Organs
Robert Schaeffer is the resident historian for Rice Music House in South Carolina. Having been in the store since he was a young boy, getting to meet with the founder and having worked in the store for several years, he fits the bill. As much as he knows the history, Robert walks and talks the...
Booker T. Jones grew up in Memphis and began recording as a session player while still in high school at the age of 17. While waiting for a session to begin, Booker and the other musicians in the studio began playing a song Booker wrote, which was later given a name when the engineer encouraged...
Fred Davis began playing saxophone as a boy and started his own band, the Freddy Davis Orchestra, which played around Ohio during World War II. He was well equipped with reeds for his gigs as his mother owned a small music store in Marysville, where Fred grew up. After working in his mother's store...
Paul Graves began delivering pianos in 1957 up in Minnesota before moving to Alabama where he continued to deliver. He soon discovered that he would make more money if he sold the pianos and the love of selling soon took hold. In 1960, Paul opened his first piano store in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He...
Jim Trimper, Sr. is the president of Denton, Cottier & Daniels, a chain of piano and organ stores in the upstate New York area. The company was formed in 1827 and thus has a long history in each of the communities of their store locations and a dedication to service that Jim has continued...
Fred Buch has always been interested in combining electronic technology with pipe organs. When he entered the pipe organ business in the 1957, electronic organs were not sufficiently advanced to provide a high quality pipe sound. Fred added pianos and home organs in 1960 resulting in a three...
Lee Moyer began working for Marty's Music in the late 1960s. When the founder was ready to retire in 1971, Lee and his partner bought the business. They decided to keep the name and to continue to focus on school band programs as well as building the combo end of the business. Lee played a vital...
Charles Lawson has played church organ from boyhood all the way into his 80s. He was hired by a small piano store when he first moved to Bristol, Tennessee, from Knoxville to be close to his wife’s family. Along the way he opened a piano shop in Bristol, and worked closely with the Baldwin Piano...
Dewey Kuhn grew up listening to his grandmother playing the organ, which she did in her younger days accompanying silent movies. His passion grew as he learned to play. Dewey worked with the men who would later form Hal Leonard Publishing Company, with organ man Crane Bodine, and with Baldwin...
Tom Schmitt is the CEO and Chairman of Schmitt Music Company, which was founded by his great-grandfather in 1896. The company, which now has several locations throughout the Midwest, has been an innovative retailer within the music products industry. Tom spoke of his family roots and how the...