Gary Rhamy
Living Category – Inducted 2006
Engineer, producer. announcer and owner of Peppermint
Productions, Gary Rhamy has engineered four Grammy winning albums. He
has produced over 500 albums for more than 175 polka artists alone.
 While
at Ohio University where Gary received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree
in broadcasting he produced a live jazz program called "Campus Jazz"
which aired weekly on WLW Radio in Cincinnati. After college, Gary went
to Youngstown in 1967 to work for WBBW Radio as well as for United Auto
Recording as an engineer. Following two years as a producer-director for
the US Army's Television Division at Fort Knox, Kentucky, he received
the distinctive "Hell on Reels" award for outstanding service and
returned to Youngstown in 1970 to form Peppermint Recording Studios.
The popularity of early recordings by Joe Fedorchak,
Joey Miskulin, Bob Turcola, The Dynatones and the New Brass promoted
Gary's reputation in the polka field.
In 1986, "70 Years of Polka Hits," which Gary
recorded with America's Polka King Frank Yankovic, was awarded the first
ever Grammy in the newly established "Best Polka Recording" category.
Again, in 1992 the album, "35th Anniversary" by Canada's Walter Ostanek,
which Gary recorded and mixed, received that year's Grammy award.
Most recently, the team of Rhamy and Ostanek brought
home the 1993 Grammy with the album, "Accordionally Yours" and again was
successful in winning the 1994 Grammy with "Music and Friends."
Significant also is that each year during the eighteen years in which
polkas have been eligible, as many as four of the final five Grammy
nominations for this category have been engineered and mixed by Gary.
His recordings for Yankovic, Ostanek and other artists have received
numerous awards from national organizations. In addition, the Penn-Ohio
Polka Pals, a Grammy nominated group of sixty musicians, selected Gary
as their "Man of the Year" in 1994.
Gary's talents shine not only behind the control
board, but also in front of the microphone. His broadcast background and
announcing skills have been the basis for his producing award winning
commercials and jingles as well as being the voice for area advertisers
and national firms. Gary announced and engineered the pilot demo for the
popular television show "American Gladiators."
Even with his busy schedule, Gary still has time to
be a radio host on top-rated radio station WBOM, Salem, Ohio. |
