Cliff Acred began playing music in junior high school and later majored in music in college. He played in the 3rd Army Band out of Atlanta while in the service and once out returned home...
Robert Averwater’s father, M. J. Averwater taught music, wrote a method book and opened up Amro Music in Memphis, TN, with a fellow music teacher. Robert recalled some of the challenges o...
C.J. Averwater recalls the story of his great grandfather, M.J. Averwater, a music teacher who decided to open a small store in Memphis called Amro Music. C.J. grew up in the business and...
Nick Averwater is part of the fourth generation of the Averwater family to be working at Amro Music in Memphis, TN. Nick fondly remembers his time as a kid running around the store and wo...
Chip Averwater took over the music retail business in Memphis, just as his father did and his son would one day, keeping the tradition in the family. Chip’s passion for the music business...
Don Bindrim is the owner of Tooters Music store in Cleveland, Tennessee. The store focuses on band and orchestra instruments with a strong focus on the local school band programs. Don’s...
Skip Buss played trumpet for several big bands on the road and in local hotel ballrooms during the great Swing Era of the 1940s. He decided to leave the road when his son was born at whi...
Mark Campbell is the Manager of the Guitar Center in Nashville. He began his music retail career in Knoxville and came to Nashville in 2005. Among the unique elements of his store are the...
Susan Carson opened her first music store, Taylor Guitar Shop, at just 18 years old in Johnson, Tennessee. Taylor Guitar Shop became the local hangout spot for bluegrass pickers and those...
Christie Carter and her husband, Walter, are the proud owners of Carter Vintage Guitars in Nashville, which has a family friendly feeling by design! Christie wanted to help create a plac...
Lynn Clapp opened a small guitar shop in the back of a piano store in 1967. He later moved into his own building in Knoxville and called the place Lynn's Guitars. The store was a hot sp...
Pamela Cole played trombone in school and learned firsthand the importance of supportive people in the formative years of a young musician. After graduating from Belmont College in Nashvi...
Bobby Crafford still has his first snare drum, the one he played when he recorded early Rockabilly songs for Sun Records in Memphis, TN. In 1957 he joined the Pacers, the band behind Sonn...
Fred Douglas recalled picking up his first Fender Precision Bass when he was hired to record as a member of the Pacers. The Pacers were the band behind the “wild man of rock and roll” Son...
Vernon Drane played several musical instruments growing up in Tennessee including the trumpet and saxophone. He later studied instrument repair and spent 68 years (!) working with the Amr...
Gary Forkum had the idea of setting up a small percussion display in the back closet of Corner Music where he was working. The drum department grew so much that Corner Music owner Larry G...
Larry Garris is the founder of Corner Music in Nashville, Tennessee. Located in the heart of the country music region, Corner Music has become the place to purchase the latest gear and to...
Bob Hazard was a very familiar face in the Memphis music retail market for over sixty years. His piano and organ business played an important role during the boom of home organs during th...
Bill Jones is the founder of Bill Jones Music in Knoxville Tennessee. The retailer started in 1973 with a focus on piano and organs, which was during the height of the organ boom. Over t...
Marjorie Jones and her husband opened the Bill Jones Music store in Knoxville, Tennessee back in 1973. She joined Bill full-time in 1989 after raising their children, and in 2011, Marjori...
Max Jones is the official greeter at Bill Jones Music in Knoxville. He does his best to meet each person as they enter the store and won’t mind if the customers take a moment to rub his b...
Henry Juszkiewicz, Gibson Guitar Corporation’s former CEO, attended the Rainforest Alliance’s annual gala concert in 1994, where he first heard about the SmartWood program. He realized by...
TK Keckler moved to Memphis at an early age and began playing with local bands, which is when he met Mike Ladd. Mike was a musician who opened a small guitar shop in town and would later ...
Kern Kennedy tickled the ivories on a number of early rock and roll and rockabilly recordings back in the 1950s. It was the heyday for Sun Studios in Memphis right after the success of El...
Mike Ladd was one of the first music retailers in the United States to provide custom-made guitars. He had three locations in Memphis, the last of which was right across the street from G...
Jennifer Lantz lights up with joy when reflecting on the early days of Bandwagon Music, the store she co-founded with her husband in 2016 in Nashville. Initially established as a repair s...
Linden Lantz has been immersed in music for as long as he can remember—after all, his parents met while playing saxophone together in their school band. Inspired by their love of music, L...
Charles Lawing formed the Memphis music store Strings & Things in the 1970s and grew the business in size and product line along with his partner Chris Lovell. Charles enjoyed the ser...
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 ...
Chris Lovell knew there would be a place for him in the music industry and set out at a young age to make a difference. Along with Charles Lawing, Chris established the Strings & Thin...
Leigh Maples played her ukulele as her sister sang when the two were small and remains an important memory for Leigh. She later played guitar in high school and went on to study music bu...
Owen McPeek always wanted to play music, so he found several day jobs that allowed him to play music at night. He ran Rush’s Music on Alcoa Highway in Knoxville, Tennessee, for over a dec...
