At that time he was living in California, teaching high school science, gigging with a band on weekends and starting a family. Building stringed instruments was something he did as a hobby and to add some income. Everything he built was made in a little corner of his garage next to the washing machine. His reputation and family grew. When he met his current wife, Pamela, he was living between Oakh
urst, California and the southern gates of Yosemite National Park. He had the Sierra National Forest, literally, in his backyard and a waterfall just across the road. It was pretty idyllic. But Pamela had figured out that building instruments was bringing in more income than teaching so in 1992 William and Pamela formed Wm. Rees Instruments and William became a full-time luthier. Then, in 1996, fifteen year-old Garen, William's youngest son, joined William and started doing harp ornamentation. William and Pamela also added an employee, Rebecca Spellman, and a lutherie apprentice, the wonderful Jeff Lewis. The business grew dramatically. By 1999 William and Pamela knew they needed to relocate outside of (expensive) California in order to grow the business further so they moved, along with Garen and Bryant (William's oldest son, who worked for the business for a couple of years), to Rising Sun, Indiana. They bought a 7000 square foot building, which was part manufacturing space and part retail space. The part retail, part manufacturing space was built in 1881 and the Rees' had the building completely rehabbed. They moved in June of 2000. Once settled in Rising Sun, William and Pamela did quite a bit of hiring including Rebecca, William's daughter, and her husband Shannon along with Melissa Irwin, now Garen's wife. Rees is extremely fortunate to have talented and dedicated employees, but the core continues to be family and it is the second generation who are carrying the business forward. The business thrived in Indiana and by 2003, when William introduced his newest creation, the Harpsicle® Harp, to the world, things really took off. Now Rees Concert Line Harps and Harpsicle® Harps have spread around the world and our little harp lutherie just keeps chugging away!
