Kenny Rogers

Jimmy Capps backed nearly every performer at the Grand Ole Opry as a house band guitarist since 1960! The list of artists he played with is nothing more than amazing and represents the grand old pioneers such as Roy Acuff as well as current Opry members Vince Gill and Garth Brooks. Along the way he was a sought after studio musician who recorded with a vast list of country, bluegrass and rock artists. Jimmy’s guitar skills can be heard on a number of smash hit recordings including Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler,” George Jones’ “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” and George Strait’s “Amaril

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 artists (including Willie Nelson, George Burns, Dolly Parton and Ray Charles) and also appeared on Kenny’s many live in concert albums. His mother Hazel was a steel guitar player who wrote the song “Hobo’s Lament” and encouraged Randy to express himself musically. Randy played clarinet in high school, where he learned to read music, and switched to guitar to play in bands as a teenager.

Chuck Jacobs played bass in Kenny Rogers’ band for more than 40 years and enjoyed every minute of it. His roots in music go back to the Dixieland group his family formed while he was too young to play. He heard the music and was inspired to begin playing instruments as a child. At the age of 10 he started playing guitar, which led to the formation of the band the Rainmakers in Michigan. They toured and recorded together and when the bass player left the group it was suggested that Chuck begin playing the instrument. He took to the bass right away and worked with a series of groups

Kyle Lehning is a recording engineer and record producer who has worked with a string of artists in Nashville beginning in the late 1960s. As a result, he has worked with the likes of Kenny Rogers, Bobby Bare, Anne Murray, George Jones and Dan Seals. Kyle asked studio drummer Eddie Bayers to put together a group of top musicians in town in the fashion of Nashville’s “A Team.” Eddie called the group “The Players” and Kyle used them on thousands of recordings including nearly every recording of country giant Randy Travis, for which Kyle produced all but a few of his albums.

Paul Leim established himself as one of the top studio drummers in both Los Angeles and Nashville. Paul has recorded with the likes of Randy Travis, Dolly Parton, Brian Setzer and Lionel Richie (along with many others). He has also played for several television shows and movies including Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. During his 2019 NAMM Oral History interview, Paul spoke about his love for NAMM as well as the many friends in the industry he has made over the years. He worked with Ludwig back in 1975 and became an official endorser of Remo three years later.

Marty Panzer was just 16 years old, working in the mail room at CBS Television in New York when he met and became lifelong friends with Barry Manilow. Barry was also working in the mailroom with dreams of being in the music business. The two would often sit down and try out song lyrics together, which led to their songwriting collaboration. Among the songs they wrote together are “Even Now,” “All the Time,” “I Am Your Child” and “This One's for You.” Marty also wrote one of Kenny Roger’s great hits, “Through The Years,” which has been recorded by dozens of other artists and remain

Don Schlitz likes to tell the story about how he was in the right place at the right time when his song, “The Gambler,” was recorded by Kenny Rogers in 1978. The truth is, if that was Don’s only hit song that might have been the case, but talent plays a big part in his story-telling songwriting that has since sold millions of albums for artists such as Randy Travis, Keith Whitley, Mary Chapin Carpenter, George Strait and others.

Michael Strickland was paid $25.00 for lighting his first rock concert in 1968 at the age of twelve. He knew The Grass Roots were in town to perform so he borrowed the overhead projectors and lights from his school and set them up for their show. The band was impressed, and Michael was hooked! He later formed the company Bandit Lites and went on to a very innovative and successful career. Over the years he served as lighting director for thousands of performers including Dolly Parton, The James Gang, Conway Twitty, Kenny Rogers and Garth Brooks. Michael also toured with Alice Coop