Music Lesson Programs
Paula Simmons wanted to create a shop where good quality instruments could be accessible to all those who came in the store. As a teacher, Paula was very interested in providing lessons for students of all ages. She tied both needs together when she and her partner, Kevin Smith,opened The Violin...
Genett Gamber was passionate about music making from a very young age. She recalls her mother arranged to have a piano teacher come to the house and being so excited about learning as much as she could. That desire and passion only grew over time and by the time she graduated from college; she...
John McCarthy has been running a music studio and teaching guitar lessons since the 1990s. After a conversation with his sister, he realized if he recorded and distributed his lessons on video, he could reach many more people who wanted to learn to play guitar. His approach includes getting people...
Tom Merritt is the general manager for The Music Center in Kenosha, Wisconsin and the right hand man for the company's president, Jim Paulsen. The two have worked side by side for several decades and both feel their main goals in business are to serve those who walk in the door. Customer service...
Jorma Kaukonen played guitar in two classic rock bands of the 1960s and 70s, Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna! His passion for the blues helped create his style, which was in such demand by up and coming players that Jorma started a fantasy guitar camp to teach his style. The Fur Peace Ranch:...
Bernie Capicchiano was coached from the Accounting world to manage a new music retail store for the Brash Group in Australia in 1973.His long career in the industry includes a strong relationship with the Hammond-Suzuki Company as well as Johannus Organs, Schimmel, Hailun and Bernstein Pianos....
Leo Saleh was the very first person from Indonesia to be included in the NAMM Oral History program, which was an honor for us! His father enjoyed playing piano and Leo recalls music all around him as he grew up. Leo’s sister began teaching piano and had more than 80 students when their father...
John Waltrip began being involved in music as a small child and in fact, became the main pianist for his church as a teenager. He played in the school bands and studied music in college. He taught music after college before being drafted. Even in the army, John sang in the choir group, which...
Kevin Rindlisbacher is a passionate music maker who has enjoyed his role in music retail providing musical instruments to bring music into the lives of others. He was a kid when his father opened a small repair shop in the chicken coop in the backyard. As the repairs built into a store business,...
Jeff Mozingo cannot recall a time when he did not have music in his life! His father was a band director who opened Mozingo Music in the St. Louis area. Growing up, Jeff's love and sincere passion for music developed first, in the area of playing, then teaching and band instrument repair. Today...