Who We Are: Owner of Alpine Accents has a rockin' background

Locked away in a storage unit, Chuck Heuck has piles of Ludwig Drum catalogues dating back to 1916, original letters asking the company to sponsor a young John Bonham because “we think he's going to be great,” and staff shirts and guitars signed by the likes of Robert Plant and Jimmy Page. Rattling around in his mind, Heuck holds a plethora of stories about the bands he's worked with, from Johnny Carson, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Rascal Flats to Aerosmith, Queen, Robert Plant, Elton John and more. “At one time or another Ludwig had all the major acts in the world,” Heuck said. “I was fortunate enough to be with a lot of great artists — and some not so great, or not so happy, just because they were in the business for such a long time and they probably abused themselves, because of drugs and alcohol, and they get cranky as they get older.” In 1970, he was drafted and spent 13 months in South Korea, escaping Vietnam because his brother was already in the war zone, and government policy prevented two brothers from going at the same time. After he left the Army in 1972, he took a year off to cruise around with old buddies. Then, when a friend mentioned Ludwig had a job opening, he added, “but you gotta wear a shirt and tie,” to which Heuck answered, “I don't think that'll be a problem. I've been wearing a uniform for the last two years.” He began entering orders at Ludwig in October 1972, then moved to sales, which led to travel. In 1981, the Ludwig family sold its company to a band instrument business in Elkhart, Ind., and by the end of the two-year relocation transition to Indiana, Heuck was the only person left in the 250,000 square-foot factory in Chicago. He was also the only person who stayed with the company, moving to Indiana, making him the longest employed Ludwig worker in history. As a result, he became indispensable to the new owners, because he was the only person who knew about drums and percussion. Still, he sat behind a desk, listening to people scream at him when orders went awry, for three years before transferring into the marketing department, where he could travel more. His manager supervised artist relations, and since Heuck literally had most of the part numbers memorized and knew how to instruct musicians how to convert their old equipment and still keep older components, he earned a reputation among musicians.

Willie Nelson as free as a songbird | The Sun |Showbiz|Bizarre

COUNTRY singer WILLIE NELSON will dodge jail over a marijuana drug bust - by singing to a court.

Nelson, 77, was arrested for possession in Texas in November.

But Hudspeth County prosecutor KIT BRAMBLETT has agreed to let Nelson off with a small fine.

He added: "He's got to sing Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain with his guitar.

"You bet your a** I ain't going to be mean to Willie Nelson."

Nelson had 6oz of the drug, but prosecutors said with no packaging it weighed less than 3oz - making it a misdemeanour.

Bramblett joked that he had smoked some of the missing 3oz.

Farm Aid, a song for America

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