Pro Audio
Chuck Ainlay was a member of a band in school which is where his love and passion for music began. Although he knew he may not make it as a professional musician, he knew he wanted to be involved with music somehow. In college he was exposed to a recording studio and soon realized his passion for...
Chet Roberts attended MTSU where he earned a degree in engineering. He was honing his skills in a studio when he met members of the rock band 3 Doors Down. Chet acted as an assistant in their Rivergate Studios in Tennessee before he was asked to go on the road as their guitar tech. It was an...
Jason Turner was surrounded by music growing up and by the fourth grade he was imitating Floyd Cramer’s style of piano playing. He remembers the day in the sixth grade when Mississippi Music came to his school to demonstrate instruments, and it inspired him to join the school band program. In 1996...
Willie Hatcher gives a great deal of credit to the public-school system in Mississippi when he was growing up in the 1950s for providing a variety of shop classes. Those instructional courses included woodworking, automotive, and machine shop, and they all provided Willie with the background he...
Courtland Gray joined the Peavey Electronics team in Meridian, Mississippi in 2001 working in the finance department. As his career developed at Peavey and his position changed to CFO, Courtland learned the core values of the company firsthand from the founder, Hartley. Those values are now deeply...
Steve Johnson played saxophone in high school and in college while earning his electrical engineering degree. He was able to apply both passions when he joined the pro audio industry working for companies such as Shure and Harman, and also while serving as CEO of Community Professional Loudspeakers...
Bruce Howze is the founder of Community Professional Loudspeakers, which he established in 1968 after being asked to provide sound for such venues as the Electric Factory in Philadelphia. Bruce designed the first midrange sound system and later toured with rock and roll bands to test out his...
Thomas Dolby was a champion of early synthesizers and used them often during his performances as a pop star beginning in the 1980s. For example, his 1982 hit “She Blinded Me with Science” incorporates several synths including the MiniMoog and the Simmons Drum Machine. Always looking for ways to...
Dave Lopez grew up in East Los Angeles and witnessed the explosive evolution of the mobile DJ, beginning in the late 1970s. During high school Dave was asked to provide the music for a dance party. Before he knew it he was part of a DJ troop, originally known as French Twist, who later changed ...
Ivor Taylor took part in one of the great developments of the music industry when he established a pro audio retail store in London. Turnkey was just that, an easy solution for its customers who were seeking to take advantage of developing technologies to make, record, and produce music. It was...