Canadian Music Trade - August/September 2020 | Page 12
Eminence Speaker Names Damon Waller
as International Sales Manager
Eminence
Speaker, the
Kentucky-based
manufacturer
of loudspeakers
and highfrequency
devices since
1966, has
announced the
promotion of
EMINENCE’S DAMON WALLER
industry veteran
Damon Waller to the role of international sales manager.
Waller first joined Eminence in 2017 as its European
sales manager. Before that, he was the international sales
manager for Trace Elliot and the managing director for
Orange Amplification.
“I have had the pleasure of knowing Damon
Waller for over 20 years as a friend, a customer, and
a colleague,” says Chris Rose, president of Eminence.
“Damon is well versed in MI, professional audio, international
business, and we are certain our international
customers will appreciate his knowledge and service.”
Eminence is distributed in Canada by McBride
Loudspeaker Source.
Waller can be contacted at
[email protected]. For more information,
contact Eminence Speaker: 502-845-5622,
[email protected], www.eminence.com.
Yorkville Sound Now Distributing Gold
Tone’s Fretted String Instruments
Yorkville Sound has announced a new partnership
with Gold Tone Music Group for Canadian distribution.
Gold Tone’s offerings include fretted string
instruments of all types, including four-string and
five-string banjos, six-string banjos (banjitars), mandolin-banjos,
ukuleles, Weissenborn Hawaiian steel
guitars, metal- and wood-bodied resonator guitars,
and mandolins.
“It’s common for guitar manufacturers to have
a banjo or mandolin model in their catalogue;
however, Gold Tone offers greater variety and targeted
expertise,” says Jeff Cowling, VP of sales and
marketing at Yorkville Sound. “At a time when the
world has taken interest in picking up and learning
new instruments, Gold Tone fills a gap with options
to learn and expand the tool box. Our rep force is
looking forward to walking our accounts through
this new product line.”
For more information, contact Yorkville Sound:
905-837-8777, [email protected],
www.yorkville.com.
Drummer’s Hangout Reaches the Half-Decade Milestone
Drummer’s Hangout in Aurora, ON, is celebrating its fifth anniversary in 2020,
and for founder Murat Baslamisli, reaching the milestone is confirmation that
his belief and vision for MI retail holds true.
The vision
for the store
is right there
in the name;
it’s a place for
drummers to
come together
and hang out.
“The idea was
a barbershop
vibe for drummers.
Basically,
‘Come in and
sit down, have
a drink, there’s
the TV and put
MURAT BASLAMISLI
in the DVD of
the drummer you like, and let’s talk about drums,’” says Baslamisli, who ran the
drum department at Long & McQuade’s North York location for many years before
moving to Aurora and opening the shop.
Though he was new to Aurora, Baslamisli wasted no time getting Drummer’s
Hangout entrenched in the community. He credits drum clinics with
the likes of Kenny Aronoff and Larnell Lewis for raising the store’s profile and
getting word-of-mouth out among drummers in the region. As well, the lessons
program has been great for bringing in young, nearby musicians, and Baslamisli
says sponsoring and showing up to drum for local sports teams and events has
been great for building the shop’s presence in the community.
“In five years, it’s become a destination place. People make trips from four
hours away and come here and spend a whole Saturday. The local community
has been great, too,” he attests, noting Drummer’s Hangout won the Best New
Business in Aurora award from the town’s Chamber of Commerce in 2018. In
terms of reaching the five-year milestone, Baslamisli says it has confirmed that in
retail, “If you offer something to people that’s a little bit different, it’ll work out.
There are a million things in this business that we cannot control, but one thing I
think we can control 100% is how we treat people. If you treat people well, they
keep coming back.”
12 CANADIAN MUSIC TRADE