Music Retail
Evelyn Brue-Roeder opened her music store in 1940! Her main focus in the early days was music lessons, however she soon added sheet music, accessories and musical instruments. She developed a passion for steel guitars as she witnessed their development over her career. When the pedal steel guitar...
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...
Teresa Leithold began teaching music in 1956 and conducted her last lesson just ten days before she passed away at the age of 87 on February 13, 2019. Music was her passion! While her husband ran the family music store in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Mrs. Leithold created the music lesson program for the...
Abbie Leithold-Gerzema is the co-owner of Leithold Music in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Abbie and her brother also share management duties in the store that their great-grandfather established in 1888. Abbie graduated from Drake University with a music degree in Pipe Organ and Music Business. In the...
Lynn Kephart worked with her husband Russ to establish the Iowa-based Kephart Music Centers. Her attention to details was the perfect match for accounting, inventory and payroll in the pre-computer age. Her friends spanned the entire industry, retailers and suppliers alike, and she is often thought...
Russell Kephart enjoyed his years as a band director but found great satisfaction when he opened his own music store and could provide the service he felt band directors were missing. The Iowa-based store expanded over the decades but always remained focused on customer service. Russ served on the...
Lynn Wheelwright has always been fascinated with the guitar, especially the craft of building the instrument. After performing as a teenager, he developed many of his luthier skills from repairing guitars in his own shop. After befriending Alvino Rey in the 1980s and repairing several of Mr. Rey’...
Helga Kasimoff and her husband established the Bluthner piano dealership in Pasadena, California in 1963. Since that time many Blüthner grand pianos have been restored in their workshop such as those owned by Jerome Kern (1922), Prince Esterharzy (1903), and King Johann of Saxony (1860). Helga and...
Roger Palmateer met his soon-to-be wife just years after she purchased the Fullerton Music Center in Southern California. Mo and Roger have become a vital part of the Fullerton music culture with a well-respected store, a performance area, music lessons and great customer care. Roger focuses on...