Joe Jackson, president and owner of Jackson Pianos, founded the company in 1999 when he began refurbishing pianos in his spare time out of his home in South City. Joe had spent several years prior gaining experience working on pianos through classes and seminars around the country and as an apprentice under long-time St. Louis tuner and piano store owner, Julius Konopka. In 2003, Joe decided to take the next step and move his part-time business to a storefront where selling, tuning, and restoring pianos would become his full-time occupation. The building he bought on Cherokee Street in St. Louis' South City that year housed his business as well as he and his wife and new baby daughter. Shortly thereafter, Joe's wife, Morgan Cameron began helping with the business and the two found that Morgan's clerical and business skills were a good fit with Joe's technical knowledge, and the business thrived on Cherokee through 2011, when expansion to a larger space was necessary.