OH Taxonomy
Bill Piburn wrote four method books for the Mel Bay Publishing Company on the art of guitar playing. His writing was well received by many who praised him for his unique and easy to understand style. Finger Style Guitar magazine had printed only its first issue and was looking for a writer when...
Toni Wine can be heard singing the line “I can make your life so sweet” as one of the Archies on the 1969 hit record “Sugar, Sugar.” As a songwriter she wrote her first song when she was 14 years old and went on to be hired by music publishers to write hit songs such as “A Groovy Kind of Love,” “...
Milton Kyser was raised in a small, poor farming family in East, Texas. He grew up during the Great Depression and in fact as a boy told himself if he ever had a business of his own he would have all the work done by local employees so they could provide for their own families. After years as a...
Meredith Hamlin is the general manager of the Kyser Music Product Company in Canton, Texas. She is proud of the company her uncle formed in 1975, and the fact that all of their products are made in the United States. Her uncle, Milton Kyser, designed the company’s quick change capo, its first...
Wendy Kephart remembers her father bringing her to Kephart’s Music Center when she was a young girl. While she did study music, she recalled it was because her father was a working musician that they often would visit the store. Years later, after she married the store founder’s son, she...
Ken Fuente is among the music industry’s top sales reps! He has established himself as an innovative and creative salesman who has befriended his competition to learn all he could about the business and share his thoughts whenever possible. He has won several awards during his career including...
Gary Hanser grew up in the music industry. His grandfather formed a small music store and distribution business in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1924. Since that time the company has expanded, and with the guidance of Gary and his brothers, Hanser Music now includes such lines as Kustom, B. C....
Jim Gurley had more stories than just about any one else in the NAMM Oral History collection! He taught guitar in Los Angles area music stores while picking up guitars at Rickenbacker Guitars and in Leo Fender’s first workshop in the late 1940s and early 50s. Jim later became one of the first...
Ellen Warmoth and her husband, William, created a true “Mom and Pop” music store when they opened Artisan Guitars in Franklin, Tennessee, not far from Nashville. The store has a wonderful family feeling in both the layout and their attention to details, which may explain why so many Nashville...
Dee Hoyt played professionally since he was a teenager including in local clubs and played for the National Guard as well as for dances. His band, the Tornados, recorded and performed rock and roll in the early 1960s. While playing at night, Dee got a job at Hayes Music as a salesman by day. He...