Oral History - all
Sam Radding is the founder the famed American Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company, which was the training ground for several future iconic luthiers including Bob Taylor, Kurt Listug and Greg Deering! Sam’s brother opened a small retail store in San Diego in the mid 1960s and soon Sam had the... more
Birth Date: July 18, 1952
Deceased Date: September 27, 2016
Richie Pidanick was the Vice President of Culture and Values at Guitar Center. It was Richie’s job to train the company’s employees on the philosophy of what is most important to the corporate culture, namely customer service. Richie knew the culture and Guitar Center’s values as he lived them... more
Lance Freed is the award-winning music publisher who is the president of Rondor Music International, the music publishing company owned by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss. Lance grew up in a very musical home as his father was the famed DJ Alan Freed who coined the phrase Rock and Roll! Rondor was... more
Birth Date: April 26, 1925
Deceased Date: August 10, 2018
Howard Durbin was hired by RCA following World War II and worked within the engineering department on improving the phonograph record. He was assigned to the team that addressed unbreakable 78s and later on the team that developed the 45 record and still later the Red Seal LP. He attended the... more
Larry Breedlove is the founder of Breedlove Guitars, although his brother Kim runs the company now. Larry fell in love shortly after opening the Oregon-based guitar company and moved to his native San Diego to be close to his sweetheart. It was in San Diego that Larry reconnected with his dear... more
Nicolas Hernandez played professional guitar when he met Bobby Dukoff in the early 1990s. The famed saxophonist and mouthpiece maker took Nic under his wing and taught him the trade. Nic’s skills as a craftsman were a perfect fit with Bobby and not only did the two become great business partners... more
Lauren Wallace was hired by the Baldwin Piano retail store in Cincinnati in 1997 as a salesperson. She had played piano as a young girl and took up playing again when her son was taking lessons. Her love of the Baldwin instruments put her in the store at the time there was an opening and Lauren... more
Dick Waldron came to music in a most unusual way. His father was a house painter who completed a job only to find out the house owner did not have enough money to pay so he offered a cornet, to which Dick took a liking. He played the horn during school and served in the US Navy at the tail end of... more
Birth Date: October 23, 1941
Deceased Date: May 20, 2019
Russell Thomas was a band director for over 34 years. During his teaching years he often felt frustrated that simple repairs would take weeks and often delay concerts or rehearsals. A local music store provided him an opportunity to learn simple repairs, which led to a passion that resulted in... more
Dave Surber’s father was a United States Navy musician who worked for the Leblanc Company after he retired from the navy. When Dave was looking for a job his father found one for him in the buffing room at Leblanc. Dave moved into polishing clarinet keys while his father worked with artist... more
Jim Stella began playing the trumpet in the fourth grade and continued to play throughout college and went to instrument repair school right after school before landing a job in manufacturing. He began working for Leblanc in the Martin Band Instrument factory and soon thereafter became plant... more
Gerald Stanley is without question one of the pioneers in pro audio, working as product engineer for Crown International for several decades. Over 45 patents have been issued to him over his 45 year career with Crown. Gerald began working for Crown International, located in Elkhart, Indiana, in... more
Birth Date: September 12, 1924
Deceased Date: September 20, 2020
Jack Simpson worked for RCA for nearly 40 years beginning at the time when the electronics and recording company was a regular exhibitor at the NAMM Trade Shows. Jack also became a jazz broadcaster in Florida, where he took to the airwaves in 1967. His show and his reputation expanded over the... more
John Simpkinson had a strong background in advertising when he was hired by the Baldwin Piano Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. Bob Cosgrove and James Mixter hired John for company and product branding. John worked closely with the dealers and district managers to communicate promotional ideas and... more
Birth Date: September 29, 1918
Deceased Date: November 5, 2018
Jack Shallat was a professional violin player who landed several gigs with traveling bands in the 1930s and 40s. During that time he met Buddy Rogers and both men opened separate music stores in and around Cincinnati in the early 1950s. In 1967 they decided to merge their businesses and work... more
Brian Schmidt opened up a small piano and organ retail store in Calgary, Canada, in 1973 with a strong focus on the Baldwin Products. He was just 21 years old at the time and benefited greatly from a number of mentors who helped him, several of whom were Baldwin employees. After Baldwin was sold... more
Birth Date: January 29, 1929
Deceased Date: March 15, 2018
Sally Schiff and her husband Mel moved from New York to Florida where they decided to open their own music retail business. All County Music in Tamarac, Florida first opened in 1976 with a strong focus on band and orchestra music and repair. Sally ran the store while Mel went out to call on the... more
Mel Schiff and his wife Sally established All County Music in Tamarac, Florida. The first store opened in 1976 with a strong focus on band and orchestra music and repair. However, Mel’s introduction into the industry began when his father established The Schiff School of Music in Brooklyn, New... more
Birth Date: May 12, 1941
Deceased Date: January 5, 2020
Bob Saunders began working in the accounting department for Kaman Corporation. He was asked by the company’s founder, Charlie, to work with his son Bill for the Kaman Music Corporation. After Bill retired, Bob took over as CEO and President of Kaman Music and ran the company for over a decade. ... more
Eric Satterlee founded Meridian Winds in 1984, in Lansing, Michigan. The store specializes in wind instruments and has a very innovative repair shop. In fact, the repair shop is the birthplace of several of Eric’s ideas in tooling enhancement, including a series of products he sells under the... more