Canadian Music Trade - December / January 2020 | Page 14

News
Brian Ball Promoted to CEO of Ernie Ball
Leslie Ann Jones & Herbie Hancock at the 2019
TEC Awards
2020 TECnology Hall of Fame
Inductees Revealed
The seven defining audio products and
innovations have been revealed that will be
added to the TECnology Hall of Fame on
Jan. 18, 2020, during The NAMM Show.
The designations, which were voted on
by a panel of audio experts, honour audio
products and innovations that have made a
significant contribution to the advancement
of audio technology and production. As
well, recording engineer Dave Pensado and
record industry veteran Herb Trawick, the
creative duo behind the weekly web series
Pensado’s Place, will also be recipients of the
2020 TEC Hall of Fame award.
Joining the 160 previous honorees at
the TECnology Hall of Fame, the seven
product and innovation inductees for 2020
are: Multichannel Film Sound for Fantasia
(Walt Disney Productions - 1940); UREI
Cooper Time Cube (Duane Cooper/Bill
Putnam - 1971); Roland TR-808 Drum
Machine (Roland – 1980); Scholz Research
& Development Rockman (Tom Scholz
- 1982); Neutrik Combo XLR-1/4-in. con-
nector (Neutrik – 1992); 2002 Crane Song
Phoenix plug-in (Dave Hill - 2002); and the
QSC K-Series speakers (QSC – 2010).
For more information, go to
www.tecawards.org.
Ernie Ball Inc. has announced the promotion of Brian
Ball as its new CEO. He was previously president and
will continue to work alongside his father, Sterling Ball,
and brother, Scott Ball, in leading the company Ernie
Ball started in 1962.
As CEO, Ball will be responsible for strengthen-
ing the company’s market position within the guitar
industry. He has been with Ernie Ball Inc. since 2000 in
various roles, including artist relations, marketing, sales,
and leadership positions.
“Since I was a young child, this has been the ulti-
mate dream job for me, and I’m very grateful for the op-
portunity. Working for and alongside my dad has given
me a tremendous foundation and I’m looking forward
Brian Ball
to continuing to work with and build upon his and my
grandfather Ernie’s legacy to the best of my abilities,” Ball says.
Ernie Ball also recently announced the promotion of Luke Noffke to director of global
marketing and e-commerce. He joined the company in 2015 as director of marketing and
helped drive several key initiatives, including building the marketing team and the implemen-
tation of a global marketing strategy.
For more information, contact Ernie Ball: 800-543-2255, ca.ernieball.com.
Brock Kaericher Steps Down as
Remo President, Robert Shen
Named as Successor
Remo Inc. has announced that Brock Kaericher
is stepping down as its president and Robert
Shen will assume the title, in addition to his
current role as president of Remo Asia.
Kaericher joined Remo in 1996, coming
from an executive background in the electron-
ics industry, and was named president of Remo
in 2000. During his tenure, Kaericher served
on the NAMM board of directors.
Shen, whose father, Fredy, was executive
VP, joined the company in 2000 during the
start-up of Remo Asia. He has filled multiple
(L-R) Robert Shen, Ami Belli & Brock Kaericher
capacities during his tenure at Remo and was
named VP of operations in 2017. His new appointment becomes official on Jan. 1, 2020.
Remo is distributed in Canada by Coast Music.
For more information, contact Remo Inc.: 661-294-5600, www.remo.com.
Phil Wagner Returns to SSL as Sr. VP for North America
(L-R) SSL’s Nigel Beaumont & Phil Wagner with Group
One’s Bryan Bradley & Jack Kelly
14 CANADIAN MUSIC TRADE
Pro audio industry veteran Phil Wagner has rejoined Solid State Logic (SSL) as its senior
VP for North America. The move was made in conjunction with SSL’s new business
partnership with Group One Ltd. to manage its U.S. portfolio of audio solutions and
operational infrastructure. In his new role, Wagner will be working alongside the Group
One senior management team.
Wagner has been involved in the audio and entertainment industry for the last four
decades. Having started as a recording engineer and technician using SSL consoles, he even-
tually worked for the company for 17 years, becoming president of U.S. operations in 2005.
His career has also included stints as president of U.S. operations for Focusrite Novation and
more recent senior management roles at Apogee Electronics and Ocean Way Audio.
For more information, go to www.solidstatelogic.com.