About Us

About Us

Hi, I am

Dennis Eugene Champlin,

and I am

"CHAMPLIN MUSIC"!

I was raised in a musical family; we all sang, and my Dad played guitar (left-handed, upside-down). I first began playing guitar in 1964; I turned "Pro" and began teaching in 1974, adding bass, drums, and piano to my guitar skills; I started this business as a teaching studio in 1980, adding retail sales, service, and repairs in 1984.

After graduating from Martinsville High School in 1970, I enrolled in the world famous "School of Hard Knocks", later graduating with a "Degree" in Music Performance and Music Education. I apprenticed under some of the finest professional musicians and teachers in Indiana, including jazz pianist James "Step" Wharton (who was an arranger for Count Basie); jazz bassist Mingo Jones (who was the bassist for the State Department's "Jazz Ambassadors" in Europe); jazz/blues, singer/pianist Jonathan Wiggs; jazz percussionist Roy Huston; jazz drummer Clem Tiggs; ragtime/dixieland pianist William "Bill" Hastings; jazz bassist/singer Raymond Schrader; country/western artist Lawrence "Red" Martin; Nashville studio guitarist Jim Ray Pryor; and master music educator Milton Stewart. I am an active member of the American Federation of Musicians, Indianapolis Local # 3. (F.Y.I. - my musician friends started calling me "Denny"; it stuck, and became my "stage" name).

Besides working here full-time, I contract teach the rhythm section of the Show Choir Combo in the Choral Music Department of Martinsville High School under Director Tim James. I am the Music Minister at the local Evangelical Methodist Church; I am an Ordained Lay Minister and Evangelist; I am also a contributing editor and columnist for a weekly newspaper, the Gosport Express News. My wife Jackie teaches third grade at Paragon Elementary, and is an active partner in both my music business and my music ministry.

My areas of experience and expertise include guitar, bass, drums, and piano, with a specialty in PA and sound reinforcement. My background is 20th century popular music. I sub-contract with area teachers, repair and sound technicians and contractors. Besides tutoring individuals, I also conduct clinics on Jazz Band and Show Choir rhythm sections, along with Church Praise & Worship Teams.

I started this business because of my love of music, and my desire to help others fulfill their musical dreams and ambitions. I believe in this age of impersonal chain stores, there's still room for the American dream of owning your own small business. While I may not have the variety and depth of a chain store, I believe I can offer personal service, based on my professional experience, and help you make the best selections to meet your musical needs, while the low overhead of my Christian family-owned busness will help your budget, too.

Celebrating Our 30th. Year Serving the Musical Community of Central Indiana!

How it all began: February 9, 1964, I saw the "Beatles" on the "Ed Sullivan Show"!

My first "guitar" was a 1964 "Silvertone" folk acoustic, $20 from "Sears & Roebuck"!

Denny Champlin

Member, AFM Local # 3

(Photo by Bernard Ewing Studio)

Check out the audio clips on "YouTube": Audios

Jonathan Wiggs Trio

"RMF Recording Studio", 1975

(Photo by Ronald Gill Studio)

Roy Huston, drums; Jonathan Wiggs, piano; Denny Champlin, bass.

Check out the audio clips on "YouTube": Audios

"Step" Wharton Trio

"Painted Hills", 1980

Les Heshelman, drums; Denny Champlin, bass; James "Step" Wharton, piano.

"Step" Wharton Quartet

"American Legion", 1980

Denny Champlin, bass; James "Step Wharton, piano; Mike Curtis, sax; Roy Huston, drums.

Jonathan Wiggs Trio

"The Lion's Den", 1974

Denny Champlin, bass; Jonathan Wiggs, piano; Roy Huston, drums

Note: The "Lion's Den" was my first-ever jazz bass gig; notice the medical tape on my fingers; they were blistered and bleeding from the friction due to playing my first upright bass viol. Who said you don't have to "pay your dues" to get into show business? I soaked my fingers in shot glasses of "C.C." on breaks to numb the pain; finally, I started consuming the shots of "C.C." orally, which seemed at the time to work much better! (Look at that "baby face"; and that hair!). "Those were the days my friend, We thought they'd never end, We'd sing and dance forever and a day; We'd live the life we choose, We'd fight and never lose, For we were young and sure to have our way."

Jonathan Wiggs Trio

"The Lion's Den", 1974