon &a...
Dave Brubeck played Baldwin Pianos for most of his long career. As a classically trained performer, he added poly-rhythmic concepts to jazz. Among his most celebrated recordings is the wo...
Dick Christian has spent his entire career in the piano and organ business and has made many friends along the way. His support for the industry led him to the role as president of the Na...
Chris Climer wanted to play the piano and organ when he was 16 years old. He did not have the money to purchase an instrument so he made an arrangement to work in a music store in Arkans...
Jim Coleman recalls watching his father, a true traveling music man, tune a piano when Jim was just a boy. He not only went on to make a career of tuning, but set standards for testing tu...
Betty Comer has owned and operated Gibson’s Music in Corbin, Kentucky since 1969. When asked about the store, Betty fondly describes Gibson’s as “the Mom and Pop store but just with the M...
Robert C. Cosgrove was hired by the Baldwin Piano Company following World War II and later worked his way up to vice president. He witnessed the re-building of the production line, which ...
Craig Doerge played keyboards in the famous group of Los Angeles based studio musicians known as The Section. The Section, which also included Leland Sklar, Russ Kunkel and Danny Kortchma...
Tom Dorn studied jazz trumpet at Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisconsin. The experience cemented his passion for music and soon Tom found himself working for the Wurlitzer retail stores...
Ken Edgington has many friends in the music industry, several of whom suggested he be included in the NAMM Oral History program, but when approached Ken was rather humble about his role i...
G. Frank Emerson is a piano designer whose roots are firmly based in piano technician training and experiences he was involved with in the early part of his career. He became a well respe...
Rodney Ethridge was the plant manager for the Baldwin Piano factory in Greenwood, Mississippi beginning in the early 1970s. He began working in the engineering department and rose to mana...
Delwin Fandrich, as a teenager, often spent time with his older brother Darrell, who was a piano technician. Delwin slowly developed his own skills with the trade and focused on learning ...
Jim Foldvary was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, and was exposed to music at young age since his father was a violinist. Jim took up the guitar with some of his friends and remembers pla...
William Fuller began working as a salesman for the Wurlitzer Company in 1953. His original idea was to gain some sales training and look for a job in the office, which was based in his ho...
Ernesto Gittli was born in Uruguay and moved to the U.S. as a small boy before he began taking piano lessons. He met his wife, who also taught music, and together they envisioned a music ...
Paul Graves began delivering pianos in 1957 up in Minnesota before moving to Alabama where he continued to deliver. He soon discovered that he would make more money if he sold the pianos...
Gary Grimes played a very vital role in the early part of his career, working in the music education department at Wurlitzer. Gary wrote many of the training programs for Wurlitzer as wel...
Gene Haugh began his career as a factory worker for the Baldwin Piano Company in Arkansas making parts for the electric organ. Gene was hired by the DH Baldwin Company in 1966 and in just...
Frank Huffman was the quintessential traveling music salesman! With charm and always a few good jokes, Frank has made his way across the United States, first for Wurlitzer and then for Ba...
Dewey Kuhn grew up listening to his grandmother playing the organ, which she did in her younger days accompanying silent movies. His passion grew as he learned to play.
Tim Laskey founded the Wyman Piano Company. After a long and successful career with some of the top names in the music industry, such as Wurlitzer and Baldwin, Tim wanted to introduce a ...
Charles Lawson played church organ from boyhood all the way into his 90s. He was hired by a small piano store when he first moved to Bristol, Tennessee, from Knoxville to be close to his ...
Muriel Long began teaching piano in 1959 and since that time two things have been very clear to those who know her, she is a passionate music maker and a heck of a salesperson! She grew u...
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...
Glenda Mims was hired in 1978 in the purchasing department of the Greenwood, Mississippi, Baldwin plant. She remained with the company when it was sold and the Greenwood plant was closed ...
James M. E. Mixter may very well have been the only person in the industry to have worked for Baldwin Pianos before, during, and after World War II. As a result, he was able to provide me...
Greg Murdaugh is the president of Piano Craft in Springfield, Missouri. The store, which is co-owned by his wife Shelley, opened in 1999. Greg grew up in the business, as his father owne...
George Nellas started his career in the music industry at Byerly Music in the 1970s selling home organs in the store's mall locations. After moving to Los Angeles, George worked for Sher...
Scott Nelson would often think that “if you can sell an organ, you can sell anything,” and it got him far in his career. He started selling organs and pianos at a young age in music retai...
Robert Neu grew up in the Cincinnati area and went to work for Baldwin Piano Company on August 2, 1946, right after World War II. In fact, Bob started out as a time keeper to keep track o...
