Syndenn Sweet was the first woman hired as a luthier at Bookmans Entertainment Exchange in Tucson, Arizona. This distinction is one she makes with pride, especially considering her father...
Matthew Green grew up in a very musical family. His father plays French Horn and was greatly influential on Matthew's own musical pursuits. At first he played the cello in school then lat...
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...
Dr. George Shaw has had a big impact on the lives and careers of thousands of young musicians. As a music educator and sought after musician, George always looked for opportunities to en...
Roger Hart has developed many friends throughout his career in the music products industry. Those friends will likely tell you the two things Roger enjoys talking about the most are music...
Jimmy Haslip is a true musician’s musician with a career filled with hundreds of recording dates and live sound events that date back to his teen years. Perhaps best known as an original ...
Jay McDowell, known as Smilin' Jay, is the Multimedia Archivist for the Musicians Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee. His father worked with Guild Guitars and was friends with Duane Edd...
Chuck Jacobs played bass in Kenny Rogers’ band for more than 40 years and enjoyed every minute of it. His roots in music go back to the Dixieland group his family formed while he was too ...
Jeff Berlin has always been surrounded by music and considers it the most important element of his life besides his family. The first instrument he picked up was the violin at age five, w...
Tony Newton was nicknamed “Baby Funk Brother” by the original studio musicians at Motown Records where he began working in 1964. His first session with the Funk Brothers was the song “Bab...
Dr. Lou Fischer has applied his love of music, his talents as a musician and his vast experiences on the road and in the studio to encourage students of all ages. Lou taught at Capital Un...
Jim Widner was given a very special opportunity to join his grade school’s orchestra, which provided him an instrument to play. His love of music was fostered years later when he became a...
Don Cromwell realized music was his passion when was playing in bands with his friends at a young age. His sophomore year of high school he switched from guitar to bass and never looked b...
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...
Leo Lyons became a professional musician early on in his life while playing with bands in London, England. He gravitated to the skiffle genre, playing first the banjo and then the guitar,...
Cecil McBee studied clarinet in elementary school and was inspired by the encouragement of his band director. He knew from that young age that he wanted a career in music. When he was a t...
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 ...
Philip Bynoe was encouraged to play his father’s upright bass, which developed into an amazing career in music. Philip attended Berklee College of Music and would play at night in clubs t...
Vernon Porter can be heard playing bass on many Kenny Loggins recordings from 1981-1984, which is one of many crowning achievements of his career. It started when young Vernon was in the ...
Tim Smith grew up in a very musical family as his father and uncle both wrote and record music. In fact, his uncle, Arthur Smith, wrote two of the most famous instrumentals in modern coun...
Steve Araujo grew up in Southern California playing guitar and bass in school and in local bands. Becoming a professional bassist, Steve toured and taught music for many years. Seeing a ...
Melvin Dunlap played bass on several classic soul and R&B recordings beginning in the early 1970s. When he was a kid, he was sick and stuck in bed for an extended period of time and s...
Keith Mulholland is a rock bass player from Liverpool, England who played with the signed band, Nutz. He also played the Reading Festival twice as well as toured with Queen and Status Quo...
Vail Johnson was the seventh son in his family, all of whom played a musical instrument. It was part of life, just like eating and sleeping. His great grandmother was an opera singer and ...
Raphael Semmes (pronounced Raf-yul) has fond memories of his mother singing as he was growing up. The feeling of her music became an inspiration for him and when he was given a Silvertone...
Marshall Hawkins founded the Idyllwild Arts Jazz Program with the intention of giving young musicians the same kind of individual mentoring that he received while growing up in Washington...
Ron Blair was the original bassist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, bringing to the group his understanding of the blues and his skills on the electric bass. The band was formed in 19...
Norm Sundholm was playing bass for the rock band The Kingsmen when he had a few ideas to improve his amplifier. As the band rose to fame, thanks to the recording of “Louie Louie,” Norm an...
Owen Clayton began playing the double bass while in school. At the time, he had to stand on a box to play, but he didn’t mind at all because he enjoyed the sound of the instrument and it’...
Gaz Williams is a well know podcaster and consultant for Sonicstate. He is also a passionate musician having played bass since he was 15 years old. At an early age, Gaz combined his bass ...
Jens Ritter is the innovative luthier who gained wide attention after a three page article about his instruments ran in a 1996 issue of Guitar & Bass magazine. A few years later, he a...
Nate Watts grew up in Detroit, Michigan when Motown was in full swing, and it proved to be a major inspiration for the bass legend. In 1974 Nate was summoned by Stevie Wonder to join his ...
