Vic Firth was a prolific timpanist, drum set performer, and educator all before he started his iconic drum stick company that we all know today. This episode starts as a biography of Vic, but then goes through the origins and rise of his company with great stories like how Vic used to have his employees matching sticks by tapping them on a tombstone he got from a friend in his basement. Mark Wessels is a long time employee of Vic Firth and is now the Director of Education at Vic Firth/Zildjian/Balter Mallets. He is a wealth of information and is very passionate about VF and has many great personal experiences he had from his time working with Vic. Check out Marks many great books at his publishing company: https://www.mwpublications.com/ and check out Vic Firth at www.vicfirth.com Enjoy this episode!