Meet The Band at Premier Guitar


Peter Sprague, Chief Executive Officer 319-447-5550 • peters@premierguitar.com
Peter is a partner in the business, who has the good fortune to be married to Patti. Peter, a former Wall Street Journal reporter has spent years as a serial media entrepreneur. The “grey beard” of the group, he is a former drummer who had a band through high school and college. While playing as a front band for Brubeck, he heard Joe Morello; laid down his sticks and went into publishing. Peter is responsible for overall development of the business and is also taking guitar lessons, clearly demonstrating why he was a better drummer!

Patti Sprague, Chief Operating Officer 319-447-5550 • pattis@premierguitar.com
Patti is a partner with the company and is a CPA. She has also served as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for several large media companies. As the COO, Patti is responsible for all operations…accounting, IT, production, and circulation. A former gymnast, she manages the stress by running road races and winning medals - she can outrun all other employees! Patti grew up playing piano and is now taking up guitar (the better instrument).

Gary Ciocci, Managing Director 603-924-0139 • gary@premierguitar.com
With more than 25 years in publishing, 12 of them in the music industry, Gary Ciocci’s experience includes art direction, design, production, ad creation, marketing, circulation, advertising sales, and sales management. Gary has worked with clients ranging from small guitar shops to IBM and Dell. As a guitarist, Gary considers himself more of a guitar owner than a guitar player. Because of his personal interest and profession, he has an appreciation for clients and the products used by readers.

Jon Levy, Managing Director 818-994-3800 • jon@premierguitar.com
With his broad background in writing, media and marketing, Jon remains at heart an unabashed music junkie. His 20-year career is an outgrowth of his interests as a guitarist and bassist. Through it all, he’s built strong relationships with musicians and has helped promote the instruments and music-making technology they use.


Joe Coffey, Editorial Director 319-447-5550 • joe@premierguitar.com
When Joe isn’t playing out with his band or sacked out in a hammock listening to ‘70s-era Buffett, he’s overseeing the editorial operations for Premier Guitar. Joe is a former TV news anchor and has also taught college journalism and video production. Joe holds degrees from Baylor University and the University of Iowa.

Chris Burgess, Editor in Chief
 319-447-5550 • chrisb@premierguitar.com
Chris got his first electric guitar (a pawnshop Teisco) when he was 16 and has been playing and singing in bands ever since. A U.S. Navy vet, Chris has since taken on a wide variety of occupations, both in and out of the publishing industry, and teaches part time at the University of Iowa. When he’s not playing, napping, or testing out the latest gear for Premier Guitar, he’s working on his Ph.D. dissertation in medieval English poetry.

Gabriel J. Hernandez, Managing Editor
 319.743.5110 • gabe@premierguitar.com
Gabe earned his journalism degree from the University of Florida (Go Gators!) in the late 1980s and has written about such exhilarating topics as nursing homes, the environmental lab industry and the U.S. correctional system. Along the way, he even became the preeminent voice of funeral homes and cemeteries. Several years ago, however, he decided to tackle a topic very dear to his heart – guitars – and landed as Web editor at Gibson's corporate headquarters in Nashville. He got his first guitar at the age of six, has played in countless cover bands, and currently owns too many guitars to count, which speaks volumes about his wife's patience.

Rebecca Dirks, Web Content Editor 319-447-5550 • Rebecca@premierguitar.com
Rebecca is a graduate of the University of Iowa, where she studied journalism and graphic design. Rebecca is devoted to a strenuous schedule of maintaining social networking sites (MySpace, Twitter and Facebook), turning stories into HTML, and tending to our weekly Backstage Pass newsletter. In the rare moments that she's not in front of a computer, Rebecca enjoys watching football (go Packers!) and playing Wii.

Chris Kies, Associate Editor
 319-447-5550 • chris@premierguitar
Chris attended the University of Iowa where he studied journalism and history. He’s spent the past few years writing music and concert reviews for the webzine, Decoy Music. He’s assisted PG with both editorial and website duties. He spends his free time getting tattoos, rooting on the Cubs and Cowboys, working out, trying to play guitar and listening to anything from Hank Williams Sr. to Pantera and the Wu Tang Clan to Social Distortion.



Sara Legore, Senior Art Editor
 319-447-5550 • sara@premierguitar.com
Sara has her BFA from Iowa State University’s Graphic Design Program. While in school she designed two books, was art director of an on-campus magazine, served as president of AIGA-ISU and chaired the Graphic Design Career Day. When not designing, Sara enjoys cooking, interior decorating, shopping, listening to music and spending time with friends and family, including her husband Chris.

