Bruce Bannister is the current president of Samuel Music in Effingham, Illinois. The store was formed in the 1940s by Lowell Samuel, the band director turned music industry pioneer. Bruce...
Peter Bartkus grew up in Rockford, Illinois and was proud to establish a music shop there in the early 1950s. Tru Tone Music became a hub for musicians and was known throughout the area f...
Ashley Beleny is a music teacher and associate at Piano Trends Music Company in Crystal Lake, Illinois. Her love and passion for music began in her church where she was often found singin...
John Benedeck sat down at the keyboard during his NAMM interview to demonstrate the riffs and clever tunes he plays as an organist for the Chicago Cubs baseball team! He is proud to have ...
Larry Biernacki opened the first of three music stores in Deerfield, Illinois. Like with all three locations, he named it after the local community to provide a neighborhood feel to each ...
Jonathon Breen’s grandparents opened The Music Shoppe in 1961 in Bloomington, Illinois. Back then the name was spelled without the second P and the E, which were added later by his Uncle ...
Aldren Briones is a passionate musician and songwriter who found great satisfaction in providing music lessons at his local music store. The store, Piano Trends, was founded by Tim and Bo...
Evelyn Brue-Roeder opened her music store in 1940! Her main focus in the early days was music lessons, however she soon added sheet music, accessories and musical instruments. She develop...
Tony Buffalo retired in 2023 after a distinguished career as a district manager for Guitar Center. His father was a trumpet player and leader of a swing band called Vito Buffalo & His...
Don Canedy was a beloved band director and professor at Southern Illinois University before being hired by the Roger’s Drum Company in 1961. Don played drums beginning at the age of 10 an...
Joy Collins had a very successful career selling pianos and organs! In fact she may very well be the person who sold the most Allen Organs ever. Joy was hired by Glenn Davis, who owned a ...
Rich Covas owned Modern Music store's three locations for thirteen years beginning in 1966. The locations covered band and orchestra instruments as well as guitar, keyboards, and drums. T...
Gil Ellman grew up in the big band era, loving the sounds of large orchestras. He was motivated to create as many opportunities for students to make music as possible. He studied band ins...
Joan Ellman and her husband, Gil, established Ellman’s Music Center in 1958. Five years later the store moved to Naperville, Illinois, where it is located today. Joan kept the books and i...
Jesse Flores was the founder of Flores Music stores located in Peoria and Pekin, Illinois. He had the idea of surrounding himself with music when he was a young boy and when the chance ca...
Gary Gand grew up playing music and developed a passion for musical instruments. In 1971, he parlayed this passion into a successful career in music retail. Gand Music and Sound, located ...
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...
Joan Gand followed her drummer brother to a gig while still in high school. There, he introduced her to a guitarist from another school who eventually became her future husband, Gary Gan...
Mary Garbrecht is in the envious position to experience the moment when a child makes their first sound on an instrument! As the educational road rep for Quinlan & Fabish, a music sto...
Mark Gardner, currently a co-owner of Naperville Music near Chicago, was a working musician who needed a day job, so he joined the company in 1985. Learning from a NAMM seminar in the ear...
Scott Gauthier is the Repair Shop Manager for the Arlington Heights location of Quinlan & Fabish, a chain of music stores in the greater Chicago area. Scott was encouraged by his moth...
Sandy Goff, co-owner of Paige's Music, has had many first-hand experiences witnessing the importance of music education in the lives of young students as well as the passion for music so ...
Mark Goff was ready to work for a musical instrument manufacturer after college when he was told that he needed retail experience. Impressed with the idea and eager to learn all he could ...
Bill Gray was a music major in college and played drums professionally before joining the industry. Bill worked in music retail and as a manufacturer’s rep, which provided valuable experi...
Gloria Guido studied classical music and opera before meeting her husband, jazz man Joe Guido. Together the couple opened Guido’s Music in Chicago, Illinois, in 1958, the same year they w...
Dan Hagedorn grew up watching his father run the family’s music retail business and always knew he would work in the music industry. His father, known as Crazy Al, began his business in t...
Katie Helgeson remembers the day in the fourth grade when a local music store brought instruments to her school to try out. She asked the instructor which was the hardest to learn and so ...
Ed Hendricks always enjoyed selling. After serving heroically in World War II, he worked in several Chicago-area department stores before being hired by Don Broman to work for Lyon & ...
Peter Hix loves the ukulele. Well, he loves every instrument but does have an extra fondness and appreciation for the ukulele. He was exposed to music from the very beginning, growing u...
David Horine opened a small piano store in Bloomington, Illinois in the 1980s. David became a piano technician and gathered a nice reputation for tuning and repairs before he decided to ...
Beth Houlihan often reflects on the important role her mother played in establishing the family owned music store along with her father in 1974. Beth took note of the way her mother kept ...
Ede Kidder was teaching full time when her husband came home from his job at a music store with the idea of owning their own store. Luckily for Jim, Ede jumped in with her many skills to...
