Boston Brass and Beefsteak

In 1910, a new phonograph company emerged in Boston, it was founded upon a few generous donations from local elites. Their donations set the company in motion. By the early part of 1911, they were established as the Phono-cut company, the first commercially successful vertical cut label in the United States. This company employed Fred Hager as their bandmaster and music director, which proved rather trivial, as he had to gather new musicians from the area for the studio band. At the same time, Hager’s old flame Justin Ring was also in Boston, but for an entirely different reason. Ring had just married into a prominent Boston musical family. Their name may not be so familiar to us now, but within the old Boston music scene, they were well known. Even while they were separated, the “inseparable” Ring and Hager ended up in Boston at the same time. In 1910, Hager left the publishing business with J. Fred Helf, as at the beginning of that year a fire destroyed their building. Devastated by the loss, he quickly accepted an offer to work in Boston for the new Phono-cut label. The logistics of this job are still not entirely understood, as Hager lived in the Bronx, but he had to abandon a majority of his friends and family to k