Meet The Staff at Premier Guitar


Peter Sprague, Chairman 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, President
 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).

Jon Levy, Publisher 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.

Gary Ciocci, Managing Member
 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.




Shawn Hammond, Editor in Chief
 319-447-5550 • shawn@premierguitar.com
Shawn Hammond became a guitar nut at the age of six, when he heard the debut of Ed Van Halen’s “Eruption”—though he didn’t start playing till he was 12. As you’d expect, he went through a “must-have-a-Floyd-Rose” phase, but he’s since become a Bigsby addict. Shawn has a degree in journalism and has been a guitar-mag journalist for more than 13 years. He lives with his wife, three boys, Evey the Great Dane, and Viktor the cat in Cedar Rapids, IA. Follow him on Twitter @PG_Shawnh

Tessa Jeffers, Managing Editor tessa@premierguitar.com
Tessa is a Nebraska native who began her career in journalism at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her first assignment was to review a Poison performance at the state fair, and she’s since interviewed a menagerie of musicians—from Pete Townshend to Conor Oberst, James Valentine, Tori Amos, T.S. Monk, and Henry Rollins, as well as members of the Flaming Lips, 311, and the Blue Man Group. In addition to writing for SPIN, Tessa worked for three years as an arts editor and investigative reporter for the Omaha Reader. Her most challenging role to date was working as a managing editor tasked with reinventing a lifestyle magazine in the Middle Eastern country of Qatar. She’s now back from her adventure abroad and ready to rumble with PG.

Andy Ellis, Senior Editor andy@premierguitar.com
As a kid, Andy learned to play classical and rock guitar in France and Germany, and then went on to study jazz at Boston's Berklee College of Music. After playing in bands for several years, Andy discovered he had an affinity for music journalism. During the last two decades, he has written hundreds of features, interviews, and lessons. His work has appeared in virtually every guitar magazine and many websites in the U.S., and dozens of his lessons are collected in popular instructional books. Now based in Nashville, Andy backs singer-songwriters on the baritone guitar. He also hosts a weekly radio show, The Guitar Show with Andy Ellis, which is broadcast on-air and online three nights a week from community stations in Nashville and San Antonio.

Charles Saufley, Gear Editor charles@premierguitar.com
Charles is a career writer and editor from San Francisco. Before joining Premier Guitar he served as Associate Editor at Acoustic Guitar magazine (where his predecessor was esteemed PG Editor in Chief Shawn Hammond.) He became music obsessed not long after birth—thanks in no small part to older siblings who ‘babysat’ him with a set of headphones, Revolver, and Sticky Fingers. Charles still spends a lot of time listening to records. And his many git-fiddle heroes include Roger McGuinn, Pete Townshend, Tom Verlaine, Eddie Phillips, Nokie Edwards, Gabor Szabo, John Cippolina, Randy Holden, Erkin Koray, Greg Ginn, and Sonic Youth.

Rebecca Dirks, Web Content Editor 319-447-5550 • rebecca@premierguitar.com
Since joining Premier Guitar as an intern in 2007, Rebecca has done just about everything, from writing cover stories to editing every section of the magazine to hosting hundreds of videos, and currently runs all of PG's online content. Rebecca graduated from the University of Iowa with degrees in journalism and art, and lives in the Iowa City area with her husband, two giant dogs, and more cats than are appropriate to mention. When not on the road for PG or petsitting, she enjoys challenging herself in the kitchen, watching the Packers dominate, and discovering new music or rediscovering old favorites. Follow her on Twitter @PGRebecca.

Rich Osweiler, Associate Editor
 rich@premierguitar.com
Rich started playing guitar at the tender age of 8, but over the years bass has become his main instrument. Prior to joining Premier Guitar, Rich worked at Acoustic Guitar for close to 10 years, most recently as associate publisher and director of marketing. He loves all types of music—from gypsy jazz to lo-fi and grindcore—provided the genre name isn’t preceded by the “contemporary” tag. Outside of music, Rich enjoys travel, skiing, backpacking, and learning how to be a dad. From San Francisco, he lives just outside Vail, Colorado, with his wife, daughter, and their dog, Kiko.

Chris Kies, Associate Editor
 319-447-5550 • chris@premierguitar.com
Chris has degrees in Journalism and History from the University of Iowa and has been with PG dating back to his days as an intern. Since then, he's become Associate Editor and taken on the bulk of video shooting and editing duties, while still helping out with occasional print and web features, media reviews, and regularly contributing concert photography. He spends his free time with wife Candice, getting tattoos, cheering on the Cubs and Cowboys, staying in shape, playing guitar, and listening to as much music as possible. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisK_PG

Jason Shadrick, Associate Editor 319-447-5550 • jason@premierguitar.com
Since attending a Dave Matthews Band concert as a teenager, Jason has been into all things guitar. An Iowa native, Jason has degrees in Music Business from Minnesota State-Mankato and Jazz Pedagogy from the University of Northern Iowa. Since then, he has spent time doing everything from promotion at an indie music label to organizing guitar workshops all over the country. Currently, Jason lives with his wife,  son, and daughter in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Follow him on Twitter @jasonshadrick.
Dan Dorman, Video/Photo Editor 319-447-5550 • dan@premierguitar.com
Daniel has been playing bass, guitar, and piano since he was 15, and along the way he got into recording—he even co-owned a studio for a few years. In his free time, he enjoys recording bands, helping the local radio station broadcast the Iowa City Jazz Festival, spending time with family, geeking-out on Saabs, and learning to build guitar pedals (his latest is a tremolo project). He lives in Marion, Iowa, with his wife and dog.


Meghan Molumby, Senior 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 daughter. 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”.

Matt Roberts, Multimedia Coordinator
 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.


Luke Viertel, Production Coordinator 319-447-5550 • luke@premierguitar.com
Luke brings a much needed asset to the Premier Guitar team...a keyboard player! A lifelong musician, he has a Bachelor of Music Degree in Voice Performance from Coe College and is an aspiring singer-songwriter. At PG, he handles a variety of tasks from coordinating the production process, order communications, mailing, travel and holding down the masculinity in the production department! He lives in Cedar Rapids, IA with his fish and his keyboards.

Shannon Burmeister, 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.



Brett Petrusek, Advertising/Artist Relations Manager 612-605-1621 • brett@premierguitar.com
A talented illustrator (he’s a graduate of The Minneapolis College of Art and Design), Brett’s true passion is music. He has preformed, recorded and toured nationally with a variety of guitar-driven bands, plus he’s worked for two major guitar manufacturers. Nowadays, Brett’s gig on the PG team is augmented by his role as the lead guitarist/vocalist with Minneapolis-based Downtread, where he gets to indulge in gear lust and subject his equipment to the rigors of the band’s punishing live show. It’s a perfect scenario for a guy who loves to modify guitars and amps and rock out at every opportunity.

Dave Westin, Retail Sales Manager 515-974-5626 • dave@premierguitar.com
Dave Westin is graduate of San Diego State University with majors in Business Administration and Philosophy. He enjoys skydiving, extreme bar-hopping, long walks on the beach, and of course, music! Dave specializes in working with Premier Guitar customers who are small business owners.