Missouri
David Slan took three years of piano lessons when he was growing up before switching to guitar. He was heavily influenced by rock and roll and played in bands throughout high school and college. David’s original goal was to become a lawyer but after school he decided that it wasn’t for him. While...
Jim Widner was given a very special opportunity to join his grade school’s orchestra, which provided him an instrument to play. His love of music was fostered years later when he became a student of his highly influential high school band director. These early experiences set Jim on his path in...
Mike Meyer manages one of the three stores in the Meyer Music chain, which his parents first established in the mid-1960s. At the core of the store is the passion for music making which seems to be in Mike's blood. In addition to the lesson, rental, and retail element of the business, Mike also...
Mike Newman adds a special approach to repair and guitar set-ups at Jimmy Gravity Guitars in St. Louis, Missouri. Having been a professional musician since he was a teenager and member of touring bands, Mike knows the needs of stage musicians and applies that knowledge to each guitar he repairs...
Jimmy Gravity was setting up a newly made electric guitar as he talked with several of his customers gathered around his work bench. Holding court comes easy to Jimmy because he views his customers and co-workers as friends coming over to hang out. The topics range from baseball to politics and...
Don Koller cut his teeth in the print music business at Wingert-Jones working for Frank Fendorf. While there, Don oversaw and controlled the inventory, picked the material for many of the store's well-received reading sessions and mailed choral music packets to some 50,000 Methodist churches at one...
Mike Fazio opened a small retail shop in St. Louis called Fazio's Frets & Friends. The year was 1978. Within a few months it was clear that he found his niche and before long the store became a lifeblood for area musicians as well as traveling performers. Mike was educated in retail business...
Tom Wittrock remembers the very moment he decided to dedicate his career to the guitar: when he purchased his first Les Paul sunburst in the mid-1970s. Many of his friends thought he was crazy when he paid more for a used instrument instead of getting a new one cheaper, but Tom knew just what he...
Ed Seelig opened a small guitar shop when he was a teenager, having already made connections within the concert circuit selling used gear to traveling musicians. The store, Silver Strings Music and Repair in St. Louis, Missouri opened in the early 1970s. He organized one of the very first vintage...
Donovan Bankhead has a true passion for the music! His early memories regarding musical instruments involved seeing his older sister’s guitar and flute and taking notice of them before he even played an instrument himself. That came when he was in school and asked to join the band, which he did...