"Jim Kinnear is one musician who knows his instrument inside out, literally."

Both a piano player and a piano technician, I grew up surrounded by music. Our family was given a player piano by my grandmother. It needed some repairs, and my father, who had a knack for a challenge, repaired it, and began collecting players, which were being discarded in favour of tv's. There were many around over the years, and the rolls that came with them inspired an interest in old forms of music, especially ragtime.

Long before the movie 'The Sting' popularized ragtime, my father and a few friends were promoting ragtime, often through lots of in home sessions and recording.

My first venture in rebuilding pianos involved my brother, a painted 'beater', and a disastrous moving adventure. Never dropped one since, though!!