Music Manufacturing
Hitoshi Fukutome has enjoyed a long and interesting career at the Yamaha Corporation. He joined Yamaha in 1982 and has served in many roles for the company over the years including Manager of the Piano Division in Europe in 1990 and as president of Yamaha Music in Austria five years later. His...
Brian Jemelian didn't think of himself as a musician, although he played violin as a child and later as an employee of Yamaha he took both piano and guitar lessons. Brian studied business in college and was very interested in the business world. After a successful mentoring program at Price...
Bob Rufkahr's long career in the music business began in retail in 1962! He later moved into wholesale and manufacturing before he formed his own company, Image Marketing in 1980. Along the way he mentored a generation of industry salesmen who credit Bob for their own success both in marketing...
Jody Carver is a legendary steel guitarist who, as a session player, recorded with many top performers beginning in the 1950s. Jody developed a life-long friendship with Don Randall at the then newly formed Fender Musical Instruments. Don hired Jody, first as a product endorser and soon after as...
Paul Laubin followed in his father's footsteps both as a symphonic oboist and as an instrument maker. Alfred Laubin made his first oboe in 1931. He steadily improved his design, and went on to make hundreds of instruments and grow A. Laubin, Inc. into a full-time business. Paul grew up in the...
Chris Thomas has worked in several areas of the C.F. Martin & Company factory in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Chris worked in the binding department among others before having the opportunity to work with Dick Boak in Artist Relations. Chris has worked with many of Martin's most recent artists to...
Fred Greene enjoys running the C.F. Martin & Company factory in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, in fact you could say it is his dream job. As a guitarist he has passion to the tenth degree when it comes to sound and quality. As a former factory manager for Gibson, he has a love of working with...
Debra Karlowitch likes to tell people that she started working at C.F. Martin & Company the same week Chris Martin joined full time! At the time of her NAMM Oral History interview in 2013 she was nearing her 40th year with the company. She might also tell you, with great pride, that because...
William Kent, along with his brother Ed, formed the Kent Drum Company in 1947 with a focus to create student-level kits to encourage music making at all economic levels. The company offered professional-level drums as well as other products such as the tambourine. William was always proud that a...
Yoshi Kobayashi began working for Yamaha Corporation of America in 1958. In the early days of his career he was tasked with supervising the import and export of the motorcycle division. As the musical instrument side of the company grew and expanded into the United States, Yoshi-san was placed in...