Emerson Lake & Palmer

Will Alexander was a pioneering synthesizer engineer and musician whose work helped shape modern electronic music. Beginning in the 1970s, he worked for Oberheim during the height of the synthesizer boom, contributing to the engineering of the Oberheim Four Voice System and the popular OB-X units. Recognizing early on the potential of computers in music, he experimented with Apple technology to design and refine instruments of his own. Will became one of the world’s foremost Moog modular technicians, supporting legendary artists including Keith Emerson and Hans Zimmer.

Keith Emerson was the British rocker who in the early 1970s helped define live performances on electronic musical instruments such as the modular Moog. He gained fame as a musical composer and clever keyboardist for The Nice before forming Emerson, Lake & Palmer and recording a string of hits for the influential supergroup. With high profile tours and live performances all around the world, Keith helped set the standard in high-tech gear. With towers of keyboards and large patch chord towers, the stage often looked like a spaceship, with sounds to match.

Rikki Farr has been an active member of the audio engineering community most of his life and has been involved in countless innovations along the way.  Rikki’s incredible career spans concert promotions, music recording, and audio design, including product engineering. While working concert promotions, Rikki booked Jimi Hendrix, The Who…wait, it might be easier to list the only act we can think of that Rikki didn’t book, Elvis.

Mark Stein played an important role in psychedelic rock in the 1960s as keyboardist for Vanilla Fudge. His dad was a singer and was always supportive of Mark’s career in music, which began when he played accordion as a child. His dad, who later became Mark’s manager, booked him on a television program when he was just 11 years old. He progressed to the organ and was always fascinated by the sounds he could produce on the Hammond B3, which became his main instrument. When the rock band he helped form, the Pigeons, added drummer Carmine Appice, they changed their name to Vanilla Fud

Bobby Thrasher has his roots in fabrication and was able to merry that talent into a career in music by accepting a position as a stage hand managing hydraulics with Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Using that tour as a launching point, Bobby continued to excel within the industry eventually working on tours with Bruce Springsteen, Simon and Garfunkel, and Billy Joel. Bobby was awarded the Parnelli Lifetime Achievement award at the 2018 NAMM Show in Anaheim. During his 2018 NAMM interview, Bobby discussed the changes and innovations in stage design and fabrication over the years.