Oral History - all
Tom Pedrini and his sister Vicki were third generation music retail owners. Their store, Pedrini’s Music, was located in Southern California and had a long and successful influence on the music community it served for so long. Due to changing times and strong competition, Tom and Vicki made the... more
Dave McCumiskey enjoyed a long career as a Music Sales Group manager. He worked for the music publisher from the late 1960s until his retirement in 2008, having seen many of the developments and changes in print music during that time. Before his gig in the industry Dave was one-fifth of the rock... more
Birth Date: March 4, 1923
Deceased Date: August 19, 2019
Jack Martin was a leading piano sales rep for Wurlitzer from 1959 until 1963. Although he spent most of his career in the music industry it was those four years that Jack cherishes the most. During the early part of his career with Wurlitzer, Jack took part in the training classes that Wurlitzer... more
Michael Gurian established Gurian Instruments, which was incorporated in 1982, and focused originally on creating specialty tools, parts and decorative wood inlay for musical instrument makers. Since that time the company has expanded its production and methods to serve the needs of multiple... more
Walter Carter along with his wife, Christie, formed Nashville's "friendliest guitar store" when they opened Carter Vintage Guitars. With a last name so well known in country music, you can understand why a beautiful painting of Mother Maybelle Carter adorns the outside wall of the building. The... more
William Carpenter has an incredible understanding of the music business. Having developed and marketed a percussion accessory, Bill was hired in 1976 by Remo to assist in sales and product development. After 12 years working outside the music products industry he then returned to Remo in 1994 as... more
Jerry Carp has volunteered as a docent for the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music and helped spread the history of the music products industry to many museum visitors since its opening in 2000. During his years surrounded by musical innovation, Jerry became very interested in the Theremin,... more
Alex Carozza has designed his own reed system for the accordion. The idea came to Alex after years of performing on the instruments and repairing them in his shop, Alex Music, on 48th St. in New York. He opened the shop in the early 1970s after working across the street at Sam Ash. If you ever... more
Brendan Callinan likes to say that everything he owns he obtained because of music. As a rock performer in the highly successful Australian group the Radiators, Brendan played and wrote several of the groups songs. After years on the road he was offered a job as a sales rep for Roland –beginning... more
Mark Cabaniss always wanted to be in the music business. As a music student graduate and composer he was given that chance while teaching college, when Brentwood Music had an opening. The Nashville-based company’s founder, Jim Van Hook, took Mark under his wing and provided him with guidance that... more
Richard Burke worked for the Rickenbacker Guitar Company in Southern California nearly his entire career before retiring in 2004. Over the years he worked in nearly all of the factory positions at Rickenbacker, working his way to plant manager. Dick worked for John Hall and his son assisting both... more
John Booth has played an enormous role in the development and growth of Roland within the United Kingdom. As President of Roland UK, he has witnessed the expansion of the market in England and assisted in creating the infrastructure to accommodate the growth within the company. As an industry... more
Joseph Boonin formed two successful music-publishing companies, which have played an important part in the music products industry. The first of his companies was Joseph Boonin Inc and the second was Jerona. As a leader in the field of research, Joseph added great insight to industry organizations... more
Don Mitchell is a veteran road rep! Having been in the music business most of his working life, Don has called on more dealers than just about any other salesman in the industry. His knowledge of the products and keen relationships have made him a valued and successful promoter of his products as... more
Grace Marquette doesn’t care much for vacations or trips because it takes her away from what she loves, her music store. Grace and her late husband, Robert, purchased the Loser’s Music Store, which was originally opened in 1923 on Cumberland Street in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, in 1954. The location... more
Joey Lyons has been a part of Music Sales Group almost as long as anyone else, perhaps second only to the president Mr. Robert Wise. Joey has been around music his entire life, in fact his first career was on Broadway. As a dancer, he toured and performed on television. When the chance came to work... more
Birth Date: March 5, 1932
Deceased Date: November 17, 2019
Russell Lindquist joined his uncle’s piano store in Iowa in his early 20s, and soon discovered his love of the business. He especially loved selling. Russell opened a Hammond Organ dealership in Houston, Texas, during the boom of the B-3 and the home organ era. Over the years he created several... more
Kimberly Lewis grew up in the industry, first with her father’s ShoBud retail store in Nashville and later with his cable and accessories business known the world over as George L’s. Kimberly enjoyed her childhood being surrounded by country legends such as Roy Acuff, whom she also referred to as... more
Birth Date: October 21, 1924
Deceased Date: December 4, 2013
Jim Leonard was first and foremost a band director. It was the job he always dreamed of as a child and the job for which he gained the love and respect from tens of thousands of students. Along the way, he saw the need of providing quality band services to the school directors he knew, which... more
Jean Larrivee fell in love with the guitar as a young boy growing up in Canada during the folk craze of the 1960s. He imagined a unique sound for an acoustic guitar and set out to create a handcrafted instrument that would produce that sound. The more guitars Jean created, the more demand he seemed... more