John Riddle was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina, on January 27, 1941, and over the course of his remarkable life became one of the quiet pillars of the NAMM community. While working for the Atlanta Visitor and Convention Bureau in 1975, he was asked to help bring the NAMM Show to Atlanta — and he did so with great success. During that time, he formed a lifelong friendship with Link, NAMM’s Director of Trade Shows, as well as CEO William Gard. John quickly developed a deep affection for the music products industry, forging lasting friendships with many NAMM members; one such friendship even inspired him to take up the bass. He went on to support every NAMM Show, summer and winter, until his retirement. Known for his attention to detail and unwavering reliability, John could step into nearly any role on the show floor whenever needed — and often did. Walking the floor with John was an education in itself. His strong relationships with exhibitors reflected a deep commitment to customer service, and his knowledge, professionalism, and steady presence guided both staff and members alike. It is often said that he was part of the NAMM family, but it feels more accurate to

Jerry Kennedy was just a young teenager when he and a friend first heard Elvis Presley’s Sun recording. Captivated by the electric guitar they heard, the two set out to see Elvis perform in their hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1955 — before the young singer’s meteoric rise. They later learned the guitarist was Scotty Moore, though the excitement of the crowd made it difficult to fully appreciate his playing. Ironically, Jerry’s own extraordinary talents would one day lead him to perform on the Louisiana Hayride and record with both Elvis and Scotty. As a Nashville studio musician, Jerry contributed to hundreds of recordings, including Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde, and played guitar on Elvis Presley’s 1962 hit “Good Luck Charm.” He was also heard on Dobro throughout Jeannie C. Riley’s 1968 hit “Harper Valley PTA.” Over the course of his distinguished career, Jerry earned four Grammy Awards and built a remarkable reputation as a producer, signing artists such as Roger Miller, Tom T. Hall, and the Statler Brothers. Yet beyond these accomplishments, he was widely respected for his humility, professionalism, and unwavering dedication to music. My own journey to meet

The 2025 NAMM Milestone, Believe In Music and Oral History Service Awards were presented during the Anaheim NAMM Show. These special awardees were honored on stage at the beginning of the breakfast sessions. On Friday, January 24, we honored companies celebrating 75, 100, 125, 150 and 200 years in business! We also honored Christie Z and Hal Harrower with the Believe In Music Award and Scott Mandeville with the NAMM Oral History Service Award. On Saturday, January 25, we honored companies celebrating 50 years in business, including several of these companies' founders! We also honored Dr. George Shaw, Karen Dunn, Dave Shadoan and John Anning with the Believe In Music Award. This video includes both ceremonies.

July 27, 2024, marks the 40th anniversary of my very first interview. At the age of 16 and working for a small radio station in Menlo Park, California, I was given the opportunity to take a tape recorder backstage during the Peninsula Jazz Concert. There I interviewed four big band sidemen, the first being Trummy Young!  It was an amazing experience, and I am so blessed that I kept those tapes and that they stood the test of time until my awesome staff digitized them in 2017. Each of those 97 radio interviews is now part of the NAMM Oral History Program, available to everyone, and all of my interviews can be in one collection! All 5,555, as of the writing of this blog. Of course, I had no clue conducting interviews would be my profession -let alone in the music industry! I suppose if I had I would have been more aggressive -such as how I am now -to gather as many meaningful people to talk to as possible. Think about it, I started in the early 1980s, which means I could have interviewed someone born in the 1800s -that would have been cool! I am grateful to my radio partner for many years, Jerry Jacobs. We hosted a weekly program on KCEA called Juke Box Saturday Night. J

The final podcast in our series dedicated to the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop provides the views of leading DJs and how equipment advanced as well as the growth of the mobile DJ and DJ battling. Check out this episode with DJ Qbert, Dave Lopez, DJ Imperial JayCee (may he rest in peace), DJ Aladdin and DJ Sir Jinx. Join us and our very special guest musician, curator of culture, and frontman of the Lyrical Groove, Kendrick Dial.

Having played the heck out of an old 45 record of Elmore James when I was not yet a teenager, imagine the thrill when I had the chance to meet Elmore’s harmonica player.   In April 2016, when I was in St. Louis capturing interviews during the annual RPMDA convention, I found time to interview a few local industry veterans, such as guitar repair tech Jimmy Gravity and music retailer Michael Fazio. Thanks to our pal and the editor of Living Blues magazine, Brett Bonner, I was also connected with Arthur Lee Williams, who among others recorded with Elmore James.   Arthur Lee met me at his front door and said it was a perfect day to be outside. I quickly took the hint and set up the camera as he donned a bright red hat. He played and told stories that kept me smiling the entire interview and when it was done asked if I could help him with a few errands. He wasn’t driving at the time and needed to pay his electric bill in town. On the way home he asked for one more stop, the liquor store. We got to his house and toasted our great decision to complete that last errand and hung out for a bit. It was during this time he put on a brown cowboy hat and let me take a few selfies, m