Benny Turner grew up in a music family and after his brother, Freddie King, took him to a session with Howlin’ Wolf and Willie Dixon, he was hooked. While Benny played guitar with the Kin...
Russ Turner opened his own organ repair company in the early 1960s in the early days of the home organ boom. He worked with all of the organ dealers in and around the San Francisco Bay Ar...
Rob Turner’s first instrument was the drums; in fact it was the drums that brought him to establish one of the world’s best-known guitar pickup companies! While on tour in the early 1970s...
Archie “Hubby” Turner served in the US Army during the Vietnam War and always felt the experience taught him, among other things, to appreciate the opportunity you have to add beauty and ...
Rick Turner was well known for his innovative handcrafted guitars and for pioneering the resurgence of American luthiers in the 1960s and 70s. With an ear for quality sound and an eye for...
Ron Tutt is best known for playing drums behind Elvis Presley during most of the king’s tours during the 1970s. Ron grew up with a deep passion for music and the drums, which led him to a...
Matt Umanov opened his first guitar shop in 1963, following his dream to have a life in music. Over the years, Matt has become one of the world’s leading experts on guitars, which is ofte...
Cliff Unruh has a background in marketing and was pursuing such a career when he was given the opportunity to sell Hammond Organs –and he jumped at the chance. He fell in love with the i...
Frank Untermyer studied woodworking and instrument building in Germany before returning to the United States to help form Hamer Guitars with college friends, Paul Hamer and Jol Dantzig. T...
Charles Urban knows horns! As the former president of American Plating, he has worked with the top brass instrument makers to perfect the art of plating instruments. Chuck is also very pr...
Steve Vai is a man that could be described as a planet that revolves around a star named Music. His life is ever entwined in an orbit that includes composing, transcription, performance, ...
Fred Vail was making announcements on a local radio station in Sacramento, California when he was just 12 years old. While in high school, he led the committee that brought bands to the s...
Rudy Van Gelder was the recording engineer for countless jazz records beginning in the 1940s. To say he was a pioneer seems like an understatement when you take into consideration not onl...
David Van Koevering worked alongside Bob Moog in the early days of marketing the Minimoog synthesizer. The instrument was the first mass produced synthesizer that produce unique tones, us...
Bernie Vance played the saxophone in a number of big bands during the swing era. He was drafted and served during World War II, only to come home and find that musical tastes had changed....
Eddie Veale is the studio designer who worked hand in hand with some of music’s greatest artists to create their own home studios. Eddie designed the home studio John Lennon used to recor...
Bobby Vega has been hailed as a bass master of pick-style funk, a tone connoisseur, and a professor of the grooves. His effortlessly fluid bass playing and impeccable rhythmic instincts h...
Tommy Vicari’s career is a testament to the power of collaboration and passion for music. Prince's label, Warner Brothers, entrusted Tommy with producing the 17 year old's debut album, a ...
Johnny Vidacovich was born in New Orleans and raised by his mother and grandparents. He started playing drums when he was ten years old and would go to night clubs around New Orleans and ...
Ernie Vincent played a key role in expanding the role New Orleans played in music on a national and international level. As a songwriter he wrote the funk based songs "Dap Walk" as well a...
Josh Vittek has always been immersed in music, his deep voice leading him to choir and Doo Wop groups in middle school. When his uncle gifted him a guitar, he discovered the thrill of ble...
Peter Vogel and his schoolmate, Kim Ryrie, created the Fairlight Computer Musical Instrument (CMI) in 1975. The innovative computer based synthesizer helped revolutionize the music indust...
Harry Voshell started playing the saxophone in the fourth grade and fell in love! His interest in music grew over the years as he served in the United States Navy, where he played in sev...
Ted Wade was raised in a house full of music! His father played trumpet with several big bands such as Clyde McCoy during the swing era. When Ted was four years old he was playing drums...
Donnie Wade "borrowed" his parent’s car when he was 14 years old to drive to a bar so he could hear Freddie King play the guitar! That experience and an earlier encounter with Merle Travi...
Lester Wagner began in the woodworking and sanding department of the C.F. Martin & Company before World War II. He moved from the North Street Plant in 1964 to the bigger manufacturin...
John Waite was born in Lancaster, England and began playing ukulele at the age of four. In school he studied art and always felt that his music incorporated art at some level in addition ...
Rick Wakeman was a powerful force in the development of progressive rock thanks in large part to his keyboard musicianship, songwriting and his deep passion for electronic musical instrum...
Fred Walecki grew up in a musical family. His father was an expert on the violin who established a rare instrument dealership in Southern California back in 1946. Fred worked with his fat...
Saul Walker’s career in the field of electronics went back to the early sound designs before World War II. As an engineer he was trained in the United States Navy and worked on several im...
John Waltrip began being involved in music as a small child and in fact, became the main pianist for his church as a teenager. He played in the school bands and studied music in college....
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...
