Chris Walz remembers the moment he first heard blues legend Mississippi John Hurt on the radio. Chris was captivated and immediately inspired to play old-time finger-picking guitar.  At t...

Hedges Capers rose to fame in the late 1960s as half of the folk rock duo Hedges & Donns. He and his singing partner, Donna Carson (who was later his wife for several years) began sin...

Bob Barry is a noted jazz photographer who started his career as an actor, always expressing a passion for the arts! While having a successful acting career on stage and in commercials, B...

Ketty Lester sang several ballads while in a recording studio in Los Angeles in 1963, under the assumption that the point of the session was an audition to explore her musical range and s...

Suzi Quatro was six years old when she saw Elvis Presley perform on the Ed Sullivan Show and had what she calls her “lightbulb moment,” knowing that was what she was going to do with her ...

Ozzie Yue started a group with school friends who later went on to be known as the band, The Hideaways. The Liverpool based band played in the Cavern more times than the Beatles – in fact...

Chris Mulkey is a well-respected actor who has appeared on hundreds of movies and television programs dating back to the mid-1970s. Chris is also a passionate music maker who has carried ...

Conrad Janis played a music store owner on the hit TV sitcom Mork and Mindy. Conrad, who became a trombonist as a teenager, played Mindy’s father, the owner of a musical instrument store ...

Harry Shearer is an actor and musician who brought both talents together several times comedically in such films as “This Is Spinal Tap” and “A Mighty Wind”. In both movies, he played a b...

Johnny Vidacovich was born in New Orleans and raised by his mother and grandparents. He started playing drums when he was ten years old and would go to night clubs around New Orleans and ...

Ronny Cox is the actor who played the guitar in the famous Dueling Banjo scene during the 1972 movie Deliverance. That movie moment led to a big boom in banjo and acoustic guitar (and can...

Tony James hosted the popular Disney Channel series “Out of the Box” for seven years. The show exposed the young audience to music and music making, which is why he continues to be stoppe...

Willie Hayes is a Chicago blues drummer who found his style was suitable for a wide range of performers and media.  He can be seen and heard in the movies and on the recordings of many to...

Clifton “Fou Fou” Eddie began his career as a big band and jazz drummer but soon discovered he has the skills for the blues and pop music.  He has played with the likes of The Dells, Patt...

Paul Williams is the actor turned songwriter who penned several of the most popular songs since the late 1960s.  His hits include "Rainy Days and Mondays", "We've Only Just Begun" and the...

Red Dog Weber saw a pogo-cello during the NAMM show in the early 1950s and thought if there was a percussive version of this instrument he could play it with his band and have a lot of fu...

Billy Vera spent 40 years waiting for overnight success, which came in the form of his 1985 hit song “At This Moment.” His road to overnight success is a very fascinating story that began...

Whispering Bill Anderson began his music career as a songwriter penning the 1958 hit “City Lights” for Ray Price. Within a few years Bill was encouraged to sing some of his songs in his l...

Bunny Kacher began volunteering at the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music in 2002 as part of the second docent training class (the museum opened in 2000). Her love of music is easy ...

Jack LeMaire took guitar lessons from the legendary Eddy Lang. Jack played on radio broadcasts and recordings with a number of top artists during the 1940s and 50s. He all but gave up the...

Orrin Tucker’s Orchestra recorded one of the greatest successes of the big band era, “Oh Johnny Oh.” This novelty number featured the shy voice of Wee Bonnie Baker and has come to symboli...

This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Herb Jeffries was a singer with the Duke Ellington Orchestr...

This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Phil Harris was a big band leader, singer, and actor who hi...