Tom Pooton was not yet a teenager when he began taking guitar lessons. A year later, with the support of his mother, Tom attended a Gibson clinic where he connected with some of the emplo...
Ramon Portal moved from Cuba to the United States in 1962 and heard of an inventory job at Guild Guitar and, as he often has said, his American dream came true. Ramon worked his way up w...
Alan Poster grew up in the music products industry beginning in the 1960s during the folk and Beatles boom. He worked with Jerry Hershman for several years getting a strong background for...
Andy Powers began working with wood as a kid and soon realized he had a strong interest in building. With the guidance of his father and the use of his tools, Andy built a guitar and lov...
O. P. Prahladka is the Chairman of Hitachi KK Manufacturing Company in Kolkata, India, and has played an important role in the development of the music products industry within his countr...
Allen Prather, known throughout the industry as Lowell, became a well-respected sales rep for the Kaman Corporation. He stayed with the company for over thirty years and helped move the c...
Bill Price was active in the band instrument business after being involved with other industries and as a result has a very unique and positive perspective on the music industry. Bill wa...
Peter Paul Prier began playing the violin when he was 8 years old, growing up in Germany. He studied violin making while he was a teenager and in 1959 set out to America to open his own v...
Jerry Proctor worked for the Alvarez Guitar brand, owned by St. Louis Music, almost from the very beginning of that product. St. Louis Music owner, Gene Kornblum, was looking to create a...
Gregg Proniske began working at Southwest Strings in 1998. The distributor of stringed instruments is located in Tucson, Arizona, and specializes in contracts with school music programs a...
Karl Pucholt and Lars Seifert have helped bring C. A. Seydel Sohne back to the forefront of the industry once again. The historic harmonica manufacturer, located in Klingenthal, Germany, ...
Cathy Pullin was hired by Ken-tron Mfg., Inc. in 1979 as a secretary. Her duties expanded to direct calls to the company’s customers for both the wire and metal stamping divisions. She be...
Bill Putnam Jr essentially grew up in the music business. Bill’s father, Bill Putnam Sr., started Universal Audio in 1958 and was basically the inventor of the modern day recording consol...
Pat Quilter is a man with a vision. Pat built his first guitar amp after reading about a new technique for bridging using solid state transistors. Quilter Sound Things transitioned into Q...
Melvin Quinones has a fascinating backstory as to how he established Victory Musical Instruments in Puerto Rico. It all began with his love and passion for making music, which started whe...
Steven Raft was the CFO of Alfred Music for several years. Steven grew up in Montreal, Canada and he had an early start working in the music industry: as a teenager he was a manager for ...
Marco Ragni is the president of Fatar, which has concentrated on the development of keyboard actions for electronic musical instrument. The company products include keyboards for digital...
Eberhard Rahm started out as a flute maker in 1976 and was in charge of the former Erlbach Flute company. 1991 Schreiber & Sons put him in charge of the production, when they opened...
John Rajcic, a former educator joined the Kawai Company, becoming Vice President/General Manager of the world famous piano maker. John played a role in establishing Kawai Dealers across t...
Paul Raley is the President of Paul Raley & Associates Inc., as well as PRA Audio Systems Inc. The focus of his company was to allow ease of use when it comes to wireless systems for ...
Larry Ramirez had a fascinating career in music! As a trumpet player he landed his dream job designing instruments for many of his childhood heroes! While working for Leblanc, Larry was a...
Don Randall met Leo Fender before World War II when both men worked in radio repairs. After the war they decided to form a business together that would allow Leo to focus on developing a ...
Don Ransom is the Vice President of United Wire Technology, located in upstate New York. While the company was formed in 1938, it wasn’t until Don and his father, Jim; decided to expand ...
Jim Ransom is the Chairman of the Board for United Wire Technology, which is located in Cleveland, New York. The company was established in 1938, during the Great Depression. United gai...
Joseph Rashid studied the art of violin-making like few others. His goal was not to mass produce the instrument or even to sell them, but rather to hand-make the instruments based on sci...
Ron Raup was among the first commercial members to serve on the NAMM Board. His long career in the industry has been highlighted by his incredible vision and marketing skills for the Make...
Charlie Redden played guitar in bands when he was in school and always has had a passion for playing. After working for Amazon in the early days of that company's history, back when they ...
Lynn Reeder did not become actively involved in music until her mid-40’s after receiving a gift certificate for voice lessons from her husband George and son Alex, although an avid listen...
George Reeder and his wife, Lynn, are the owners of Rovner Products, which produces ligatures, mouthpieces and other accessories for musical instruments. The company was established in th...
Elmer Reeder and his brother purchased a sawmill outside of Lansing, Michigan, right after World War II. It was during that time that Elmer became an expert in wood, an important part of...
James Reeder is the piano technician who formed James Reeder Piano in Lansing, Michigan, as both a repair and retail business. With a strong background in the restoration of pianos, Jim ...
Bud Reglein’s uncle formed a small mouthpiece company in Elkhart, IN and named it jj Babbitt as he felt it sounded better than Jessie James Babbitt. Bud took over the company in 1939 and,...