Trade Regrets: John Michael Ramirez

Long-time colleague, 50-plus year music retailing veteran, and icon of the San Antonio, Texas music scene John Michael Ramirez passed away unexpectedly on July 10, 2024. An employee of Guitar Tex for more than a decade, Ramirez brought to the Guitar Tex family an unparalleled depth and breadth of experience.

Ramirez’s career in music retailing began more than 50 years ago when he took a position with Caldwell Music. Before that he had become a fixture in the San Antonio music scene during the 1960s, performing with the bands The Chayns and Rocksand.

“I met him in person at Meteor Music in the 90s, but I knew who he was since the 60s when I was just starting to play and he was already in some of the cool bands,” said Mark Waldrop. “At Guitar Tex he has been an invaluable help in every way. He was a brother to me and I will miss him everyday. He seemed to know just about everyone who ever played music in and around San Antonio, and they all loved John Michael. The old cliche ‘They broke the mold’ couldn’t be truer regarding John Michael. There will never be another like him. His talent as a musician is only overshadowed by his kindness and generosity as a human.” 

Before his time with Guitar Tex Ramirez held positions with Sam Ash, The Bulverde Academy of Music, Redbone, and Mars Music. He was a founding partner in two local retailers, River City Music and Meteor Music, and he worked on the wholesale side of the music retail business with C. Bruno/Kaman Music (now KMC Music). Perhaps most notable was his beginning in music retail in 1971 at Caldwell Music in downtown San Antonio. He was there (and there are pictures) when Gene Warner famously sold Keith Richards his first black Telecaster Custom.

A mentor and friend to a vast array of musicians, Ramirez represented the best qualities of someone working in musical instrument sales. He listened to his customers, went above and beyond what was required to deliver the best experience possible, and treated everyone with earnest kindness and respect.

As a testament to his impact on the community of musicians, local songwriter John Whipple dedicated his July 16 TuNesday Open Mic at the Pigpen to Ramirez. Where more typical evenings would be in the range of 50 to 75 people, the July 16 event brought out more than 400 people to make music, share memories, and celebrate the life of Ramirez.

Not a day goes by at GuitarTex without someone asking for or telling a story about John. Some talk about their first guitar, some share memories of a concert or the Teen Canteen. Others tell stories of their connections to John by way of church, cycling, running marathons and competing in triathlons – all things about which Ramirez was passionate. He made and lived a full and robust life.

“John made a real and positive difference in the lives of more people than can be counted,” said his colleague Mark Hiebert. “When you look at his career and the connections John created it becomes clear that he is responsible for bringing the joy of music into the lives of thousands of people, and especially guitar-based music. He also was generous in sharing his deep knowledge with those of us who have gotten to work with him here at Guitar Tex. A legendary man and a mighty friend to all of us, he is greatly missed.”

Not only an exceptional salesperson, John was also a magician for instrument set-ups, making countless guitars play better than their owners thought possible. Undaunted by zithers, autoharps, pedal steel guitars, or even baroque lutes, he looked on each instrument as an opportunity to learn.

A consummate guitarist in his own right, John continued his live music performance to the end, playing guitar and singing with the Jeffrey Charles Band starting in 2000 and in Pete’s Best, a popular San Antonio Beatles tribute band.

Remembering his friend and bandmate, Jeffrey Charles wrote, “For 14 years I had the great honor and privilege of having on stage with me John Michael Ramirez as lead guitarist and harmony singer. He was an incredibly talented musician/singer with a heart of gold. He approached every song like a producer to make it sound as good as possible, the right harmony, a select riff, melody etc… Never overplaying, he just always had the right vibe for each song.”

In conjunction with Spacetone Music (where John’s son Dausin works), we have established a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to help John’s family: 

https://gofund.me/8642cdff

John is survived by his wife Francin Reynaga, his son Dausin Ramirez, and daughter Dawn Ramirez.