Biography
I have been a musician since 1954, and a piano tuner technician
since 1964. Since 1970 I have been working in and around the
Flint Michigan area, serving Genesee, Shiawassee, Lapeer counties.
I started my music career when I was about 14 years old. Like
many teen-agers who have visions of grandeur, I played music
with a few Rock n' roll bands in the Chattanooga Tennessee area,
and enjoyed it immensely. But the problem I encountered with
being a piano player, was all the places I played music always
had a piano that sounded so bad, I could hardly stand to play.
This is when I decided to do something about it. I had been
learning about piano tuning
from my piano tuner who had taken an interest in me at an early
age, so I decided to start tuning the pianos I was to perform
on, and eventually for my friends and neighbors. I never charged
anyone for tuning their piano because I liked doing it. I got a
real kick out of watching their facial expression change when
they heard their piano when I finished with it.
It never dawned on me that I could make more money tuning pianos
than I could playing them until I had returned from a 4 year
hitch in South East Asia.
When I returned, I quickly found out that it was going to be
extremely hard to find work because at that time returning Vets
were so reviled by most people in America.
After a lot of soul searching, and a few auto sales positions, I
decided to get serious with my ability to tune pianos. The first
few years were hard, and had to supplemented with side jobs just
to stay alive, but eventually I got my first repeat customer, and
that is when I realized that this might actually work.
The business continued to grow and I have never looked back. I'll
admit that there have been some lean times, especially in the
beginning when I not only had to contend with being new in the
business, but I also had lots of competition from more experienced
piano tuners.
Then came the BIG recession.
During the mid seventies, the Michigan economy was so bad that I
actually left the state for a while just to stay alive. Luckily,
The Michigan economy turned around and I was able to pick up where
I left off, and the rest is history. My business has continued to
grow over the years, and I can tell you from experience, you really
can do anything you want to do if you are willing to fight through
the tough times. It also helps if you really like what you do and
the people you serve.
