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