Louisiana
Fred Zeagler was always in band growing up and aspired to be the greatest Band Director of all time. He comes from a very musical family and grew up with his brother Grayson in the music store his parents opened in 1968. After studying to become a Band Director in college, Fred realized what he...
Lloyd Turner happily landed his first teaching job right out of college as band director for Madison Central High School in Jackson, Mississippi in 1966. The job cemented in Lloyd’s mind the thought that this was the career for him. He taught for over 20 years with stints working in local music...
Frank D'Arcangelo grew up in a house that always had music playing. He has memories of his parents record collection and large stereo system that seemed to always be playing. He took to the drums and grew up in an area with a vast amount of resources for musicians. In his oral history interview,...
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. ...
Larry Erny began working with his father when he was a very young boy, emptying trash and sweeping the floors in the store and traveling with him as he set up and created school band programs and music instruments all over Louisiana. Larry's dad was the first music teacher in the state and saw the...
David Erny was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, and like his father Larry, began working at Professor Larry's Music when he was a very young boy. David has been running the family business with his dad for a number of years. David played a key role in bringing the music store online with Internet...
Donald Harrison Jr. was born in New Orleans to a deeply musical family steeped in all styles of music: brass bands, jazz, R&B, funk, and world music. His father was a Mardi Gras Indian Big Chief, an offshoot of the cultural tradition that goes all the way back to the time of Congo Square. ...
Bill Causey had a long history of music in his family. His father was a band director and both his father’s brother and sister were fine musicians. Bill had great memories of the family dinners being followed by a sing along and music making! While earning his music education degree he worked...
Steven Kinchen dreamed of playing music ever since he was a small child. When he had a chance to work in the music industry following his music degree in college, Steven jumped at the chance. Thanks to a professor’s recommendation, Steven visited with Dan Hall, the founder of Hall Piano Company in...
John Wright Jr. grew up in the piano business. His father and his uncle, Dan Hall, formed the Hall Piano Company in 1958. The store is currently located right on David Drive in Metairie, Louisiana, not too far from the first location, which John recalled running around in as a small child. Like...