Wurlitzer
Charles Hodges and his brothers were regular session players in Memphis. Charles was among the early keyboardist for Willie Mitchell's band, which was the cornerstone for the Hi Records rhythm section. Charles can be heard on an amazing 26 gold records in a row, beginning with Al Green in the...
Steve Nathan is among the top studio musicians in Nashville. Although his recording career began in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Nashville studios have been requesting his musicianship non-stop for years. Each year, Music Row Magazine charts all of the hit records and which performer is on each hit. ...
Jim Hearn brings a great deal of experience to his position as Vice President at Piano Craft in Springfield, Missouri. Jim owned and operated his own music store in a local mall for over twenty years and before that cut his teeth in sales at one of the Wurlitzer factory-owned retail stores in...
Tim Laskey founded the Wyman Piano Company. After a long and successful career with some of the top names in the music industry, such as Wurlitzer and Baldwin, Tim wanted to introduce a new line of pianos to the market. The Wyman instruments are manufactured with state of the art advances in Asia...
Lynda Garcia is first and foremost a music teacher, which was not only her background but her life’s passion. As she taught, Lynda developed methods and materials that assisted individuals as well as groups learn and develop as musicians. Teaming with other educators, notably Brenda Dillon, she...
John Riley grew up playing music and earned a business degree in Boston. He applied for a job at the Wurlitzer retail store and was hired by a man named Bob Fletcher. When Bob moved to Florida to open a Lowrey Organ retail store, John joined him. Bob later established the Fletcher Music Center...
Dave Olsen’s passion for music began when he was eight years old and his mother, who also played, gave Dave lessons. He later played French horn for the school band and piano for the high school jazz band, which included Duffy Jackson on drums. After college he learned about Alfred Reed’s music...
Fred Davis began playing saxophone as a boy and started his own band, the Freddy Davis Orchestra, which played around Ohio during World War II. He was well equipped with reeds for his gigs as his mother owned a small music store in Marysville, where Fred grew up. After working in his mother's store...
Dewey Kuhn grew up listening to his grandmother playing the organ, which she did in her younger days accompanying silent movies. His passion grew as he learned to play. Dewey worked with the men who would later form Hal Leonard Publishing Company, with organ man Crane Bodine, and with Baldwin...
Ron Sfarzo may be the only interviewee within the NAMM Oral History collection who served as a police officer in California! Ron has been involved with music his entire life, with both his father and brother involved with music retail. While working in his brother’s San Francisco store, Ron was...