Lauren Keiser was a passionate music publisher. He worked with many of the top publishing companies over his long and distinguished career including Alfred, Cherry Lane, Carl Fischer and...
Joe Keith felt that the local music teachers needed specialized service when it came to finding the tools they needed. Along with his wife, Claudia, he opened The Music Mart in Albuquerq...
Gordon Keller owned and operated a string of piano stores in and around northern Virginia and became a much-celebrated figure in the area due to his work at the Kennedy Center and Wolf Tr...
Mark Kelly served on the Midwest Band Clinic board for over 30 years, beginning in the 1980s and played a vital role in the growth and popularity of the clinic and its programs. He attend...
Ernie Kenaga was hired by Charlie Bickel at the Selmer Company following the end of his military service during World War II. At the time, 1946, Selmer had 80 employees including factory ...
Kern Kennedy tickled the ivories on a number of early rock and roll and rockabilly recordings back in the 1950s. It was the heyday for Sun Studios in Memphis right after the success of El...
William Kent, along with his brother Ed, formed the Kent Drum Company in 1947 with a focus to create student-level kits to encourage music making at all economic levels. The company offe...
Russell Kephart enjoyed his years as a band director but found great satisfaction when he opened his own music store and could provide the service he felt band directors were missing. The...
Darrell Kersten served in the National Guard for over 20 years. After his time in the service, he joined the team at Groth Music in Bloomington, Minnesota. After working on the road and c...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Barney Kessel was a well-respected and sought-after studio ...
Jim Kidder had already worked in music retail for several years when he was given the chance to take over the band instrument division and form his own business. Since then, Kidder Music ...
Lowell Kiesel, as the founder of the southern California guitar company Carvin, joined the ranks with Leo Fender, Paul A. Bigsby, and the Rickenbacker Company, in establishing the new era...
Yoshinori Kimbara was a former Yamaha Japan Corporation executive who worked under Genichi Kawakami beginning in the 1950s. He was the first general manager of the Yamaha Music Foundatio...
B.B. King spoke of his great love of music making and provided sound advice for those who want to play an instrument. He smiled as he recalled buying his first guitar amplifier and spoke ...
Gershon Kingsley composed several hit recordings using the Moog synthesizer in the very early days of electronic music. His mega hit “Popcorn” in 1969 led to a series of pioneering electr...
Don Kirkendall was hired by Electro Voice founder Al Kahn to serve as the company’s advertisement manager in 1954. Don’s creative approach to the company’s line of speakers and microphone...
Mildred Kirschner was simply known as Millie around the NAMM headquarters office where she was hired in 1946. The Chicago based association was being run by Mr. Mills when a heart conditi...
Stan Kitchen, along with his late wife Shirley, were the co-owners and founders of Studio Music. This music publishing company was established in 1957 in London and has grown over the yea...
Neil A. Kjos, Jr. took over the music publishing company that his father, Neil A. Kjos, Sr. had formed in 1936. He began by developing and adding the best-selling Bastien Piano publicati...
James Kleeman was called the “Professor” around the NAMM headquarters. He was thought of respectfully for his role in establishing NAMM’s professional development department. While servin...
George Klein first met Elvis Presley when the two attended Humes High School in Memphis. Over the years, George became one of Elvis’ closest friends. He was a part of many of the King’s i...
Betty Kline was getting a little tired of running to town for band accessories when her husband, a music director, needed something for his students. What started out being a large box o...
Dick Knaub served as president of the Rico Reed Corp. during the 1970s. He oversaw the reed manufacturer’s expansion into magazine advertisements and the company’s return to industry even...
Alberto Kniepkamp engineered many of the electronic organs produced by the Lowrey Organ Company in the 1970s and 80s. Alberto took an active role in the development of the MX1 Lowrey Orga...
Yoshi Kobayashi began working for Yamaha Corporation of America in 1958. In the early days of his career he was tasked with supervising the import and export of the motorcycle division. ...
Bob Koester was the founder of the Delmark label who began recording blues and jazz in 1953 in St. Louis. He later moved to Chicago where he helped define the music scene by recording art...
Fritz Kollitz was an expert on woods used for musical instruments and gained an international reputation for his knowledge and service to violin and guitar luthiers alike. As the founder ...
Irena Komatar was the founder and president of the Lastra Company, located in the country of Slovenia. What started out as a small music retail store quickly grew into both retailing and ...
Dirk Kommer grew up close to Hohner, where he began his industry career as an apprentice in 1956. Over the years his dedication and passion for the products resulted in advances in duties...
George Koregelos made a series of well-respected flutes under his name in the 1970s that was but one of his career highlights in the music products industry. After studying instrument rep...
Botso Korisheli was born in Georgia, Russia, and came to America to become a composer and music teacher. After teaching music in elementary school, Botso established the County Youth Sym...
Gene Kornblum’s father formed the famed St. Louis Music Company, which played a legendary role in the music products industry during most of the 1900s. As President beginning in the 1960s...
