Ray Russell is the noted English studio musician and composer who has also performed with a number of bands over his long career including the prog rock group Mouse. His guitar can be hea...
Robb Lawrence loves playing the guitar as well as gathering the history of his instruments. He has written books and articles for magazines, including Guitar Player and has provided lectu...
Sharon Sagar is the daughter of Paul Barth, the founder of Bartell Guitars. Paul started his guitar and bass manufacturing factory in Riverside, California, in 1964. As a teenager, Sharon...
Paul Brett knows a good story when he hears one and when he began digging into the history of the Bartell Guitar Company, he was hooked. Researching the California guitar manufacturer fro...
Syndenn Sweet was the first woman hired as a luthier at Bookmans Entertainment Exchange in Tucson, Arizona. This distinction is one she makes with pride, especially considering her father...
Jason Lollar loves playing the guitar and even at an early age he had an eye for creating his own sounds. As he developed his skills and gigged with his friends, he realized some of the c...
Simon Jones has a rich background with the guitar, which has come full circle with his role with the Yamaha Guitar Group. As a teenager he played, and even built his own guitar to play wi...
Carla Olson grew up playing in 60’s cover bands all the while cutting her teeth as a songwriter. After performing in the band Silver Clouds, Carla teamed with Markus Cuff, David Provost a...
Bill Lloyd is one half of the country duo Foster & Lloyd. Along with his partner Radney Foster, Bill wrote and recorded several hit songs including “Crazy Over You” and “Since I Found...
Dusty Wheeler served as a medic in the US Air Force during the Vietnam War. After the war he attended college all the while playing guitar and giving lessons. In 1979 he opened Dusty’s Gu...
Hedges Capers rose to fame in the late 1960s as half of the folk rock duo Hedges & Donns. He and his singing partner, Donna Carson (who was later his wife for several years) began sin...
Mike Soldano says he was late to game, picking up the guitar when he was 20, but soon made up for lost time by jumping in with both feet! He studied the instrument and listened to live an...
Andy Marshall has had a deep and rich musical education both in the classroom and on stage. In 1986 he established THD Electronics to focus on manufacturing guitar amplifiers.
Earnie Bailey was mesmerized as a kid, sitting in the front row of an Earth, Wind & Fire concert and seeing all the instruments up close! This experience inspired him to go to the lib...
Tim Olsen set out to build his own guitar out of a cigar box and other items found around the house. He was in the fifth grade at the time! He learned that the luthier Harvey Thomas lived...
Leanne Trevalyan was just twelve years old when she taught herself how to play the guitar using the Mel Bay method book on a no-name instrument her mother picked up at Montgomery Wards. L...
Jerry Miller is a founding member of the innovative and influential ‘60s rock band Moby Grape. His roots in music go back to his grandfather, who was a famous violin maker in Sweden. When...
Kieran Downes played piano as a child, but switched to bass in high school to play in a friend's band, and later discover his true musical passion when he picked up his brother’s guitar. ...
Greg Martin was able to combine the many musical styles he admired growing up when he helped form the Kentucky Headhunters. The band made up of friends began playing together in 1968 and ...
Randy Dorman joined Kenny Rogers' road band in 1977 and worked with the legendary country singer until his last tour in 2017. Along the way Randy performed with each one of Kenny’s guest ...
Sonny Landreth was born in Canton, Mississippi and grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana, grounding his musical foundation in the blues, jazz, zydeco and rock and roll. He played trumpet in sch...
Rick Vito not only grew up in a home filled with music, but with his parents owning a night club he also had a built in venue as a young musician! He started playing guitar for local doo-...
Eugene Moles grew up surrounded by music. His father was a studio musician who also had a guitar repair shop in Bakersfield, California (he was an expert on refinishing, he added the famo...
Joe Spann joined the Gruhn Guitars crew in Nashville, TN to assist in writing appraisals. Appraising musical instruments is an important part of the retail store's business, and has been ...
Jason Mraz has won the hearts of millions by the way he expresses himself musically. During his NAMM Oral History interview, Jason displayed that same passion as he recalled the important...
Mick Abrahams was given his first music lessons by his mother who was a piano teacher. When he transitioned to guitar he formed a band with some schoolmates and began writing songs. When ...
David Lindley grew up close to the Folk Music Center in Claremont, California, where he was exposed to stringed instruments from around the world. He also worked for Berry Grassmuek Music...
Val McCallum has had a long association with Jackson Browne, collaborating on several projects together. They wrote the song “My Cleveland Heart” and toured together. During his NAMM Oral...
Danny Kortchmar formed his first band in the 1960s called The King Bees. The year was 1964 and Danny was already hooked on a career in music. He went on to become one of the most sought a...
Waddy Wachtel is the noted studio musician and songwriter who can be heard on hit records with the likes of Linda Ronstadt, Keith Richards, Jackson Browne and James Taylor, among others. ...
Ellen Harper Verdries grew up in a music store! Her parents, Dorothy and Charles Chase, formed their first store in Massachusetts before moving to Southern California in 1958. The Folk Mu...
Henry Barnes is a wonderful example of the type of luthier and repair technician you want working on your musical instruments. With a background in building guitars for Charvel, Grover Ja...