Meghan Molumby, Art Editor
 319-447-5550 • meghan@premierguitar.com
Meghan has a BFA in Graphic Design from Iowa State University. While attending ISU she studied abroad in Rome and participated in a workshop with designer Primo Angeli. Previously, Meghan has worked as a branding consultant for Grasshorse Animation Studios. She enjoys flea markets, vinyl and the fresh scent of coffee beans. Meghan lives in Cedar Rapids with her husband Matthew and dog Marlowe. 


Nick Ireland, Marketing Manager
 319-447-5550 • Nick@premierguitar.com
Nick is from Cedar Rapids, Iowa where he lives with his wife and two daughters. He is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa where he attended both undergraduate and graduate school, studying Public Relations, Journalism and Political Communication. Nick came to Premier Guitar after working in sales and marketing in the financial services industry. He enjoys playing his guitars and rocking out to “The Boss” in that all-too-elusive sliver of reality known as “down time”.

Brandon Brinson, Multimedia Communication Specialist
 319-447-5550 • brandon@premierguitar.com
Originally from Houston, Texas, Brandon is a graduate of Cornell College where he double majored in international relations and religion. He’s played guitar for ten years and can hold his own on the saxophone. When not in the office, he’s usually reading, watching pro basketball, or playing video games.

Matt Roberts, Marketing Associate
 319-447-5550 • mattr@premierguitar.com
Matt is a graduate of Cornell College with a Bachelor of Music degree focused on Vocal Performance. When not singing, he plays guitar and piano (and any other instrument he can get his hands on).  In his free time, he enjoys playing Frisbee, video games, using technology, reading, watching movies and of course, making music.



Shannon Britcher,  Operations Manager
 319-447-5550 • shannon@premierguitar.com
Shannon is Lois’ daughter and is a graduate of Iowa State University majoring in Accounting. She enjoys quilting and has recently started guitar lessons. She is an avid fan of The Office and The Biggest Loser and once turned her dog, Emma, blue (accidentally!). She lives by the motto, “I’m not bossy, I just have better ideas.” Shannon does all invoicing and makes those annoying, but necessary, calls to delinquent advertisers.

Lois Stodola, Accounting & Circulation Assistant
 319-447-5550 • lois@premierguitar.com
Lois is “mom” to four adult children and two dogs, and “grandma” to her 3-year-old grandson. Despite her kids being grown, she still has to deal with her oldest daughter (Shannon) on a daily basis, but she claims to love it. Lois has made a career of administration and database assignments and is responsible for all our daily circulation activities. If you have a subscription issue/question, Lois is the person to call! While she’s not musically inclined, she does enjoy making a sewing machine sing while making quilts.

Haylee Zlatohlavek, Production Coordinator 319-447-5550 • haylee@premierguitar.com
Haylee graduated with a BA in Public Relations from Mount Mercy College where she was the Business Manager of the Mount Mercy Times and the Vice President/Treasurer of FACE, the school’s student-run public relations and marketing firm. She now brings her talents aboard Premier Guitar where she focuses on keeping the production side of things organized and running smoothly. When she isn’t at work you can usually find her hanging out with her studly husband and their two dogs (AKA: their “furry children”). She enjoys camping, traveling, reading, shopping and college football. GO HAWKS!!


Matt Charles, Director of Business Development 718.634.1977 • Matt@premierguitar.com
Music has always been Matt’s “thing.” He was lucky enough to see Zeppelin when he was 13 and that was pretty much it. He didn’t know how he was going to do it, but he knew that music was always going to be a big part of his life. Matt has done just about everything: playing guitar and bass, engineering and producing recorded music, doing live sound engineering for many bands, designing and installing sound systems for music venues, and developing new business opportunities for a guitar-oriented magazine/website. Matt brings that expertise to Premier Guitar and our clients. Working with Premier Guitar affords him the opportunity to share his passion for music and gear, with his equally passionate colleagues and with all the Gear Hounds out there.

Dave Westin, Retail Sales Manager 515-974-5626 • dave@premierguitar.com
Hey Y’all – this is Dave Westin. A graduate of San Diego State University with majors in Business Administration and Philosophy, he’s travelled the world seeking thrills in things like extreme skiing, skydiving, base jumping and race car driving. Dave also loves music, and finds working with the guitar industry folks to be extremely fulfilling – it’s great to be a part of something that helps people to live their dreams! Rock on.