World War II
David “Bud” Morgan opened his music retail store in 1957 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Since that time Morgan’s Music has become a critical part of the community and the local school music programs. Built on a devotion to music and music making, Morgan’s Music followed the mission to serve the music...
John McDermott could sure sell pianos! His knowledge of the products and his strong relationship with music retailers made him an ideal and successful sales rep. John worked for the Gulbransen Piano Company during the company’s innovative era of the mid 1960s through the 1970s. After his retirement...
Bernie Kalban was one of the great veterans of the music publishing industry. Having worked in the era right after Tin Pan Alley, in the Brill Building and with many of the top firms, Bernie witnessed many of the most important changes to the music industry during the 20th century. He began working...
Ted Krumwiede was a veteran of the piano industry working for Kimball and Story & Clark in the important re-birth of the piano business following World War II. Ted had training and a real passion for marketing and found success telling the great stories of the companies we worked for. Ted was...
Richard Bennett served many roles during his long career in music, perhaps most notably as the sales rep for Wurlitzer towards the end of the 1960s. His involvement in retail and his philosophy on customer service have had a lasting effect on his success and the success of the dealers he would call...
Curtis Pearson served proudly during World War II and, upon returning to the United States, was told of a sales job at the Poole Music Company. After several successful years and getting the bug to sell, Curtis formed the first of seven music stores in North Carolina called Pearson's Music. The...
H. C. McMurtry sure knew a lot about the Wurlitzer Company! Not only did he work for the company for nearly 20 years, he traveled throughout the country, selling the company’s product line to hundreds of music dealers. H. C., known by his nickname, Harmon, served as the national sales rep for the...
Henry Wickham knew the secret of a good sounding piano, the cast iron plates. For decades Henry was the president of the Wickham Piano Company in Ohio, where many of the plates for Steinway and other companies were created. It was Henry Z. Steinway who strongly suggested to the NAMM staff that Mr....
Robert Campbell began his career in the music industry working for Conn Organ in 1947, the year the company gave a unit to President Harry S. Truman. Bob later worked with Don Leslie, the inventor of the famed Leslie organ speaker. Bob played an important role in the Leslie Speaker Company being...
Bernie Vance played the saxophone in a number of big bands during the swing era. He was drafted and served during World War II, only to come home and find that musical tastes had changed. The big band era was over so Bernie turned to what he knew best, his horn. If he couldn’t play it for a living...