Michael Feisthammel is a lifelong history teacher who has a passion for the construction and design of pianos. He acquired a Chicago-made Conover '77 grand almost 20 years ago. The high q...
Katie Kailus studied at Elmhurst College in the Jazz program playing guitar and majoring in writing. In 2009, she combined her passions and education by serving as an intern for Downbeat ...
Dick Weissman played an important role in the resurgence of the popularity of Folk Music in the 1950s and’60s. As a songwriter, producer and musician, Dick’s handy work can be heard and f...
Robb Lawrence loves playing the guitar as well as gathering the history of his instruments. He has written books and articles for magazines, including Guitar Player and has provided lectu...
Paul Brett knows a good story when he hears one and when he began digging into the history of the Bartell Guitar Company, he was hooked. Researching the California guitar manufacturer fro...
Jamey Aebersold’s name is synonymous with the play-a-long style music books, which have aided and inspired thousands upon thousands of musicians! Jamey does not refer to his publications ...
Bill Crow had a long and successful career as a jazz bassist for such Bebop pioneers as Stan Getz and Gerry Mulligan. In later years he joined the board for the New York chapter of the Mu...
Māhealani Uchiyama felt a passion for music and dance from a very young age and could see the importance of expressing yourself through the forms and how it often touches a part of your s...
Sylvia Massy has always been fascinated by art in all forms. She began painting at an early age and as a teenager had her own radio program. As a musical performer she first focused on le...
Steve Propes has been a longtime supporter of the NAMM Oral History program and sat down with us to discuss his views on the development of R&B, doo wop and rock and roll. As a long t...
Barry Rudolph was always interested in electronics and music. During high school he played drums in a surf band and worked full time in the aerospace industry while putting himself throug...
Joe Spann joined the Gruhn Guitars crew in Nashville, TN to assist in writing appraisals. Appraising musical instruments is an important part of the retail store's business, and has been ...
Floyd Toole recalls that when he was a child his father purchased a large amount of World War II surplus supplies, which contained a generous assortment of electronic gadgets and componen...
T. Bruce Wittet is the widely read drum journalist who began his musical passion playing harmonica. His love for all things music led him to an exciting career playing in the school’s jaz...
Seymour Bernstein shared great insight into his career and life in music during his NAMM Oral History interview. He proudly spoke of the first moment he put his hands on the white keys of...
Dan Phillips enjoyed his experiences playing drums in his junior high school marching band and singing in the choir. He pursued music in college and became fascinated with the quickly dev...
Jim LaDiana has developed his love of music in a variety of ways that have touched many people over his career. As an author he has written articles and a book about studio musicians, tit...
Will Friedwald is an author and music historian who has the skills and knowledge to write about everything from the Blues to the roots of Rock and Roll. The era in between seems to be his...
Dennis Spragg is a music historian and author who has become an expert on the bandleader Glenn Miller. He is the senior consultant for the Glenn Miller Archives and the American Music Res...
Lew Shaw grew up admiring musicians he heard on the radio or saw in concert and wanted to do all he could to promote their music and tell their stories. He was a journalist and advertisin...
Bob Calhoun grew up in the Bay Area and discovered his love for music after listening to some of his family’s record collection. He decided to pick up the bass and bought his first one at...
Drew Schlesinger started playing organ after seeing The Doors on The Ed Sullivan Show. While in college, Drew purchased his first Moog synthesizer and attended the Boston School of Electr...
Dr. Merryl Goldberg grew up inspired by music. Her parents wanted her to learn guitar, but she always had a soft spot in her heart for the saxophone and would sneak in lessons whenever po...
Dave McCluskey was like so many of his peers growing up in Liverpool after the Beatles who joined a rock band. He started off on guitar but switched to bass. In 1988 he landed the perfect...
Tony Bolland was just 16 when he got a job at Plug In, a rock shop in Liverpool. The store was part of Hessy’s Music, the famous store which sold instruments to the Beatles in the early p...
Phil Hilborne turned the pages while next to his mother as a child as she played the piano. That early experience was not only a wonderful memory, but a useful training opportunity to rea...
Don Cusic recalls that in 1964 he was greatly influenced by three musical discoveries: Roger Miller, Hank Williams, and The Beatles! After forming his own band and playing Bluegrass music...
Nick Bowcott is a founding member of the British heavy metal band, Grim Reaper. Nick put the band together in 1979 and by 1985 had gained commercial success namely due to Nick’s guitar sk...
Jim Merod is the founder of BluePort Sound recording studio and BluePort Jazz, his record label. Since the early 1990s, Jim has recorded a long list of legendary jazz, blues, and latin mu...
Larry LeBlanc was just 14 years old when he wrote a story about the local music scene for a Toronto newspaper. He was soon asked to write for a monthly magazine for teens called the Canad...
Larry Dvoskin can trace his passion for music back to an early age when he was classically trained on the piano. He purchased a guitar while in high school to gain the attention of girls ...
Stephen Webber is a professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and helped create the Music Production/Engineering program. After working at Mid South Recording Studio in Nashvill...
