Great People Along The Way written by Roy Elkins

Great People Along the Way by Roy Elkins

Roy Elkins Broadjam members
Talking with Broadjam members at the ASCAP Expo

I have been fortunate to work with and meet some of the great people in technology and the music industry.  I began my music career as a musician in Michigan and ended up working at Amro Music store in Memphis, Tn.  Amro is a family owned store with strong values and run by an amazing group of people, the Averwaters.  Chip Averwater eventually became the Chairman of the National Association of Music Merchants, the organization that represents music retailers.  He is a well-respected leader in the industry.

Amro Headquarters, Memphis, Tn
Great store run by great people

At the request of ENSONIQ Corp, I moved to the legendary Chuck Levin’s Washington Music Center in Wheaton, Md.  At the time, this store was the largest single location of any music instrument store in the world.  Along with their father and mother, the store was run by Robert and Alan Levin.  Very hardworking folks who put lots of hours in making their business run.

Washington Music Headquarters Roy Elkins
Washington Music – An amazing place

I moved onto ENSONIQ Corporation in Malvern, Pa.  Several folks assisted in that transition including Dan Garrett, Bob Stillman, Bruce Wismer and Steve Coscia.  My first boss was Rob Weber who has been successful in numerous ventures since leaving ENSONIQ. As we grew, I worked for numerous individuals including Jeff Hasselberger (Phenomenal creative mind), Roland Hanson (Incredible strategist), Ray Whelan (Get it done guy), Dan Garrett (Great thinker and problem solver), Steve Claflin (Highly technical thinker), Bob Papke (Strong leader and gets along with everyone)  and a brief time directly for the founder of the company, Bruce Crockett (an exemplary leader).  I am very thankful to have the opportunity to learn from all of them.

A transition back to the Midwest where I worked with Rimas Buinevicius, CEO of Sonic Foundry and the two founders, Monty Schmidt and Curt Palmer to help build one of the great entities of the music software business.  Sound Forge, Acid and Vegas are the products that we launched and are still well respected by  whoever used them.  We had an incredible run together.

I started Broadjam with my wife in 1999 to help songwriters have a place on the web. I have worked with some amazing people during the tenure with Broadjam including Matt Thompson, Anthony Del Ciello, Mike Huberty, Kyna Ganshert, Jon Aguilera, Erin Graham, Matt Shinker, Dave Eickhorn, Tibby Torhorst, Dan DeRubeis, Ken Hawkins, Greg Gray, Donny Neufuss, Kurt Maleug, Jeff Muendel, Brian Cunningham, Ian Atkin, Sheena Tesch, Joe Amstadt, Dan Naab, Matt Lea, Steve Davis, Kyle Maresh, Jesse Spohn, John Ostlund, Sean Laurent, Jack Thompson, Victor Backunovich, Birk Cooper, Galen Eckland, Ken Fitzsimmons, Leslie Gavin, Colleen Mullin, Craig Parsons, Al Hawkins, Brent Hoffman, Jason Weaver, Mike Leger, Dennis Anderson, Heather Abney, Shane Tracy, Ed Muir, Bill Steinberg and I’m sure I forgot to mention someone. My apologies. We have an amazing community of musicians who make everyday a worthwhile venture for us.

My goal with this blog is to recognize some of the good people I’ve met and worked with along my journey and some others as well.

Roy Elkins

Broadjam

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