OH Taxonomy
Mel Brown didn’t have the money growing up to afford drum sticks so he used rolled up newspapers to bang out a beat nearly everywhere he went. At the age of 17, young Mel was playing in area night clubs. While attending Portland State University (on a full scholarship), he met Marvin Gaye while the...
Dan Miller has always felt a great sense of pride by providing the music people have worshiped to in the many churches he has performed in over the years. He took piano lessons as a child and later discovered the joy playing the organ brought to him. He attended Moody Bible College and served as...
Gary Hobbs is a third generation professional drummer. His grandfather Harry led several big bands during the Great Depression era and his father, who later became a strong leader within the Vancouver, Washington Chamber of Commerce, played for swing bands during World War II. Gary has played drums...
Kieran Downes played piano as a child, but switched to bass in high school to play in a friend's band, and later discover his true musical passion when he picked up his brother’s guitar. While experimenting with building his own instruments at night, Kieran had an impressive educational journey...
Steve Hall has become a master at mastering! The art of mastering engineering (the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from the final mix to a data storage device) has developed over the years, especially influenced by the change in technology for which Steve embraced throughout...
Jim Hallwyler is a music retailer in Eugene, Oregon whose introduction to the industry was thanks to his father's friend Lyle Heater. The LD Heater Company, formed by Lyle's father in 1918, became an important distributor of musical instruments and one of the first in the industry to provide "...
Rob Eastman and his wife DeAnna established Musician's Friend in 1983, which became the leading mail order musical instrument business in the country. Rob's father, Bud, opened a music store in San Jose, California in the mid 1960s and began writing a small newsletter for his customers. By 1967...
Sylvia Massy has always been fascinated by art in all forms. She began painting at an early age and as a teenager had her own radio program. As a musical performer she first focused on learning the skills needed to record her own music but soon discovered many of her friends were requesting her...
Greg Martin was able to combine the many musical styles he admired growing up when he helped form the Kentucky Headhunters. The band made up of friends began playing together in 1968 and in 1986 officially changed their name from the Itchy Brother to the Kentucky Headhunters. They released their...
Jim Armstrong worked in the music publishing industry for many years, both for Charlie Hansen and Columbia Music. His music career began at the famous music retailer in southern California, Wallich’s Music City in 1968. He soon switched to working for innovative publisher Mr. Hansen in Florida,...