Verne Searer began working part-time for Crown International in 1963. He left to earn his engineering degree at Purdue and returned to Crown in 1970. He stayed nearly twenty more years with the company in several positions including as a technician, engineer, the Director of Engineering, and the Director of Marketing. Verne was on the team that worked with John McBride with...
Library
Recently Completed
Alan Fox’s father played in the symphony orchestra in Fort Wayne, Indiana before being drafted for service in World War...
Mary Miller interviewed for a factory job with the founder of Crown International, Clarence Moore. Mary recalled that...
Tom Hebert was serving in the Canadian Air Force when he had the idea of opening a small music store. His idea was to...
Full Interviews
This is the full length NAMM Oral History interview with Bruce Stevens, which was captured on June 7, 2007. For his...
This is the full length NAMM Oral History interview with Larry Dalton, which was captured on May 8, 2017. For his...
This is the full length NAMM Oral History interview with Trummy Young, which was captured on July 27, 1984. For his...
Vignettes
Long time music store owner and rights advocate, Fat Dog, was looking for a way to pay tribute to his all-time favorite...
Studio Engineers make the music come alive for the listener. As Brooks Arthur notes, engineers are like the extra band...
While there are many facets to the development and building of a guitar, acoustic guitars are able to take the raw wood...
About the Library & Resource Center
The NAMM Oral History program is unique, unlike any other collection in the world. The heart of the collection is the depth of its narrative that covers innovative creations, the evolution of musical instruments, the ever changing world of music retail, as well as our collective quest to improve music education around the globe. Oral History participants have come from 46 different countries, 49 U.S. states and were born between 1903 and 1988. This collection is our journal, our own way of chronicling ourselves and our community—the community we so eagerly embrace at the NAMM shows and so proudly celebrate throughout the year. This library of video interviews, now 3,000 strong and always growing, contains the story of our industry told by those who helped to shape it and have watched it expand and develop through the years.
We hope you find what you're looking for right here, but if you have any questions, please contact us at 760.438.8001 or via e-mail at dand@namm.org.