Gary Panton grew up in Niagara, New York, and played the drums and vibes in high school. It was there that he started his first band, a jazz trio. In 1970 he was hired by Dick Crino in Du...
Simon Jones has a rich background with the guitar, which has come full circle with his role with the Yamaha Guitar Group. As a teenager he played, and even built his own guitar to play wi...
KC Darrell always felt that his father was his best friend. They two opened a series of music stores in New Hampshire over the years, working side by side for over 40 years. KC learned th...
Gary Hobbs is a third generation professional drummer. His grandfather Harry led several big bands during the Great Depression era and his father, who later became a strong leader within ...
Kevin Ray Clark grew up with music in his home and played in a family band at church. He was inspired by the musicians playing at Disney World and pursued the trumpet in his school band p...
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 ...
Sylvia Tyson wrote songs that a generation sang, and she also recorded songs by other songwriters which helped define the Folk Music revival of the 1960s. In 1962 she wrote “You Were On M...
Bob Carbone is the co-founder of the Piano & Organ Center in Syracuse, New York. The store has a reputation for their quality products as well as creative lesson programs, which are o...
David Durben grew up in Fargo, North Dakota where he forged a career as a piano technician. After forming Durben Piano Services, David worked with area schools and churches as well as the...
David Sancious always had records playing in his home growing up and his dad would take him to jazz clubs when he was just a child to sit by the stage so he could see the piano player. As...
Dr. Lou Fischer has applied his love of music, his talents as a musician and his vast experiences on the road and in the studio to encourage students of all ages. Lou taught at Capital Un...
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...
Jim Widner was given a very special opportunity to join his grade school’s orchestra, which provided him an instrument to play. His love of music was fostered years later when he became a...
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...
Dan Miller grew up with music all around him and joined the school band the first chance he got. Dan was the first to admit how fortunate he was to have opportunities to go to many clinic...
Jonathan "Sugarfoot" Moffett grew up in New Orleans and used the style he developed in clubs, starting at the age of 10, to create a unique place in music history. His first significant r...
Tim Smith grew up in a very musical family as his father and uncle both wrote and record music. In fact, his uncle, Arthur Smith, wrote two of the most famous instrumentals in modern coun...
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...
Joseph Fox knew his great grandmother, Sarah, who along with her husband Otto, formed Fox Music House in South Carolina back in 1928. She was a great inspiration to Joseph who grew up kno...
Paul Leim established himself as one of the top studio drummers in both Los Angeles and Nashville. Paul has recorded with the likes of Randy Travis, Dolly Parton, Brian Setzer and Lionel ...
Donna Reed wanted to continue to provide music lessons even after retiring from teaching in a traditional school setting. After 30 years as a music education teacher in the public schools...
John Schauer grew up in Indiana where his father offered him some sage advice; “if you listen, you will know what to say.” The quote stayed with John as he developed a career in the music...
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...
Willie Bam Bam Parker’s mother has said that at birth, her son came out swinging and she knew even then that he was going to be a drummer. At age 3 his love of drums was rewarded his with...
Sonny Wittkopp studied business in college and landed a job as a bookkeeper for a local music store in Washington state. This experience generated a great passion for the music industry w...
Don Morris is the founder and product engineer behind Electroplex Amplifiers, which includes their famous Rocket series. In 1993, Don sat down with Trev Wilkinson to design a new amplifie...
Gary Leunberger opened a music store in San Francisco during the 1980s that soon specialized in electronic keyboards and synthesizers. Being a top seller of Yamaha instruments led the com...
Colin Steel is the founder of Keyboard Corner and KC's Rock Shop, both located in Melbourne, Australia. Colin began his career in music retail at Brash's Music in 1968 during the great ho...
Mike Martin grew up tinkering on his grandmother’s piano before and taking piano lessons throughout his school years. Hearing his first synthesizer helped provide the motivation to work t...
Jay Wanamaker found his passion for music as a member of a drum and bugle corps and eventually honed his skills while attending the Crane school of music at SUNY Potsdam University in Pot...
Bud DiFluri enjoyed a long and successful career in the music industry in both retail and manufacturing. He managed the Yamaha band and orchestra department in New York City with a focus ...
