Joshua Curlett was enlisted as a stage hand for his church when he was a kid. That experience led him to pay close attention to the inner workings of stages and live performances. While i...
Jerry Kennedy was just a young teenager when he and a friend heard Elvis Presley’s first Sun Record. They were blown away by the electric guitar they heard but realized in photographs Elv...
Billy Sanford purchased his first guitar, a Stella, at a pawn shop in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana, when he was 13 years old. Still a teenager, Billy became a member of the staff...
Les Ladd attended electrical engineering school in Louisville before moving to Nashville because his cousin worked at RCA Studios and thought he could get Les a job. He did. What follows ...
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...
Tom Pooton was not yet a teenager when he began taking guitar lessons. A year later, with the support of his mother, Tom attended a Gibson clinic where he connected with some of the emplo...
Steve Shelokhonov was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and was classically trained on the piano. As a teenager and young adult, Steve played in underground rock clubs in Russia before mo...
Clark Hagan is a Grammy-winning recording engineer whose passion for music and sound can be heard in each of his projects. Working with an impressive list of artists, Clark has stretched ...
Gordon Kennedy is the songwriter behind such hits as Eric Clapton’s “Change the World” and Bonnie Raitt’s “Gypsy in Me.” As many may also know, Gordon is a sought after musician who has r...
Jim Armstrong worked in the music publishing industry for many years, both for Charlie Hansen and Columbia Music. His music career began at the famous music retailer in southern Californi...
Cowboy Joe Babcock is a singer and songwriter whose career in country music spans over sixty years. As a vocalist he and Hurshel Wiginton formed a backup studio singing group called The N...
Glenn Rieuf worked for a radio station repairing and building their equipment, which was the perfect foundation for his role as a recording engineer. He was hired by Chip Young, who had j...
Sylvia Tyson wrote songs that a generation sang, and she also recorded songs by other songwriters which helped define the Folk Music revival of the 1960s. In 1962 she wrote “You Were On M...
Philip Springer utilized his classical piano training to pen hit songs during a long and celebrated career making music. As a result his tunes often incorporated elements of sophisticatio...
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...
Jerry Blavat was a DJ and radio broadcaster with a lot of energy! Also known as “The Geator with the Heater” and “The Big Boss with the Hot Sauce,” Jerry started his career on the origina...
Jerry Fuller recorded a Rockabilly version of “Tennessee Waltz” which was a favorite of Elvis Presley and gave Jerry extra status among Elvis and Rockabilly fans alike. Yet it was his ski...
Deke Dickerson began his musical career when he started playing the saxophone, but quickly realized he was much more adept at playing the guitar. As a part of the affectionately named “68...
Bonnie Guitar produced a series of hit recordings for her label, Dolton, in the 1950s and 60s. Among the labels most popular acts were the Fleetwoods and the Ventures. Bonnie even recorde...
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...
Donna Jean Godchaux was the only female singer with the Grateful Dead (on stage and on recordings) from 1971 until 1979. In fact, she was the first female singer with the group and was on...
Buddy Spicher started playing the fiddle for $10 a night at local square dances, but also played some rhythm guitar to accompany his brother at performances. During his NAMM Oral History ...
Frank De Vito was the drummer and percussionist in the studios in Hollywood known as the Wrecking Crew. His long career as a jazz player gave him the chance to work with Charlie Parker, ...
Tommy Morgan played a significant role in elevating the importance and reputation of the harmonica in television, recordings, and motion pictures. Over his 63 year career, Tommy contribut...
Brian Setzer nearly single handedly brought back the popularity of the rockabilly electric guitar sound that was first established by Scotty Moore, Elvis Presley's first guitarist. Brian...
Sonny Curtis is thought to be the first person to have recorded a rock and roll song using the Fender Stratocaster. The recording date took place in Nashville with his friend Buddy Holly...
Tony Brown, the Nashville recording producer, started his career playing piano for Elvis Presley! Tony became a noted studio musician working with Roseanne Cash and Emmylou Harris before...
David Briggs was a struggling musician in Nashville when he received a call to replace Floyd Cramer on a recording session. That session just happened to be for an album titled “How Grea...
Dickey Lee grew up in Memphis and began playing at dances and parties at an early age. He would often introduce a new song that he wrote along with the hits of the day. In 1957, Dickey ...
Dallas Frazier was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame for writing such hits as "There Goes My Everything" and "Elvira." "There Goes My Everything" has been recorded doze...
Glen D. Hardin had the opportunity to play alongside his favorite performer, the artist he most admired as a young music fan, Ray Charles. Glen grew up in Lubbock, Texas, and began playi...
George Travis has been to nearly every Bruce Springsteen concert since 1978! As a noted concert producer, George has been a key element in the innovative concert experiences fans have co...
