OH Taxonomy

Kenny Lee began playing music in grade school and has been passionate about it ever since those early years.  When he heard from a friend about a job at Tom Lee Music Company in Hong Kong, Kenny jumped at the chance.  In the early part of his career, Kenny worked in nearly every part of the store...
Keith Chen joined the Tom Lee Music Company in Hong Kong as a guitar salesman.  The large store had a small guitar department when Keith first joined the company and he took great pride in watching the department grow and develop.  During that time he also served in several areas within the guitar...
Katie Yu first heard about Tom Lee Music Company in Hong Kong while her children were taking music lessons.  In 1991, she began working in the administrative office for the store. She found the company to have a great deal of family pride as she worked alongside the two founders, Tom and Betty Lee...
Louis Ip was given a lead from a friend that Tom Lee Music in Hong Kong was hiring and he raced down to apply.  He has since enjoyed one of the longest employments with the company, fifty years at the time of this interview in 2011.  Over the years Louis has worked in several areas of the company...
Sterling Ball’s great-grandfather was a successful songwriter in the golden era of Tin Pan Alley and wrote a series of hits such as “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” and "Mother Machree” His father was Ernie Ball, the innovator and musician who revolutionized the music industry with his strings and in...
Gary Myers is known within the music industry for his decades of retail service in southern California beginning in the 1980s with Sherman Clay. To record fans he is best known for a series of instrumental and vocal tracks beginning in 1962 when he was 19 years old. Gary played drums on several...
Lyle Bird grew up in a musical family with his mother playing the piano daily. As a teenager he played trumpet in several swing bands during the big band era including with such leaders as Henry Busse. He played in a band during his navy service during World War II and again played in several small...
Bob Kane was born and raised in Elkhart, Indiana, known as the band instrument capitol of the world. He played cornet in school and in fact it was his high school band director who told Bob of an opening at Buescher Band Instrument Company. Bob began working in the customer service department but...
Bob Berryhill was the original guitarist for the surf band the Surfaris. The group of teenagers had a pop hit with "Surfer Joe," which was followed up by the 1963 chart topper "Wipe Out." The song became an anthem for the early 60s instrumental recordings that helped define the era and the drum...
Bill Kirchen is a well known rockabilly guitarist known by his tag, The Titan of The Telecaster! During much of his career Bill could be seen and heard playing his 1959 Sunburst finished Fender Telecaster. His driving playing style has been an influence on rock and country players alike, but Bill...

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