Jeff Falgien’s passion for the piano and organ can be traced back to the age of six. Before he was a teenager, Jeff was hired to play in front windows of mall music stores to generate int...
Chris Tso is a perfect example of the benefits the music products industry receives when a musician enters it's world. Chris grew up blocks away from the Apollo Theater and the Cotton Clu...
Nancy Kewin Smith is a pioneering senior executive who served the music products industry in an era in which she was among a small number of women in high-ranking positions. After earning...
Jimmy Edwards grew up in a musical family. His father was a singer in a rock band and Jimmy began playing drums by the time he was five and later picked up the guitar. After serving in th...
David Slan took three years of piano lessons when he was growing up before switching to guitar. He was heavily influenced by rock and roll and played in bands throughout high school and c...
O’Lyn Callahan has played the piano since she was eight years old and started on organ at age twelve after receiving a Hammond B3 from her father. She came in third place at a Yamaha orga...
Linda Oberg grew up in a very musical family and was always surrounded by music at a young age. She took piano lessons and studied music in school, which ultimately prepared her to be a p...
Dan Slick grew up in Johnstown, PA playing the family’s upright piano but soon switched his focus to the organ. He began his career in the music industry working at Fulton Piano and Organ...
Dana Messina was always intrigued by all the machinery in factories thanks to his engineering background, but his business skills are what lead to his success at both Selmer and Steinway....
Bryan Ottens began playing piano at an early age and studied music at William Paterson University. His first job in the industry was in the stock room at Victor’s House of Music, where he...
Jerry White and his brothers all played musical instruments growing up on their family farm in Wisconsin. Their father was a professional musician who played in popular dance bands. Jerry...
Bix Johnson’s parents started a small retail business out of their home following World War II, which grew into the multi-chain of stores for Mississippi Music. Bix grew up in the busines...
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 ...
Pat Averwater has always been proud of the musical legacy of his grandfather, who established Amro Music in the 1920s. Since then, the Memphis based store has become a hub for the musical...
Gabriela König is the CEO of König & Meyer, a music manufacturing company for which her grandfather started in the 1930s. He was a tool maker who saw the need for well structured musi...
Zach Frederick has been around music his entire life. His brother, Alex, is a professional classical percussionist and Zach was playing his first instrument in the fourth grade. What he d...
David Brown grew up in the music industry working with his grandfather at his store, Critchett’s Music in Des Moines, Iowa. Dave started at a young age, first washing windows in the back ...
Keith Brawley heads up the global sales for Taylor Guitars in El Cajon, California. The role is a perfect fit for Keith who knows and understands the importance of a quality instrument, h...
David Kalt remembers, with a smile, the Fender Stratocaster he dreamed of as a kid. He also recalls that great day in 1985 when he finally got a 1970s Strat! The instrument has a special ...
Tim Miklaucic; If you had asked a college-aged Tim Miklaucic where he thought he’d be in 2018, it certainly wouldn’t be as a CEO & Founder of an industry-leading guitar company & ...
Cindy Cook married long-time music retailer, Rand Cook, in 1998. Ten years later, the couple had the opportunity to purchase the very store Rand had worked in for nearly 20 years. Togethe...
Clint Strait was born in Austin, TX and is the 3rd generation to work for the Strait Music Company. Clint is carrying on his family’s tradition of great customer service and selection to ...
Jake Connolly has fond memories of working with his father, who became his mentor in life and the music business. Together, father and son grew their string distribution company from a sh...
Lynn Sheeley Jr.'s father opened a small piano store in east Tennessee in 1908. After serving in D-Day during World War II, Lynn returned home to work in the store, which he later took ov...
Bryan Bradley proudly states in his NAMM interview that he has had several mentors throughout his career that helped him grow and develop within the industry. Among those mentors were Ge...
Ron Losby was classically trained on the piano and began his love of the music industry by providing free lessons at Sherman Clay’s retail chain. He later worked within the Wurlitzer musi...
Ray van Straten began his love of music when his parents bought him a kids piano when he was four years old. He went on to study classical piano performance, as well as jazz arranging wit...
Kevin Prosser took over the piano and organ store his parents established in the mid-1980s. His brother later came into the business, which had several locations throughout Washington Sta...
Jim DeStafney is the co-owner of Blues Angel Music in Pensacola, Florida. After completing a 24-year career as a Navy fighter pilot, Jim opened the shop in 1997. Blues Angel Music has bee...
Lauren Haas Amanfoh started answering phones at age three and began writing rental contracts at age 10. She grew up in a music store, and went on to receive her degree from Ohio State Uni...
Jack Schechinger enjoyed his career in the music products industry. When he sat down for his NAMM Oral History program in retirement, Jack recalled the many friends and companies he work...
Harry Voshell started playing the saxophone in the fourth grade and fell in love! His interest in music grew over the years as he served in the United States Navy, where he played in sev...
