Lowrey Organs
Margaret Woods receives great satisfaction bringing joy to others as an entertainer! Even as a small child dancing on tables, Margaret realized she could make others smile. When her father opened a dance hall it was the perfect place for her to show off her talents as a dancer and singer. Margaret ...
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 "...
Bob Carbone is the co-founder of the Piano & Organ Center in Syracuse, New York. The store has a reputation for their quality products as well as creative lesson programs, which are offered to all of their customers. Bob entered the music industry with a letter he wrote while in the US Army to...
Lauri Knapton is the founder of Knapton Musik Knotes in Janesville, Wisconsin. The store, which was established in 2000, provides musical instruments, lessons, and a long list of community outreach programs such as Rock Camp and Uke Circles. Lauri has been passionate about music since she began...
Jim Wieda was just 14 years old when he was hired to play an organ for Farmer's Music Barn in Illinois. He was hired by Lowrey Organ and took part in their mall development program in the late 1970s. By 2002, Jim was promoted to Regional Sales Manager and then later Vice President. During Jim’s...
Rob Meads recalls his father purchasing a Lowrey Organ and how he could think of nothing he would rather do than have a career making music! As a teenager, Rob was hired by legendary music retailer Swanny Swanson in Minnesota to play an organ in a grocery store, which was a big hit. Rob was trained...
Bob Olsen often said because he did not play a musical instrument yet had a successful career in the music products industry that he was “a vegetarian in the business of prime meat.” The fact is Bob became very passionate about the music companies he worked for, beginning with Hammond Organ and...
David Brown grew up in the music industry working with his grandfather at his store, Critchett’s Music in Des Moines, Iowa. Dave started at a young age, first washing windows in the back of the store until he was encouraged, by his grandfather, to go on the road selling pianos and eventually he...
Wayne Seppala was playing organ for shoppers at the Montgomery Wards in San Diego before he was a teenager. When the store stopped selling organs, he landed a job at Ozzie’s Music where he met his future wife, Cheryl. Together they opened their own store just a year after getting married in 1977. ...
Cheryl Seppala has given the gift of music to countless students in her organ store over her career. She has never lost that spark in her eye that has encouraged her students to stay with the lessons and enjoy the benefits of making music. She began teaching when she was a teenager at Ozzie’s Music...