OH Taxonomy
Rusty Brutsche and two friends formed the famous pro audio rental company Showco with the simple mission to produce good sounding concerts. The goal required the building and maintenance of cutting edge and often innovative gear such as boards, pre-amps and lights. Their Varilight system became a...
Walter Hutcherson began repairing guitars in the 1950s and in fact was one of the first repairmen to work on Fender Instruments. He opened Walters Music Exchange in Austin, Texas, and soon gained a reputation for reliable repair with special care and attention to detail (such as removing the cat...
Deena Bird began teaching piano while she was still a teenager. She later established her own music school, which for a while was located in the Steinway Gallery of her hometown of San Antonio, Texas. One day while walking in the hall she met Lyle Bird, the father of the store’s owner. Well, the...
Dave Wintz has always enjoyed designing musical gear, whether it be guitars or pickups. His passion lies with creating a product that will provide any musician with the opportunity to add to their own unique sound, like a painter adding a new color to his palette. In the early part of his career...
Steve Bird joined the piano industry right out of school and established a life-long career that he has thoroughly enjoyed. While working for Sherman Clay, Steve was asked to open up several locations, which became a niche for him. Understanding and embracing the business element as well as the...
Don Holcombe owned and operated several music stores during his long career. Among the most noted stores were those he opened with fellow salesman Russell Lindquist in and around Houston under the name Holcombe-Lindquist Piano and Organ. The stores played a big part in the home organ boom of the...
Herb Remington was the steel guitarist for Bob Wills and the Texas Playboy who built his own line of guitars called Remington Steel. Among his fascinating history: being long time personal friends with Leo Fender. For a while, Fender made steel guitars and, in the beginning, Leo would often give...
Grady Gaines jumped onto the piano during a gig with Little Richard and wailed on his saxophone back in the early 1950s. The photograph of that event has become iconic as it represents the rhythm and blues roots of rock and roll. Grady played his King saxophone with hundreds of artists over the...
Les McCann began his musical career playing the Sousaphone in school. He later played drums before discovering the piano, which became the vehicle that launched him into the jazz world. He recorded with the Fender-Rhodes electrical piano and even tried his hand at a variety of electronic...
Jack Kanstul and his brother, Mark, joined forces with their father Ziggy in 1981 when Kanstul Musical Instruments was established in Anaheim, California. Like his father, Jack had worked for the F.E. Olds Company and developed a good idea of how to be a successful brass instrument manufacturer. ...