Laura Clapp Davidson was just ten when she discovered the Beatles. It was something special about their sound that grabbed her and she soon realized it was their words and melodies that b...
Glenn Rieuf worked for a radio station repairing and building their equipment, which was the perfect foundation for his role as a recording engineer. He was hired by Chip Young, who had j...
Gayle Levant is the award-winning harpist who became the first woman to serve as President of the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers (ASMAC) which was formed in 1938! In t...
Joe Chambers was inspired by his older brother George to play guitar and write songs. The brothers, Joe, George, Willie and Lester, formed The Chambers Brothers and began singing gospel m...
Willie Chambers and his brothers fell in love with gospel music while growing up singing in church. Even though they received some strong criticism, they expanded the places where church ...
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...
Cindy Cook married long-time music retailer, Rand Cook, in 1998. Ten years later, the couple had the opportunity to purchase the very store Rand had worked in for nearly 20 years. Togethe...
Rand Cook recalls his mother taking him into the Candyman Strings & Things music store when he was three years old. He was quickly disappointed at that young age that the store when h...
Tim Paul may have been destined for a career in the piano business. Growing up, his mother was a piano teacher and his father a piano technician. One of his earliest jobs was as a ballpar...
Jeremy Payne first played clarinet in the school music program as a kid before switching to trumpet. That experience brought to light a true passion for music, which was further embedded ...
Kevin Hague is the Managing Director and founder of Australasian Music Supplies. He started his wholesale business in 1978 and grew it to become one of the biggest in the country. Austral...
Kevin Lamb distinctly remembers sitting in a music class when the subject of music publishing came up and thinking, "I never want to do that." After some forty years in the music publishi...
DeDe Heid met her husband Todd while selling his music store, Heid Music, their newspaper advertising. After attending numerous NAMM Shows with Todd, as well as other business meetings, D...
Peter Chaikin was still in high school when he knew in his heart what he wanted to be when he grew up: a recording engineer. With the Billboard Directory of Studios under his arm, and enc...
Joan Gand followed her drummer brother to a gig while still in high school. There, he introduced her to a guitarist from another school who eventually became her future husband, Gary Gan...
Guy Charbonneau, founder of the legendary Le Mobile Remote Recording Studio, has been recording music live for more than 40 years. A pioneer in the field, he was the first to create a mo...
Chick Corea loved being a music maker! Nominated over 60 times for a Grammy, Chick was among the most high profile musicians we have been blessed to interview for the NAMM Oral History pr...
Jim DeStafney is the co-owner of Blues Angel Music in Pensacola, Florida. After completing a 24-year career as a Navy fighter pilot, Jim opened the shop in 1997. Blues Angel Music has bee...
Don Randi is among the most noted studio musicians that came out of Los Angeles during the famous Wall of Sound era. Don was a member of the Wrecking Crew and played keyboards on countle...
Paul Peterson has served as band manager, promoter and producer for such bands as the Ozark Mountain Daredevils as well as a rep and promoter for RainSong Guitars. Paul has also played a...
Graham Nash has been an outspoken advocate for music education, especially with regards to programs that provide instruments to young students. He has often mocked the thinking that allo...
Peter Bunetta’s first passion was the drums and it was that instrument that brought him into the music industry. After forming local bands and playing clubs, Peter found himself in the r...
Garth Gilman finished his MBA and through a mutual friend met Tom Sumner who provided a tour of the Yamaha offices in Buena Park. Tom, who at the time was the General Manager of the Pro ...
Sandra Miller realized as a professional musician working in Memphis that she learned enough about her Steinway piano that she could sell them. So, she got a job at Amro Music and has be...
Bob Wray remembers the day he was sitting in the Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama when Clarence Carter outlined the next song he was ready to cut. Bob was to play guitar on the son...
Ryan West shared many of his memories of traveling abroad with his father, Steve, to understand and appreciate how the business great and diversified including their early distribution of...
David Gold created a special formula that became the key factor in the echo chamber of his Hollywood recording studio called Gold Star. The studio was filled with furniture and electroni...
Scott May knew since he was five years old that he wanted to play the organ! He fell in love with the endless possibilities of the instrument as he grew and discovered that the Hammond w...
Marcus Spangler cut his teeth in the furniture business, working with his hands, seeing products to completion and adding his own ideas to the design and function of each piece. When he ...
Lita Ford asked her father to use his old reel to reel tape machine as an amp for her newly purchased electric guitar. With a little soldering, she transformed the tape machine and set o...
Adrian Emsley is the Technical Director at Orange Amps in London. The company’s founder, Cliff Cooper, hired Adrian to lead the teams that created several key products for Orange includi...
Brad Smith is the Senior Sales and Marketing Manager for Hal Leonard. During his career as a writer and industry historian, he worked for MIX Magazine before joining the Hal Leonard team...
