Donovan Bankhead

President

Donovan is the President of Springfield Music, and has worked hard to position Springfield Music along with four other co-owned music retail stores to be fun, full service experiences for customers throughout Missouri and the surrounding states. He is highly-involved in the music industry, can often be found speaking at area universities, NAMM or NASMD, and is a bass guitarist and trumpet player. In addition to his tireless dedication to the music business, Donovan is a dedicated husband and father of two.

Misty Kristek

Vice President of Operations

Misty is the Vice President of Operations for Springfield Music, Inc and education program administrator.

Misty is a wife, mom and a hard worker! She's the glue that keeps this company together.

Paul Schmidt

Repair Manager

Paul Schmidt is the repair shop manager at Springfield Music Company based in Springfield, Missouri. Upon completing a degree in music at Missouri State University in 1990, he began repairing band instruments and serving as a school service representative at a local music store in Springfield. Mr. Schmidt is noted for his work with college music education programs and school in-service workshops presenting repair techniques and emergency tips. He recently presented at the 2017 MMEA conference on repairing in the classroom. Throughout the year you can find him at various marching band competitions, regional meetings, and numerous universities in Kansas and Missouri helping educators and students learn proper maintenance and repairs. One of Paul’s specialties is redesigning musical instruments to help students and adults with disabilities so they can enjoy making music again.

Eli Chambers

Repair Technician

Eli's love of music extends into all areas of his life—whether playing in a popular Southwest Missouri band or bringing instruments in need back to life at Ernie Williamson Music. Eli brings an artistic eye and a creative spirit to his role as repair technician. Stop by the store and say hello.

Jerrod Naff

Store Manager

Jerrod is the store manager for Ernie Williamson Music in Joplin. Having run a recording studio for over 10 years and being a live sound engineer for even longer, Jerrod is one of our main guys for sound reinforcement knowledge. Guitar is his main instrument with some trumpet skills mixed in for good measure. He currently serves as the worship leader at Calvary Chapel.

Amanda Rueter

Vice President of Finance

Amanda is the VP of Finance for Springfield Music, Inc - and she plays an integral role in making sure that financial commitments are met, and she does it all superbly and with a terrific sense of humor!

She's also a mom, wife, horn player, and aspiring guitarist!

Donnie Kraft

Buyer

Donnie is a long time musician and veteran of the music and music retail industry. After a long stint at Hoover Music, he joined the Springfield Music, Inc team as head of purchasing, where he keeps our stores full of super cool gear!

Mike Guffey

School Service (SW Missouri)

Mike Guffey serves as a school service representative for Springfield Music since 2003. In this capacity he serves as an educational consultant, adjudicator and much sought after clinician for marching, concert and jazz bands.

In 2011 he was selected as one of the top two road reps in the United States by the School Band & Orchestra Magazine. A thirty year veteran of teaching music education in southwest Missouri has included grades 5-12 instrumental music, vocal music and orchestra. Mr Guffey’s marching and concert bands have received top honors at every level of competition. He is a member of the Missouri Music Educators Association and Missouri Bandmasters Association. Guffey studied instrumental and vocal music education at Central Methodist University and Secondary School Administration at Missouri State University. While attending Central Methodist he was twice selected to the All State College Honor Band on trumpet.

Mike is a life-long resident of Missouri. growing up in Rolla and now residing in Springfield. He enjoys everything musical, boating, riding his Harley and scuba diving.

Jim Shannon

School Service (SW Missouri)

Jim Shannon is currently an assistant to the shop manager and a road representative for Springfield Music, Inc. Before joining Springfield Music in 2018, he was a music educator in the state of Missouri for 28 years. After first teaching in Bradleyville, Missouri, then Stoutland, Missouri, the last 21 years of teaching were at Logan-Rogersville School District in Rogersville, Missouri. While at Logan-Rogersville Mr. Shannon had the opportunity to build a successful instrumental music program directing many different performing groups including concert band, marching band, jazz band, winter drumline, pit orchestra for musicals, and bucket percussion classes. The marching band, jazz band, and winter drumline received many awards over the years and have performed in Missouri and across the country in Florida, Texas, Ohio, and twice in Hawaii.

Before going into education Mr. Shannon played professionally for Silver Dollar City, Jerry Presley Show and Ray Price Show in Branson, and in the band for the Toby Tyler Three Ring Circus which toured states in northeastern United States.

Mr. Shannon received a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Central Methodist College in Fayette, Missouri and a Master of Arts in Music Composition from Central Missouri State University. He also attended a Basic Recording Techniques Institute at Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.

Mr. Shannon is the son of two Missouri music educators. His mother, Mary Alice Shannon, taught elementary music and his father, Jim Shannon Sr., was director of bands at the Nevada School District in Nevada, Missouri.

Jim is married to Brenda Shannon who he met while performing in Branson. She was a singer with the Jerry Presley Show, where they met. They have two very musical children. Sarah, who is the area director for Young Life in Rogersville, and Nick, who has just graduated from MSU with a Bachelor of Music in Choral Education with Instrumental endorsement.

Currently, Mr. Shannon performs with two big bands, Wings of Swing and the Springfield Community Jazz Ensemble. He also leads a performing bucket percussion group with Brenda. The group, called CC Rhythm, is comprised primarily of individuals with developmental disabilities and is associated with Christian County Links.

Bradley Henady

Online Sales

Bradley has been with the company for 5 years, first starting as a Sales Floor Associate. After a couple years, an opening for E-commerce sales emerged and he quickly found my role there, where he has excelled at providing great service to our online customers.

Amanda Kimble

Instructor - Piano, Harp

Amanda is an integral part of the Ernie Williamson Music team where she works directly with customers, helps coordinate the music lessons program and teaches piano. In fact, Amanda has taught music since 2009. She plays the piano and harp. Outside of her musical interests, Amanda is a talented writer, a huge cupcake fan, and a mom and wife!

Seth Denison

Retail Operations

WhenSeth is not working hard to ensure our store is packed with awesome stuff, he spends most of his time with his wife and two kids. He knows precisely enough about music and gear for everything in the store to pass through his hands unscathed.

He loves music, being around awesome people, and having a good time, which makes this job great for him!

Matthew Stross

Retail Relationship Representative

Matthew has been playing music since he was 11 years old, and been with the company in various capacities since 2015. These days, he primarily plays guitar, but his love of music started in middle school, where he began playing tenor and bass trombone, which he played throughout highschool and college. While he enjoys all different types of music, he's an unabashed metalhead--an enthusiasm that eventually evolved from his early infatuation with groups like Rush and other progressive rock bands. He loves all things heavy, 7-string, and high gain, and is eager to help you pick out your next piece of musical gear!

Ray Nimmo

Repair Technician

I am a retired band director of 33 years and started repairing band instruments in 1973. He enjoys traveling and finishing. Ray has 3 sons and 3 grandsons and is looking forward to watching them grow