Jeff Jacobs grew up in Chicago and remembers going to Gand Music to buy his first very own instrument, although his parents had an upright piano in their home. Jeff’s purchase was the eve...

Marty Panzer was just 16 years old, working in the mail room at CBS Television in New York when he met and became lifelong friends with Barry Manilow. Barry was also working in the mailro...

Cindy Lee Berryhill is the creative singer/songwriter whose twist on Folk Music (with a bit of a Punk Rock edge) has led to several albums and performances around the world. In 1987 Rhino...

Massimo Dolce was born in Italy and became his family’s first musician when he studied piano at the age of nine. He focused on business management in school with his driving passion for m...

Jim Collins was given a Silvertone Guitar by his dad following the Beatle’s appearance on the Ed Sullivan television program, an event he still recounts with enthusiasm. Jim took a day jo...

Roger Cook was born in Bristol, England, and was involved with making music at an early age. He sang in a local Doo Wop group while a teenager, which is when he met his longtime friend an...

Felix Cavaliere is the Hammond B3 keyboardist and songwriter behind a string of popular songs recorded by the Young Rascals during the mid to late 1960s.

Phil Keaggy was born in Youngstown, Ohio in the early 1950s, making his timing perfect to play a roll in the rock bands of the 1960s. As guitarist and songwriter, he was a member of the S...

Norman Greenbaum wrote the 1960s classic rock hit “Spirit in the Sky” with a hard drive introduction featuring his Fuzz-Tone and electric guitar. The song is considered a standard rock an...

Walt Aldridge attended the University of Alabama, majoring in business when he switched over to the University of North Alabama, enrolling in their music business program because they had...

Chris Leuzinger was just nine years old when he saw Elvis Presley on the Ed Sullivan Show and begged his father for a guitar. By the time he was 12, young Chris was already in a band with...

Donna Ulisse has fond memories of her grandmother teaching her to sing at a young age. And that is all Donna wanted to do! As her career developed, she was encouraged by many in the music...

Gary Talley was the guitarist for the 1960s rock band, The Box Tops,  whose hits included "The Letter", and "Cry Like a Baby." Growing up in Memphis and in a musical family, his father ta...

Steve Cooley was just a kid when he heard Earl Scrugg playing banjo on the TV show “The Beverly Hillbillies.” The performance lit a spark in Steve who began playing guitar and banjo with ...

Mark Wills grew up in Blueridge, Georgia, with a passion for music. His local music store was Ken Stanton Music, where he often went for accessories for the Gibson archtop he was given as...

Terry Woodford would often sing along as a child while his grandfather played the Steel Guitar. In addition to his early connection with music, Terry was fascinated by the process of reco...

Mike McGuire and his brother Bud were always encouraged to write and perform music while growing up in Northern Alabama. Their uncle, Leon Jackson, wrote the country classic “Love Please ...

Suzanne Bolton began working for the famous Muscle Shoals Sound recording studio in 1985. The studio had recently been acquired by Malaco Records out of Jackson, Mississippi, which was th...

Stephanie Brown taught high school English in the Muscle Shoals area of Northern Alabama. Future music publisher and advocate for this oral history program, Kevin Lamb, was among her 10th...

Billy Lawson grew up close to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where he formed a band while still a teenager. He became friends with many of the local studio musicians and songwriters including Ca...

Lisa Silver likes to joke that in country bands she plays the fiddle, and in classical music performances she plays the violin. Yet she is talking about her one instrument! Her father was...

Cindy Richardson-Walker sang backup on hundreds of recordings and sang in live shows with the likes of Garth Brooks, George Jones, Shania Twain, Alabama, and many others. Her understandin...

Lenny LeBlanc and his friend Peter Carr formed a band together in 1975. LeBlanc & Carr, as they were known, had a big hit with the song “Falling” in 1977, which Lenny co-wrote with Ed...

Mark Narmore was influenced by his famous songwriting cousin, Spooner Oldham. Mark began playing keyboards in recording studios in and around Muscle Shoals, Alabama, which is where he too...

Mickey Buckins played a significant role in the success of the FAME recording studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The studio’s founder, Rick Hall, hired Mickey in 1967 to assist with managi...

Clayton Ivey is proud to have been the first white producer to sign exclusively with Motown Records. As a result of his work at Motown (which was located in Los Angeles at that time), Cla...

Travis Wammack is a recording artist, studio musician, and songwriter who worked closely with Rick Hall, the founder of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Travis charted his first hi...

Charlene Montgomery wrote several songs with her husband, Earl “Peanutt” Montgomery, including dozens recorded by country legend George Jones. A song the couple wrote together along with ...

Mac McAnally, inspired by his mother took piano lessons and then later switched to guitar. His mother played piano and organ in their church, and the hymns he heard also inspired him to p...

Dominic Messinger was inspired to play music by his mother who played the oboe. At the age of ten he started playing the oboe as well and expanded to the saxophone to perform in rock band...

Thomas Claxton has had some meaningful vocal coaches over the years who have inspired him and taught him important tips, such as how to protect his voice. Lauren Ringwald was his vocal te...

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...