Bud Roberds was two months shy of his 103rd birthday when he was interviewed for the NAMM Oral History program about his life in music. His father was an avid musician, always bringing in...
DJ Modgirl (AKA Kellee McQuinn), whose exuberant style adds flair and vitality to any party is a bit of a celebrity in Palm Springs. With a weekly dance mix radio show on KGAY 106.5 and h...
Kate Spates is a Co-Founder of The Academy of Musical Performance located in Indio, California. The AMP was the idea of Roman Whittaker who recognized the need to support music education ...
Humberto Vela is the Executive Director of The Academy of Musical Performance, which seeks to provide musical training for young students in the Coachella Valley. The AMP’s mission is to ...
Cindy Lee Berryhill is the creative singer/songwriter whose twist on Folk Music (with a bit of a Punk Rock edge) has led to several albums and performances around the world. In 1987 Rhino...
Katie Kailus studied at Elmhurst College in the Jazz program playing guitar and majoring in writing. In 2009, she combined her passions and education by serving as an intern for Downbeat ...
Tim Bales is a hard-swinging brass player and long-time member of the band the Ides of March. His playing career began in the first grade when he was just six years old playing the cornet...
Chris Walz remembers the moment he first heard blues legend Mississippi John Hurt on the radio. Chris was captivated and immediately inspired to play old-time finger-picking guitar. At t...
Aldren Briones is a passionate musician and songwriter who found great satisfaction in providing music lessons at his local music store. The store, Piano Trends, was founded by Tim and Bo...
Barb Schotanus learned the clarinet while in the Catholic Band Program as a young girl. She enjoyed the program so much that she earned her music education degree at DePaul University and...
Bruce Waters grew up with his guitar ever-present. He played for small events around the Chicago area as a kid and started providing music lessons when he was 18 years old. He later toure...
John Benedeck sat down at the keyboard during his NAMM interview to demonstrate the riffs and clever tunes he plays as an organist for the Chicago Cubs baseball team! He is proud to have ...
Ashley Beleny is a music teacher and associate at Piano Trends Music Company in Crystal Lake, Illinois. Her love and passion for music began in her church where she was often found singin...
Bobbi Paul is the Co-Founder of Piano Trends Music Company in Crystal Lake, Illinois. Bobbi and her husband opened the music store in 1990 and have been proud to see it grow into an impor...
David Murray is a lifelong music maker who started on the clarinet before switching to baritone horn in high school. He picked up the trombone in college, which became his mainstay for ye...
Don Hilsberg fell in love with the harp when he was in the third grade and was taken to the symphony. His parents could not afford a harp, so young Don began taking organ and piano lesson...
Greg Dell’Era brought his music background together with his technical resources to form a company in his native France in 2011 called Weezic. His goal was to expand the content of music ...
Cosmo Watts is a multi-talented musician and songwriter who played an important role in the music products industry as a sound designer, synthesizer programmer and music teacher. Growing ...
Christy Coobatis is a college music professor whose amazing musical journey includes playing professionally before he was a teenager, beta testing guitars for Leo Fender, and helping to c...
Marlene Hutchinson has come up with several clever ways to encourage people to become music makers. With an emphasis on fun and ease, she had such success with her own guitar students tha...
Dennis Alexander has sought to engage and inspire music makers at all levels throughout his long and successful career as a music educator. As a professor of music with a focus on pedagog...
Jason Bartel opened Maple Leaf Strings in 2011, right across the street from his father’s business, Baroque Violin Shop, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The two companies helped each other, and ofte...
Mike Kamphuis is perfectly suited for his position as Vice President, Division of Education at Conn-Selmer in Elkhart, Indiana. His role allows him to work closely with educators and indu...
Sharell Del Fiorentino remembers as a little girl pretending the back of her daddy’s car seat was a piano keyboard. As long as she can recall, she has always wanted to be a pianist. When ...
Leesa McBeth played flute since she was a child and remembers the day her sister, Sheryl Laukat, was given a saxophone which their parents purchased from Sears, where her father was emplo...
Karla Redding-Andrew’s father, Otis Redding, committed himself early on in his short career to philanthropy. The soul legend started a camp inviting 600 school students to learn about mus...
Dr. George Shaw has had a big impact on the lives and careers of thousands of young musicians. As a music educator and sought after musician, George always looked for opportunities to en...
Jeffrey Pellegrini was mentored as a General Manager for Ted Brown Music by Kent Isenberg, who had been with the company for over 50 years. Jeffery paid close attention to the way Kent ap...
Robert Estrin grew up studying piano alongside his sister with their father who was a noted concert pianist and teacher. He was first exposed to the French horn while in school and learne...
Jeff Berlin has always been surrounded by music and considers it the most important element of his life besides his family. The first instrument he picked up was the violin at age five, w...
Frederick Swann was one of the most famous organists of the last 50 years due to his many publications, recitals, church performances and his long run on the television program The Hour o...
Charles Owens has always believed in the importance of music education; after all, his own career began while attending the University of San Diego. As a result, Charles kept returning to...
