OH Taxonomy
Deanie Sigafoos began working for Prosser Piano when it was located on 6th Avenue in Tacoma, Washington. She recalls meeting the owners, Laurie and Duane Prosser, and how a close friendship seemed to have started immediately. This was 1969 and in all Deanie stayed with the store for 32 years,...
Earnie Bailey was mesmerized as a kid, sitting in the front row of an Earth, Wind & Fire concert and seeing all the instruments up close! This experience inspired him to go to the library to learn all he could about guitar building and repair. While in high school Earnie made a guitar in wood...
Laurie Prosser and her husband Duane worked together at a small piano store in Sioux Falls, South Dakota before moving to Washington state in 1955. There the couple opened the first Prosser Piano stores in Tacoma, beginning a family business that would include their two sons, Kevin and Kerry....
Tim Olsen set out to build his own guitar out of a cigar box and other items found around the house. He was in the fifth grade at the time! He learned that the luthier Harvey Thomas lived in the next town and sought his help in his quest to build a great sounding instrument. Getting to Harvey...
Pam Aalbers is a wonderful example of the notion that it take a team to accomplish great things. Always working behind the scenes, Pam has been a steady support to the staff at Ted Brown Music in Tacoma since 1976. When she started working at the store she helped out in the mail room but soon...
Chris Arent is the instrument repair technician for Ted Brown Music in Tacoma, Washington, a position that is near and dear to him. Chris has always been closely associated with band and orchestral instruments, especially the saxophone for which he has played and taught throughout his career. Chris...
Deb Olsen provided her views on just how the Guild of American Luthiers began during her NAMM Oral History interview. Her insight offered a wonderful background into the early idea by JR Beal and her husband, Tim Olsen, as they sought to create an organization whose members would share ideas and...
Billy Stoops has always been a Fender Telecaster player! He pursued his musical career while having a day job for years hanging wallpaper. Billy took a leap of faith by quitting his day job to focus on music back in 2003, and has never looked back. Billy has played and recorded with several groups...
Stephanie Howe and her sister Whitney run the chain of music stores their grandfather established in 1931, Ted Brown Music. Stephanie followed in his footsteps to run a business that supports local musicians, especially focused on the school band programs in Washington and Oregon. She moved to...
Ellie Stevens has a smile that lights up the room. And when that room is the lobby of Ted Brown Music in Tacoma, people seem to feel right at home right when they walk in the door! As a kid she played the organ and in 1973, as a teenager, she was hired to play at the mall to entice customers to...