Hartin, John 2002-01-23

This interview features John Hartin as he discusses South Plains College’s music program. In this interview, Hartin describes working on the road and what led him to South Plains College.

General Interview Information

Interviewee Name: John Hartin

Additional Parties Recorded:

Date: January 23, 2002

Location:

Interviewer: Leslie Dutton

Length: 00:51:55

Abstract

Time on Circuit, Worked at a music store in College, Boss was in the fast food business, Spent time with naval reserve, Boss invested in restaurant called Coo Coo drive through, Went to school for business and accounting, Guy named Tom Hughes owned a chain of music stores and contacted him, Asked him to come up to Nebraska, Did it for a while, Being a rode salesman, Started to do road sells, Sold to high schools and colleges throughout the Mid West, Never thought of himself as seller, Loved music and appreciation for it, Not a very smooth talker, Wouldn’t pay to stop at some of the places assigned, Most band directors already had deals with other companies, Tried to get to know his clients better, There was a school that the band director always said they didn’t need anything, Hated that he couldn’t make an impact, Boss hated being interrupted, Training sales people hard, They had to be self motivated, Did road work for 2-3 years, Becoming a teacher, When kids come out there they just come to visit, Most drop because they get tired of marching or doing same music, His mentor had a way with words to get kids to attend there, Had a night class that had 3 sections, Made the first degree plan for Country Music, Very interesting because it was something completely new, Was only making about $860 a month, When he was on the road he was making about $1600 a week with commission, A big shock once he changed to less money, Had an office in the fine arts building, It was challenging, Hard for him to find costumers, In charge of a new program with no one enrolled, Hard for him to do that, Got a guy named Tim to come from Tech and come to school there, Got about 8 students by August of 1975, Have to make it more readily available for students, Close to where they are or easier to get in, South plains less expensive than Tech and easier to get into, Successful because of a vision by Mr. Tubb, Give the program solid backing, Physical resources improved, Had their own building, By 1977 had their first graduating class, Got to the point where they had so many people that they, Nathan Tubb and Marvin Baker were the intellectual ones, Didn’t give him any restraints when he was hiring someone new, They’ve allowed him to continually hired who they think can do the best job, Went up to Oklahoma to play in some shows

Access Information

Original Recording Format: mini-disc and audio cassette

Recording Format Notes: access copy available in reading room

Transcript: transcript available on dspace <https://hdl.handle.net/10605/364053>

Related Interviews: Hartin, John 2002-01-17

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