Friends, new and old

I have a lot of work to do on this page.  But you have to start somewhere.

Kenny Kleist, legendary Hammond artist and entertainer.  Kenny is neighbors with the person I bought the organ from up in Wisconsin.  He was on his way to Branson and offered to deliver the organ to Euphonic. 

Kenny is currently performing somewhere in the US where the fishing is good at this time of the year.

Harold Marling is well-known throughout Iowa and beyond as a master piano technician and tuner.  He is Vice-President of the Central Iowa chapter of the Piano Tuners' Guild, and is extremely busy tuning for schools, theaters, and artists.  He began tuning pianos right after WWII, and says he learns something from every piano.

I was extremely fortunate to have come across Harold by a coincidence... I shared an office with his nephew.  Someday, Harold will be performing an action overhaul on our Mason & Hamlin - when I can spare the piano and the $$ at the same time.

Mike Michalski and I met one afternoon at the Carrizo Springs, Texas Municipal airport.  I had just finished building my first RC (radio control) airplane and was out at the end of the runway trying to start the engine and fly it.  Mike drove up and introduced himself and gave me a few pointers on the airplane and then asked me if I wanted him to fly it.  Seemed like a good idea to me since the instructions that came with the kit seemed a bit oversimplified.  Turns out he'd been flying these for almost 30 years, even to the point of having a RC version of a "Blue Angels" squadron with 3 other of his Air Force Reserve buddies. 

We became fast friends and Mike and I traded flying lessons for music lessons.  After a while, Mike started writing his own songs and has a respectable body of work that he's recorded in my studio and later on a Tascam digital 8 track in his own home studio. 

Besides his musical talent, Mike is also an excellent artist and airplane designer.  He's got a Master's degree in art and teaches in Carlsbad, New Mexico.  He retired from the Air Force Reserve as a Master Sergeant and was a crew chief on a C5-A during Desert Storm.  Mostly now he flies electric helicopters.