Jesse McReynolds was one half of the popular country and bluegrass duo Jim & Jesse. His late brother made up the other half, which by the way was once called Jesse & James, a name...
Janet Faulhaber always had a special interest in the sheet music department of the Ward-Brodt Music Company in Wisconsin. Janet and her husband purchased the store and expanded the produc...
Loren Zimmerman owned Byerly Music in Peoria, Illinois during the 1970s and 80s and is credited for being among the first music retailers to have locations in shopping malls. When he pur...
Floyd Newman is among the most noted studio musicians from the early days of Stax Records in Memphis. As a saxophonist, Floyd became an integral part of the studio band at Stax Records kn...
Janice Goodman shared the history of the music products industry with music lovers of all ages as a docent for the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, California. Among ...
Dr. Carlton Young has had a most interesting career as an editor and arranger of church music for hymnals and for music publishers such as Hope Music. His passion for church music began ...
Johnny Clark was a sales rep for the Slingerland Drum Company for nearly his entire career. He began working for the company when the founder’s son, Bud, was president and served under ev...
Yukio Sakurai studied photography and art at the university in Tokyo before his uncle asked if Yukio would come to work for him. His uncle was the founder of the Japan Music Trade Magazin...
John Musselman enjoyed a long and successful career in the music industry with Selmer, Leblanc and American Way. His zeal for the industry and understanding of international markets prove...
Richard Abreau played music in school as a kid but got away from it during most of his professional career. Then in 2001, upon his retirement, Richard returned to music! Encouraged by a...
Grace Marquette didn't care much for vacations or trips because it took her away from what she loved, her music store. Grace and her late husband, Robert, purchased the Loser’s Music Stor...
Richard Harrison owned and operated several music retail stores in the United Kingdom including well-known stores on Denmark Street. The street in London is often called the English Tin P...
Gary Bennett entered the music products industry in 1964 working for Chesbro Music in Idaho. At the time of his NAMM Oral History interview, taped during the NAMM Show in January 2012, Ga...
Rodgers Jenkins was the founder of the Rodgers Instrument Corp., based outside of Portland Oregon. Under Rodgers leadership, the company developed a strong engineering team that created ...
Jerry Gorby followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming a passionate advocate for music and music making. Jerry worked in the family music store, Gorby Music, in West Virginia, later b...
Thomas Case provided a tour of the Case Brothers Piano Company before our interview. He proudly pointed to a logo of the company when his great grandfather began tuning pianos in 1904. To...
Jack Hill was introduced to music at a very young age as his uncle was a professional musician. Jack started taking guitar lessons at eight years old, which he paid for himself with the m...
George Borun began his luthier endeavors as a hobby and soon found himself enthralled with the angles, the woods and the tools of the trade. He embarked on a mission to assemble the bluep...
Mike Adams was a sound designer and engineer who began servicing SouthernCalifornia's audio needs in the 1970s. Seeing the need for sound reinforcement during changing times, he left his ...
Arthur Lee Williams was only five years old when his uncle brought over a harmonica for him as a gift. Arthur took to the harmonica right away and made his career playing it and singing t...
Sidney Davis took over the Musical Merchandise Review (MMR) trade magazine in the 1980s. Originally the magazine began reporting on the industry in the 1880s and became an important resou...
Denny Mack was surrounded by music his entire life! His father was a Vaudeville performer and it seems all Denny ever wanted to do was be involved with music. He played drums at sock-hops...
David Lindley grew up close to the Folk Music Center in Claremont, California, where he was exposed to stringed instruments from around the world. He also worked for Berry Grassmuek Music...
Anna Sipavich was a real life Rosie the Riveter with ties to the music products industry. She was a factory worker at the Wurlitzer Company in DeKalb, IL, when the Second World War broke ...
Skip Maggiora has revolutionized retailing within the music products industry. With his Weekend Warriors program a whole new segment of the population was being targeted to become music m...
Phil Rovner was having some trouble with his intonation as a saxophone player, and decided to design a new approach to attaching the reed to his mouthpiece. As an engineer, he had the kno...
Dave Hill was always playing with electronics as a kid and also had a great love for music. He played drums in bands throughout high school but was always more interested in the science b...
Vic Lillo Sr. and his wife Doreen started a business in 1963, opening Lillo’s School Of Modern Music Ltd, a music school and retail music store in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Lillo’s Music...
Butch Miles was born in Ironton, Ohio, on the 4th of July during a family reunion. When he was asked to join the school band he decided to play the drums. By the time he was in high schoo...
Louise Harrison was the older sister of George and played an important role in the Beatle's success in America. In 1963, the year before the Beatles arrived, Louise was living in the Uni...
Lane Zastrow was playing professionally and even teaching music as a teenager. His main instrument was the accordion! After years on the road, Lane made his way into the print world. I...
Jerry Blavat was a DJ and radio broadcaster with a lot of energy! Also known as “The Geator with the Heater” and “The Big Boss with the Hot Sauce,” Jerry started his career on the origina...