Percussion
David Strait is one of two sons of original Strait Music Company owner and founder, Dan Strait. During his interview David talked about growing up working with their father in a true family business. David has been very successful as the head of the piano department for over 40 years and expanded...
Robert Strait is proud of the music retail traditions that his father developed when their family owned store was first established back in 1967. Since that time, his father, Dan, along with his brother, David, expanded the store to offer a complete line of musical instruments as well as lessons...
Tommy Robertson was born in Austin, Texas, a feat he calls “as rare as a unicorn these days.” Tommy played drums throughout his teen years before he decided to open his first drum shop. Tommy’s Drums has provided the Austin area drummers with service and quality products as well as repairs. In the...
Howard Kalisky is the president of Efkay Music Group in Lachine, Quebec, Canada. Howard's father Fred founded the company in 1957, and Howard is following in his footsteps. Howard has also followed his father’s commitment to customer service and distributing such famous brands as Ibanez Guitars,...
Clint Strait was born in Austin, TX and is the 3rd generation to work for the Strait Music Company. Clint is carrying on his family’s tradition of great customer service and selection to provide the community with a one-stop store for all their music instrument needs. Always looking towards the...
Terry Bissette began playing drums as a kid in South Florida, where he lived through the heyday of live music in the 1970’s and 80’s, performing six nights a week at various clubs. He took an interest in music retail, especially with drum kits and percussive instruments. Terry became the main drum...
Jim Phiffer accepted a position at Pearl Drums which would lead him to a 20 plus year career in the music business. While at Pearl, Jim was the Vice President of Sales and Marketing, eventually making his way to President and CEO of the US division. Jim shared his talent for selling and his love of...
Menzie Pittman is the founder and owner of Contemporary Music Center located in Virginia. Menzie was inspired to to pursue music after he saw The Beatles perform live on Ed Sullivan. After graduating high school, Menzie decided to do music full time, and began playing in some higher profile bands....
Mike Henry was born in Los Angeles, CA and studied drums with Mel Zelnick at Mel's store, The Music Stop. When he was older, Mike toured all over the US, Canada, and Japan, eventually settling in Houston where he performed with some of the cities' best musicians. After working for Keith Kanekey's...
Ray Fransen was born in New Orleans and began playing drums at an early age. He played professionally full-time for years and taught drum lessons until the birth of his first child. At that time, he decided to try to find a full-time job that would allow him to continue to play and teach. ...