Gordon Grubbs grew up in a very musical home. His mother was a professional pianist and was very encouraging to Gordon when he was three and wanted to play. Gordon was later guided by a...
Annekathrin Mascus served as the Head of Sales for Breitkopf & Härtel, the oldest currently operating music publishing house. The company began in 1719 by Bernhard Breitkopf in Leipzi...
Jack Wyatt was well known in the piano industry as the historian of the Piano Technicians Guild. In fact, when the PTG opened a museum in their home office in Kansas City, MO, Jack was th...
Yasuharu Mano’s grandfather opened a toy business in 1902 in Japan and by 1917 expanded to include a small line of harmonicas. Soon, the harmonica became in high demand and the company ch...
David Briggs was learning his skills as a studio musician in both Muscle Shoals and Nashville when he received a call to replace Floyd Cramer in a recording session. That session just hap...
Diane Johnson, who was born in Brooklyn, was living on Madison Avenue when she landed a job at Music Merchandise Review (MMR). The magazine’s office was located just around the corner on ...
Allen Prather, was known throughout the industry as Lowell, became a well-respected sales rep for the Kaman Corporation. He stayed with the company for over thirty years and helped move t...
Jim Kidder had already worked in music retail for several years when he was given the chance to take over the band instrument division and form his own business. Since then, Kidder Music ...
Frank Murphy opened Frailers Guitar & Banjo Shop, which is situated in Runcorn, Cheshire on the banks of the River Mersey - just southeast of Liverpool England. The store was establis...
Clem Burk was the rock drummer who played with the group Blondie beginning in 1975, a year after the band was formed. With the band, Clem played on all of the band's tours and hit records...
Johnny Tillotson had a music television program as a teenager in Florida before landing a string of hit recordings including his smash hit “Poetry In Motion” in 1961. A year later Johnny ...
Dirk Kommer grew up close to Hohner, where he began his industry career as an apprentice in 1956. Over the years his dedication and passion for the products resulted in advances in duties...
Mark Sampson and his friend, Rick Perrotta, formed Matchless Amplifiers in Mark’s kitchen back in 1989. Two years later they pulled all of their resources to exhibit at the NAMM Show in ...
Chris Jasper was the funk and soul keyboardist, singer and composer who played a key role in the Isley Brothers sound. He later helped form Isley-Jasper-Isley, which, like the Isley Brot...
Seiki Kato was the president of KORG, the Japan based electronics company that has created innovative musical products since his father first established the company in the 1970s. Seiki p...
Denis Wick was only 25 years old when he became the principal trombonist for the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO). Over the next 30 years, he played with the LSO and other world class orch...
Joan Flintoff LoPear joined the Southern California chapter of the Music Library Association (MLA) in 1967 just as the organization and the field of music librarians were recreating thems...
Harold Stone served the music products industry in many ways over a long and celebrated career. After working in a music retail store (Mays Music), Harold joined the CG Conn Company where...
Dr. Sherman Hong was encouraged at a young age by several outstanding music teachers to play percussion. In sixth grade he learned how to play drums using the Belwin band method series, w...
Garth Hudson sat down at the piano and played several classical works as the NAMM Oral History crew set up the camera and lights. He began by playing, stopping every once in a while, to r...
Arnold Poppenberg was hired by the Winter Piano Company as a traveling salesman in 1959, the same year he attended his first NAMM Show. He remained with Winter for ten years, but went on ...
Stu Cohen grew up playing the clarinet, and took lessons for close to eight years. In the early 1950s, Stu listened mostly to country music on the radio, just because it was the only stat...
Sam Moore and his singing partner Dave Prater helped put Stax Records on the map with their string of top hits in the 1960s. Their powerful performances inspired their nicknames of Double...
Peter Yarrow was the Peter in the wildly successful popular folk music trio Peter, Paul, and Mary. During his often musical NAMM Oral History interview, Peter spoke of the role music play...
Maureen Gamlin opened a music store with her husband in the coastal city of Cardiff in Wales. Gamlin Music was first opened in the late 1950s and was built as a family-oriented business w...
Michael Diehl opened a small store in Freehold, New Jersey after serving in the United States Navy during World War II. He attended college on the GI Bill and found that he could run the ...
Javier Batiz was very proud of the role he played in bringing American Blues music to Mexico! His own playing in bands and as a solo artist brought a great awareness to the Blues south of...
Leo Adelman spent much of his life playing the jazz trumpet. In retirement, he spends a great deal of time playing and promoting jazz throughout San Diego County. When the NAMM Oral Histo...
Michael O’Dorn remembered the moment he met one of his musical heroes, Merle Travis. Mr. Travis flicked a thumb pick to young Michael, who soon developed an even greater appreciation for ...
Jim Coleman Sr. recalled watching his father, a true traveling music man, tune a piano when Jim was just a boy. He not only went on to make a career of tuning, but set standards for testi...
Velia Villasenor-Telles grew up singing with her sister. Music was always a big part of her life, as she is related to the record producer Johnny Otis and the jazz composer and arranger G...
Craig Smith began piano lessons at the age seven and by the time he was twelve, was fascinated with the sounds of the home organ. He started demonstrating organs for Karnes Music at thirt...
