Kevin Maxfield

My first formal introduction to the music world was at the age of seven. I took three years of piano lessons from a very patient teacher named Ricky Sharp. As with most seven-year-old kids, I did not enjoy the lessons. I had to practice from thirty minutes to an hour nearly every day for the entire three years. Although the lessons were my parents’ idea and the practicing was tedious at best, I worked hard and became pretty good. I began to slacken in my efforts and my Mom gave me the option of quitting. She warned me that, at some point in the future, I would regret quitting. Deciding to quit was a huge relief to me and was the easiest and dumbest decision that I had made up to that point in my life. She was right - I do wish that I had stuck with the lessons. Who knows, I could have been another Elton John, Billy Joel or maybe even Ben Folds!

My next musical experience was choir in the fifth grade. At my elementary school, everyone had to sing in the choir, so it was just one of those things. However, it helped me develop somewhat of a singing voice and I still have an excellent shower voice. Piano lessons and choir were the foundations of my love for music, even though neither one was my choice.

Around the age of fourteen (which I think is around 85 in guitar player years), I began to mess around with my Dad’s Harmony Stratotone. I think that it was a mid to late ‘50s model. Then, one day in 1985, the family went to Wilson Brothers Music in Tiftonia, Tennessee. Mr. Wilson had a lot of really nice instruments and Dad was looking for something cool. I thought that this was the greatest place in the world! Mom remembered the piano experiences, but offered me a second chance. She told me that she would buy me a guitar if I promised to take lessons. I agreed and we left with a matched set of three-color sunburst ’62 reissue Fenders and a little Fender Sidekick amp. Dad got the Strat and I got the Tele. What a great day! I still have that guitar and I hope that I never have to part with it. This guitar marked the first time that music was truly something I wanted to do.

My parents searched for a teacher and found a guy named Jeff Williams, who taught lessons at Al Miller Music. We quickly moved to lessons at his house, since he was also a student at Ooltewah High School and lived very close to my school. I was his last lesson, so we usually ran three or four hours and jammed well into the night. Well, actually, since I was still terrible, Jeff played into the night and I watched and learned. I remember the day that David Lee Roth’s “Eat ‘Em and Smile” came out. Jeff and another friend named Tim Waters learned almost the whole thing in a day. Those were great days. However, they were fairly short-lived and I soon had to find another teacher. I would eventually go to Cleveland Music and find my next teacher, who was named Randy Hall.

Around 1987, my Dad saw an advertisement for Mosrite Ventures reissue guitars in the back of a magazine and he inquired. He later decided to take the plunge and buy #34. Since the drive from Chattanooga to Jonas Ridge, North Carolina is fairly short and Dad wanted to see where his guitar had been made, we decided to pick up the guitar. While there, Semi took us through his shop and asked me how the younger generation would accept his M-88 and V-88 models. I loved them and decided to buy one. Mr. Moseley informed me that he wanted to keep number one of the M-88s, but offered to give me number two and let me pick out the body from several that had been painted, but not yet completed. When we picked up my guitar, we were asked to consider becoming regional distributors for the line. We agreed and I began my first entrepreneurial venture. Since that time, I have been all around the music industry. I have been a D.J. for a classic rock radio station, an audio engineer and a night manager for a recording studio in Nashville. I have also owned a screen-printing company, which printed tour shirts for several local and regional bands. Recently, I have been trying to keep my chops up by taking classical lessons from Brian Miscio and rock and jazz lessons from a good friend named David Cornwell. However, the time away for education and business has definitely made a noticeable difference!

Although Bruce and I both grew up in Chattanooga, we first crossed paths at a local music store called the Picker’s Exchange around 2002. I began designing hot rod inexpensive guitars and having Bruce do most of the work. This has been an extremely fun hobby and has greatly increased my knowledge and rekindled my interest in the manufacturing end of the music industry. Bruce and I began our journey in the fall of 2004, which was a couple of months before I began working for the Tennessee Small Business Development Center. Since then, we have been continually developing new and exciting instruments and products. Recently, I have completed a Master of Business Administration degree at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and have begun putting my experiences and education to good use developing Bennett-Maxfield Music, Inc. My 22-year passion for guitars has made this business my most satisfying venture to date and we have only just begun. So, stay tuned. Bruce and I look forward to bringing excitement back to your stage for years to come.

-- Kevin Maxfield