Paul Finke played drums since he was just a kid and gravitated towards the music business in 1985 when he was hired at Willis Music. At the time the company had eight locations and workin...

Victor Himbaugh was still a teenager when he purchased used instruments and sound systems from newspaper ads just to clean them up and resell them out of his mother’s basement. He took vi...

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...

Marvin Maxwell opened Mom’s Music in Louisville, Kentucky with his wife Beverly in 1981. He also designed and developed a line of music themed toilet seats called “Jammin’ Johns,” which w...

Beverly Maxwell and her husband, Marvin, established Mom’s Music in Louisville, Kentucky in the early 1980s. Beverly took care of the books and the business end of the store while her hus...

Mark Maxwell’s love for music retailing goes back as far as he can remember. His parents started Mom’s Music in "Kentuckiana" with stores in Jeffersonville, IN and Louisville, KY. Mark li...

Harry Sparks is the founder of the Famous Old Time Music Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. Harry grew up in the folk and bluegrass era of the 1960s and joined a band at a young age. Over the y...

Linda (Wert) Young asked her parents, when she was twenty, to assist her in the upstart of a music store after realizing her passion for helping children identify their interest and abili...

Cathy Currier is the second generation to run Currier’s Music World, started by her father, Clifford. Currier’s Music World celebrated their 50th year in business in 2017 and Cathy and he...

Angela Currier was asked to leave her day job in order to assist her her husband, Cliff, run the family music store. While at first Angela was disappointed to leave her career, she soon f...

Jeff Douglas worked with Bob Willcutt in Lexington, Kentucky, and learned all about guitar building and repair.  Bob’s store is legendary and well respected for the selection and quality ...

Gary Hanser grew up in the music industry.  His grandfather formed a small music store and distribution business in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1924.  Since that time the company has ex...

Kevin Cranley grew up in the music industry and has a passion for all elements of the music business, as if it were in his blood.  As a young man he completed odd jobs around the Willis M...

Jack Shallat was a professional violin player who landed several gigs with traveling bands in the 1930s and 40s.  During that time he met Buddy Rogers and both men opened separate music s...

Dan Herbert played trumpet as a kid and later switched to drums to form a rock band in the days following the Beatle’s popularity in the early 1960s.  During the summers, he would work pa...

Janet Gratsch began working at Willis Music when she was 17 years old in the Choral Department.  She remained with the store until she retired and even after her retirement she would be c...

 Bob Willcutt still loves repairing guitars.  The nice view of downtown Lexington from his repair bench doesn't hurt.  Initially working as a social worker, Bob repaired and rebuilt vinta...

Gordy Wilcher believes that with the right mixture of passion and knowledge, the independent music retailer has the strength to bring music to young students, build new brands within thei...

Bill Xavier was introduced into the music products industry while working with Hartley Peavey. Peavey became a strong mentor to Bill and was like a second father to him. Bill has often sa...

Carl Henderson opened his first piano store in Covington, KY in 1963, after nearly 20 years in the finance business. In the early days he struggled to increase his inventory but ensured t...

Rick Kukulies helped design and develop the Kustom line of amplifiers in the 1970s. His electrical engineering background along with the advances in technology during that era resulted in...

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 ...

Don Wilson always enjoyed being around music, as a player, teacher, retailer, and as an award-winning baton twirler. He opened his music store in 1956 with the dream of running his busine...