Instrument Repair Technician
Jon Dawkes talked about the long-term vision of music education promotion at Dawkes Music during his NAMM Oral History interview. With help from brother David, Jon puts great effort in to creating musicians within the local schools. One of Dawkes Music’s first promotional steps began with a...
Greg Weast owned and operated Columbia River Music, a retail store in downtown The Dalles, out in Wasco County, Oregon. The location, 410 E 2nd Street, had its own musical history, having housed a series of music stores since the 1930s, including Cook Music, Fulton Music, Raben’s Records and Roth...
Ken Dapron grew up in a very musical family. His parents were members of the pop singing group called The Merry Macs. Music was all around him as a child. Ken played saxophone and drums in school and fell in love with the guitar. He played in many bands throughout his school years with dreams...
Walter Hutcherson began repairing guitars in the 1950s and in fact was one of the first repairmen to work on Fender Instruments. He opened Walters Music Exchange in Austin, Texas, and soon gained a reputation for reliable repair with special care and attention to detail (such as removing the cat...
John Kagerer is known as the Horn Doctor up in Anchorage, Alaska. With a very interesting background that includes welding and watch repair, John combined his skills to become one of the sought-after band instrument repair technicians in the state. After attending the Allied School, its founder,...
Joe Butkevicius became a flute specialist as an instrument repairman. Over the years Joe worked in music retail, for Pearl Flutes and now is employed by KHS. Joe has also been very active with NAPBIRT, the National Association of Professional Band Instrument Repair Technicians. In addition to its...
Julie Jurgenson is among the pioneering women in the band instrument repair side of the music industry. She was trained at Red Wing and worked for a couple of shops before opening her own in Rochester, Minnesota. All along she wanted to service a large number of instruments and found it possible...
Carl Thacker was a teenager when he began repairing band instruments. In fact he was a Charter Member of NAPBIRT and attended the first annual convention before he was 20 years old. After a long career as the instrument repair technician for Illinois State Universally, Carl devoted himself full...
Randy Wood is the president of The Music Shoppe in Normal, Illinois. The store specializes in band instrument repairs and strong customer service. The store goes back to the days when a former college band director, John Noonan opened a small retail and repair store. In 1961, Randy's father, Tom...
Chuck Kessler enjoys teaching the craft of instrument repair. He enjoys working on instruments to bring each one to top playing ability and seeing the faces of the musicians when their favorite horn is playing better than ever. As a member of NAPBIRT, Chuck has also worked hard to elevate the...