Canadian Music Industry
Eddy Shenker teamed up with Marty Golden in the mid 1970s to form JAM Industries. The distribution company has become one of the largest in Canada and introduced the market to a number of innovative products. Eddy’s background as an accountant not only played a vital role for JAM, but was an...
Martin Szpiro's mother was the office manger and one of the first employees of JAM Industries, a Canadian wholesaler started by Marty Golden and Eddy Shenker in the early 70's. As the company grew to include growing segments of the industry such as pro audio, they needed a "go to" man. Martin (...
Sol Fleising worked for Erikson’s Musical after earning his business degree and even worked in a small music retail store for a while, but he had a vision to own his own company. During the boom of pro audio and electronic instruments of the 1970s, Sol focused on bringing products to the Canadian...
William Locke worked for the Canadian division of the C.F. Martin & Company going back to the early 1970s. During that same time period, several suppliers came together to form the Musical Instrument Association of Canada (MIAC). William (Bill) joined the board of MIAC, including a term as...
Fred Kalisky became enamored with the maracas on his very first trip to Mexico City and realized it was an instrument that could be successful in the Canadian market (his home since relocating from his native Poland after World War II). The same year, 1957, he formed his wholesale business and...
Fred Theriault recalls the first time he set foot in Long & McQuade’s Music Store. He was still a teen and bought a snare drum from Jack McQuade; ironically Fred later was hired and has spent nearly 50 years with the company. Jack Long hired Fred in the store and soon put him in charge of the...
Jean Larrivee fell in love with the guitar as a young boy growing up in Canada during the folk craze of the 1960s. He imagined a unique sound for an acoustic guitar and set out to create a handcrafted instrument that would produce that sound. The more guitars Jean created, the more demand he seemed...
Ray Ayotte was born in Millardville Canada where as a youngster he began playing drums for rock bands he formed with schoolmates. Throughout his early playing days, Ray made little adjustments to his kit and learned that other players enjoyed the changes and sounds he could make. He dreamed of one...
Al Kowalenko oversaw one of the largest growths in the music products industry during the 1980s and 1990s –the Canadian market. As president of MIAC, beginning in 1979, Al fostered the development of the Canadian annual music fair and the relationships between retailers and suppliers. Al has also...
Thomas Siwe served as president of the Percussive Arts Society (PAS) in the early days of the organization. In fact, while serving on the board he took part in the expansion of the PAS chapters into Canada. He also played a vital role in the beginning stages of the PAS museum. As an educator and...