Guitar Gallery Staff Page
The staff at Melbourne Guitar Gallery are working musicians, stringed instrument players in particular, who know the store's carefully chosen stock well, from beginner's guitars to top-end F5 mandolins. Most are available for lessons at the shop, and all are welcoming and generous with whatever specialist knowledge they have. They love being around such an enticing array of instruments and they're sad to see some of them leave the shop; but they try to arrange a happy home for each and every one.
Gerry Hale
Gerry decided at an early age that the musicians life was for him. While he was still at high school he was earning as much as his teachers playing gigs on the weekend. Starting on guitar, fiddle and mandolin at the same time he quickly got a solid grounding in all three and, at the age of 17, found himself onstage with Kenny Baker and Bill Monroe...but that's another story. Gerry has performed with Paul Kelly, Colin Hay, Deborah Conway, and Renee Geyer among others and has always maintained a band of his own from the bluegrass of Uncle Bill to the Dan Hicks repertoire of The Innocent Bystanders. He plays banjo, lap steel, mandolin, fiddle, guitar, dobro and a smattering of pedal steel and various South American instruments. Other loves include wine, cheese and Czech beer.
Kim Wheeler
Our resident left handed, double bass playing, all singing nerd gone right. Kim looks after our computers, makes sure the office can communicate with the sales counter and is often found behind the counter especially if someone is after buying a double bass. Kim started out heavy and electric in a band called Boxmonster and she now plays double bass with Gerry in The Innocent Bystanders. She's still heavy and electric somewhere deep inside though.
Kate Burke
Kate is an exquisite singer and a powerful and imaginative guitarist, and provides much of the backbone to
Trouble In the Kitchen's distinctive sound. In 1998 she won, along with Ruth Hazleton, the Liz Johnston Award for Vocal Excellence at the National Folk Festival, and as a duo
Kate and Ruth have since recorded three successful albums. In 2004 they toured Ireland to great acclaim with Irish singer Andy Irvine and UK performers James Fagan and Nancy Kerr. Kate spends a lot of time going to Irish sessions with her fiddle and concertina, and in what little spare time remains she is writing songs – her
Song for Reconciliation was nominated for a MusicOz award in 2003. She remains a strong believer in slow food, wool spinning, and hates McDonald’s
