OH Taxonomy
AJ Altieri began working in the music retail business in the mid 1970s after a childhood filled with music. He played in bands as a student along with being a Drum Major, before performing in area rock bands. He began working in Elliott Rubinson’s Thoroughbred Music in Tampa, Florida. AJ was asked...
Ronnie Drumm has had a full and fulfilling life in music! As a child he picked up the trumpet, which he used during his time as a big band leader, musical director and educator. Ronnie worked with a who’s who of entertainers such as Steve Allen, Bob Hope and Jack Benny as well as a long stint as...
Grace Altieri has a background in law but was willing to put that career on hold when her husband decided to open a drum shop in Tampa. AJ was working for a local music store and was really growing the drum segment of the business, so, when a chance came along to open his own store he jumped at it...
Steve Rauch began his career in the music publishing business in the early 1960s. While working for several leaders in the industry, Steve developed his skills and knowledge that he would ultimately apply to his own publishing firm, CD Sheet Music, LLC, which was established in 2000 after he worked...
CK Gottschalk is the president of the music store in Michigan that his parents established in 1936, the same year they married. They expanded their business just before CK was born and later moved the business to central California. CK studied music and taught math while his mother ran the store...
David Cox was a software engineer who decided to create a computer solution for music retailers’ accounting and rental management. David created Tri-Technical Systems, Inc in 1984 and focused on designing software to meet the needs of music stores, which he now admits required more attention than...
Paul Tobias is the son of the founder of Tobias Guitars, which is located in Downers Grove, Illinois and specializes in handcrafted acoustic guitars such as those made by Taylor, Martin and Santa Cruz. Paul took over as president when his father retired but his father has not gone far from the...
Bill Pritchard played in a military band while serving the United States for over 20 years. When he retired, he took up what he had loved to do during his service, repairing band instruments. Over the years Bill became an expert on various instruments and conducted classes at the annual NAPBIRT...
Ken Tobias loved repairing guitars for himself and his friends and was able to turn it into a business in the early 1970s when he opened Tobias Guitars in Downers Grove, Illinois. One of his first lines was Martin Guitars and with the help of his son, Paul, several years later the store became the...
Bruce Johnson began his career in the music industry working in the accounting department for Wurlitzer in DeKalb, Illinois. While on the job he began outlining a computer program that could help with the company’s retail stores. The more he worked on the program, the more he saw the need to code...