Music Retail
Vanetta Wilson was the fourth generation owner of her family’s music business. Chesbro Music began in 1911 as a music retailer and expanded over the years to become one of the largest music wholesalers in the country. Since taking on the Hoshino line of products in the 1970s, the company has...
Elliott Rubinson fell in love with the bass at the age of 12 and played it every waking moment as he grew up in Queens, New York, in the rock era of the 1960s. He toured with a number of bands and eventually decided to start his own music store in Florida so he could spend his days immersed in...
Maxine Eastman-Jackson met her future husband, Bud, in school when they were 14 years old. The year they married, 1953, they moved to Provo, UT, where Bud worked at Modern Music by day and gave guitar lessons that Maxine would schedule, each night. In 1966 they moved to San Jose to operate the...
Joyce Porras was hired to work at Reynald’s Music Store for two weeks in 1946, to help with the Christmas holiday rush. She continued to work for the company until it was sold in the 1980s. In fact, she continued to work for Reynald’s even after it was sold because she and her husband are the...
Frank Green opened his first music retail store in Southern California in 1959 and called it Music For Everyone. He began working in the music industry some 12 years earlier as student enroller in an accordion school. He soon became a teacher for the school and a manager before deciding to open his...
Larry Moody began his career in the music industry as a retailer working for Ziggy Coyle in Ohio. The store was owned by Ziggy, a past president of the NAMM Board of Directors, and Russell Hill. The retail experience was helpful to Larry, who was hired by Yamaha and later by the Gemeinhart Flute...
Jeff Lindahl began playing guitar and performing with his twin brother at a young age. They continued to play together throughout high school and college. At the time, Jeff formed a number of rock bands and gave guitar lessons on the side for extra spending money. Over the years he also...
Maury Rhodes enjoyed a long career in the music industry with a focus on the music publishing side of the business. He oversaw the Chicago operation of the Carl Fischer Company before being hired by the Chicago area music retailer Quinlan &Fabish where he was placed in the customer service...
Roger Leithold recalled moving into the historic building where Leithold Music is located on Fourth Street in La Crosse, Wisconsin during his NAMM Oral History interview. The building was originally a furniture store created in 1889. When the Leithold's moved their store into the building in 1964...
George Roeder played the flamenco guitar and sang in Barber Shop Quartets ever since he was young. While he was taking lessons from Evelyn Breu, he took a liking to the retail business –as well as his teacher. After the couple married in the late 1960s, they formed a tremendous team both as...