Guitars
Larry Byrom recalls hearing Louis Armstrong as a young kid and wanting to play the trumpet, so he did for a few years. Then, he saw Chet Atkins on television and by 14 years old began playing the guitar. Just four years later he was performing in the rock band Steppenwolf! Larry became a sought-...
Steve Fulton was born in California but quickly made his way to Austin to perform in bands all over town. Although he was originally a drummer, he was struck by the aura of the guitar and switched instruments. Steve purchased an already established guitar store and began to collect older guitars...
Manuel Delgado is proudly following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather as a luthier of musical instruments. His grandfather began making classical guitars in 1928 and since that time the family has been involved with making over 40 different stringed instruments. Manuel builds several...
Robert Strait is proud of the music retail traditions that his father developed when their family owned store was first established back in 1967. Since that time, his father, Dan, along with his brother, David, expanded the store to offer a complete line of musical instruments as well as lessons...
David Strait is one of two sons of original Strait Music Company owner and founder, Dan Strait. During his interview David talked about growing up working with their father in a true family business. David has been very successful as the head of the piano department for over 40 years and expanded...
Marty Lanham first moved to Nashville in the early 1970s from San Francisco and soon set up his first workshop. He worked for Gruhn Guitars as a repairman for eight years while fine-turning his skills as a luthier. Country stars John Anderson and Marty Stuart are among those Marty has built and...
Wayne Moss is the Nashville studio musician who, in 1961, built the Cinderella Recording Studios. Since that time several top recordings were captured in the studio including those by artists Chet Atkins, Barefoot Jerry, Area Code 615, Mickey Newberry, and Jerry Reed. As a session player, Wayne is...
Rick Santos enjoyed music from a very young age, played guitar, and after college he went into the banking world where a chance encounter with a local music retailer led him to buy a music store in Seekonk, Massachusetts. Eventually, Rick created a concept for a different kind of music store and...
Howard Kalisky is the president of Efkay Music Group in Lachine, Quebec, Canada. Howard's father Fred founded the company in 1957, and Howard is following in his footsteps. Howard has also followed his father’s commitment to customer service and distributing such famous brands as Ibanez Guitars,...
Kevin Becka started playing guitar at 11 years old and aspired to become a famous guitar player. Eventually realized he had a passion for engineering while working on construction crews building recording studios throughout the Los Angeles area, later becoming an assistant engineer in one of the...