OH Taxonomy
Gary Baker watched the Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan Show along with his brother. The two became so engrossed by music that his brother bought Gary a Silver Tone Guitar from Sears. They formed a band together and Gary soon discovered he enjoyed writing songs. As a songwriter, Gary has written...
Jerry Masters grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas where he heard his mother playing piano in church as far back as he can remember. After serving in the US Army, Jerry formed his own rock band and recorded the hit "Let It All Hang Out" while in Houston. He later moved to Memphis where he befriend Bill...
Donna Jean Godchaux was the only female singer with the Grateful Dead (on stage and on recordings) from 1971 until 1979. In fact, she was the first female singer with the group and was once married to the band's keyboard player. When she was just nine years old, she met Rick Hall before he opened...
Alan Schulman was a freelance recording engineer who worked in many of the top studios in Muscle Shoals and Nashville. Bassist Norbert Putnam called Alan, "Mr. Golden Ears" for his skillful recording techniques. Alan engineered albums for the group Alabama, Ronnie Milsap, and seven albums for Ricky...
Kevin Lamb distinctly remembers sitting in a music class when the subject of music publishing came up and thinking, "I never want to do that." After some forty years in the music publishing industry, he laughs at that first impression. Ironically, Kevin often teaches a college class at Belmont...
Spooner Oldham was a studio musician down in Muscle Shoals, Alabama before becoming a noted songwriter. Spooner's keyboard skills can be heard on such classic records as "You'd Better Move On" and several songs with Aretha Franklin including the Wurlitzer introduction on "Never Loved a Man the Way...
Steve Fulton was born in California but quickly made his way to Austin to perform in bands all over town. Although he was originally a drummer, he was struck by the aura of the guitar and switched instruments. Steve purchased an already established guitar store and began to collect older guitars...
Eleanor Giacoletti began playing piano as a child. While in college, studying music education, she realized she had a strong passion for providing meaningful lessons to young students. In 1978, she attended a Yamaha Music School program and talked her husband, Bob, into opening a music school. The...
Bob Giacoletti and his wife Eleanor opened a small music school in 1978 that soon took on a line of instruments and accessories to become a full line retail store. The store moved to downtown Carlsbad, California in 1982. A year later Bob hired a young man named Roy Good who was interested in...
John McBride purchased the Creative Recording Studio in Nashville in 2002 and changed the name to Blackbird Studios. The now famous studio has recorded an amazing number of top performers such as Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift, Bon Jovi, and John's wife Martina McBride. In 2013, John formed an...