Jimi (Chopmaster J) Dright was surrounded by music growing up in Berkely, California. Sly Stone lived in his same fourplex, Tower of Power practiced in their garage and music promoter Her...

Sandy Gennaro’s skills as a drummer can be heard on recordings and live performances by artists such as Hall of Famers Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Bo Diddley and Cyndi Lauper, The Monk...

Denny Mack was surrounded by music his entire life! His father was a Vaudeville performer and it seems all Denny ever wanted to do was be involved with music. He played drums at sock-hops...

Ron McMaster grew up in the Sacremento area and joined a rock band while still in school. The band went through a few name changes before settling on Public Nuisance. They released a sing...

Lou Rosenthal started playing drums at an early age, eventually playing in bands in Southport Merseyside. Later, after purchasing a Ludwig drum kit, he moved into a more serious group and...

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 ...

John Stoner came into the music products industry as an outsider when he joined the Conn-Selmer team in the early 2000s. As a father of a band student, he took part in fundraising and sup...

Eric Lindsey was given a guitar from his father when he was 13 years old. For years it puzzled Eric on how he took to making music so quickly and with such skill. He later learned that hi...

Steve Rorie landed a part time job the very same day he graduated high school at the Vincent Bach plant in Elkhart, Indiana. He later would accompany his grandfather and father at EK Bles...

Jim Phiffer accepted a position at Pearl Drums which would lead him to a 20 plus year career in the music business. While at Pearl, Jim was the Vice President of Sales and Marketing, even...

Terry Bissette began playing drums as a kid in South Florida, where he lived through the heyday of live music in the 1970’s and 80’s, performing six nights a week at various clubs. He too...

Viola Smith Viola played drums in a number of big bands and small combos during her career in music. She joined Phil Spitalny's all-female orchestra as the drummer and later appeared in s...

Peter Erskine has played a very visible role within the music industry as a noted drummer, author of method books and in designing several percussive products. He is also a welcomed sight...

Jim Catalano loved playing drums as a small boy but never imagined a life in music. Jim jumped at the chance to work for the Ludwig Drum Company in the early 1980s. There he became known ...

Harold Jones has toured with Tony Bennett for over three decades, topping off a solid career as a jazz drummer with a flare for singers. Harold worked with Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgera...

Bill Cooper was an independent sales representative whose background included a great many experiences that helped Bill best serve his dealers. Bill, who played French Horn in school, tau...

Dick Schory had a very successful career as a composer and arranger of percussive music. With over a dozen albums as a musician and arranger and another 400 as a producer, Dick has made a...

Jackie Mills as a drummer put down the beat for jazz and big band stars such as Tommy Dorsey, Charlie Barnet, Dizzy Gillespie and Billie Holiday. As a record producer, he played a critica...

 Brooke Ludwig Crowden remembers her grandfather, William F. Ludwig, working around the factory inspecting drums and insisting on a quality product.  She remembers the day her father, Wil...

William F Ludwig III, known within the industry as B3, sat next to his sister Brooke as the two reflected on the Ludwig Drum Company’s 100th anniversary for the NAMM Oral History program....

Bill Crowden was one of the true veterans of the music products industry!  He owned and operated Drums Ltd, one of the hot spots for jazz, symphonic and rock drummers for several decades....

Dick Richardson was working with the Lyons Band Instrument Company in Chicago in the early 1960s when he was given the chance to run the Musser vibraphone division of the company.  Dick b...

Grassella Oliphant was a drummer is entire life and it is what he loved to do.  During his long career, he played back-up for a host of jazz and blues performers as well as singers such a...

Karl Dustman, the founder of Dustman and Associates, is one of the country’s foremost experts on drums. Having worked for Ludwig and Gretsch along with others, Karl put his love for drums...

 John Aldridge has become one of the leading experts on the history of drums, percussion companies, and their products.  As a publisher and editor, John established the magazine “Not So M...

Gary Asher was working at Nuncie’s Music in Birmingham, Alabama when he provided a tour and interview for the NAMM Oral History program, just three years after the program began.

William Petersen served as president of Selmer Corporation from 1975-1990 during a time of great growth. Bill took over as the head of the renowned band instrument company after the retir...

William F. Ludwig II was proud of the company his father started, largely based on the 1909 patented bass drum pedal, which allowed the drummer to sit down for the first time. Bill follow...

Butch Miles was born in Ironton, Ohio, on the 4th of July during a family reunion. When he was asked to join the school band he decided to play the drums. By the time he was in high schoo...