Pandemic of 2020

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 became a great inspiration to her. She studied at De Paul University in Chicago and Berklee College of Music in Boston before moving to Nashville to give her singer/songwriter career a try.  Among the friends and connections she made was one who asked her to demonstrate a product at NAMM in 2006. This led to several other demo gigs and her introduction to the Shure Inc., who hired Laura to assist w

Ed Corvo feels that his experiences playing for many weddings and in bars helped him develop several skill sets he uses every day as National Account Manager at The Music People, including his communication and collaboration skills. His background with gear has also been key to his success, especially when working with a customer who needs guidance as to what equipment might be best for their situation. When Ed joined TMP in 1997, he was on the phones making cold calls. As he grew within the company, mentored at one point by the late Dave Renz, he rose within the sales department.

Michael Creamer has many happy music memories growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, such as attending rock concerts at the Cow Palace. His brother was a big Van Halen fan and had a guitar, which Michael picked up and began playing. He went down to the local music store, The Magic Flute, to take guitar lessons. While in high school he played in a few local bands and found himself in and out of The Magic Flute, where in 1989 he was hired for the sales floor. Without a doubt, one of the most rewarding elements of his job is the connection to fellow musicians, be it customers or s

Don Cromwell realized music was his passion when was playing in bands with his friends at a young age. His sophomore year of high school he switched from guitar to bass and never looked back. After graduating high school and attending college, Don started playing with better musicians and started to get into the local scene in Seattle, WA. Songwriting was also a passion of Don’s, and he continues to write and record his own music to this day. In his 2021 NAMM Oral History interview, Don talked about how touring and live music has changed, and his memories of playing with Air Suppl

Helen Culleton recalls with a smile attending her first concert. The live event took place in London with AC/DC (with their original band members) and the opening act was Def Leppard’s first tour. It was the first of many for her as she lived close to several popular venues in an era of cutting-edge and popular bands such as Pink Floyd and Rush. With a love for audio, Helen began working in the industry in 1982 as a PA at Soundtracs. The small company focused on developing innovative mixing consoles and recording studio gear. Helen left the industry only to return 8 years later wh

Peggy Dahl-Bartunek grew up with four siblings who all took piano lessons – they even had two pianos in their house! Since the fifth grade, Peggy knew that she wanted to be a teacher and more specifically, a music teacher. She ultimately became a high school and middle school music teacher, specializing in choir and general music. After a break from teaching to raise her own children, Peggy and her husband purchased Anderson’s Music in the early 1980s. The store became an authorized dealer for Rodger’s Organs and Peggy found her calling. While still teaching part-time, Peggy start

Adam Darrell is a third generation piano dealer in New Hampshire.  His grandfather was a popular singer (Ken Darrell and the Rockaways) who opened several music stores in Philadelphia and Boston before opening four piano stores in New Hampshire, beginning in 1969. Adam’s father, Darrell, joined the business when the Nashua store was established and like his father, Adam grew up in the business. He can’t think of the year he officially joined the business because to him he had been involved since birth!

Lance Day is a music industry professional, educator, and advocate whose lifelong passion for music began at an early age. After receiving a toy piano as a child, Lance quickly developed a love for creating sound, later studying clarinet in the fourth grade and expanding to flute, saxophone, and other instruments. By the age of nine, he was already composing, writing a piece for a school assembly that inspired him to continue pursuing music. Influenced by his teachers, Lance attended the Crane School of Music, where his passion for both music and education deepened.

David Durben grew up in Fargo, North Dakota where he forged a career as a piano technician. After forming Durben Piano Services, David worked with area schools and churches as well as the local Baldwin dealer to repair and tune their pianos. His passion for the craft led to his involvement with the Piano Technicians Guild (PTG) for which he served on the board and as president. The guild was expanding their scope when he was president (1998), especially regarding their training and certification programs, which were very important to David as they helped elevate the role of the pi

Jon D’Auria is the founder and editor-in-chief of Bass Magazine and a respected voice in music journalism whose career reflects both creative energy and an unwavering commitment to the musician community. As a teenager, Jon stepped in when a friend’s band needed a bass player, dedicating himself to the instrument with practice sessions that often stretched six hours at a time until he was performing regularly in bands. His passion for storytelling led him to study writing and journalism, eventually contributing articles to Bass Player Magazine, where he also served as a photograph

Jimmy Edwards grew up in a musical family. His father was a singer in a rock band and Jimmy began playing drums by the time he was five and later picked up the guitar. After serving in the United States Air Force, Jimmy was hired to work in the loading dock at Marshall Music in Lancing, Michigan. His boss, Dan Marshall, soon became a mentor from whom Jimmy learned first-hand about the business and how to treat customers and employees. In 2019 Dan asked Jimmy to take over as President of the company. He jumped at the opportunity and set out to learn all he could about each employee

Michele Elefante was in junior high school when her father, Al, a passionate musician and skilled repairman, fulfilled his dream of opening a family-run music store. From the start, Michele played an active role in helping the business flourish, gaining early experience in retail and community engagement.

Danielle  Engen wears many hats at Electric Feel, something that seems to be a trend in her career in the recording industry. Always willing to pitch in and cover whatever needs to be done has led to her managing producers and iconic recording spaces. She was hired as an intern at the Sanctuary Group back in 2004 and became the producers manager before long, helping with budgets and pairing producers with new artists and projects. After working for GPS for two years, Danielle became the studio coordinator for the Village Recording Studios in West Los Angeles. She became Jeff Green

Rebecca Ensley studied clarinet in college and yet somehow got caught up in the crazy world of stringed instruments as a luthier and repair technician. It all started in 1991 when a friend who was working at Southwest Strings in Tucson suggested she apply for an opening in the mail order department. Her role expanded soon after to submitting school bids and working the retail end of the business, all the while taking classes and gaining experience as a luthier and repair tech. With her background in music education, Rebecca knows how important it is to provide a child with easy-to

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 learned that instrument as well - a challenge that improved his musical ability overall. He would go on to attend the Manhattan School of Music in New York City to study piano and French horn. After his time in school, Robert aspired to work in recording studios and with electronic instruments, as well as with photo and video. He ultimately opened his own recording studio and would teach as well while s

Dr. Lou Fischer has applied his love of music, his talents as a musician and his vast experiences on the road and in the studio to encourage students of all ages. Lou taught at Capital University’s Conservatory of Music for 26 years, established his own publishing company (which printed charts and method books) and he is the co-founder of the Jazz Education Network (JEN). Each project in his career seems to have been designed to inspire music makers and with publications such as Rhythm Section Workshop for Directors (published by Alfred) and his work with JEN, Lou continues to do

Jim Foldvary was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, and was exposed to music at young age since his father was a violinist. Jim took up the guitar with some of his friends and remembers playing shows and school dances when he was younger. His first job was on the floor of the Stock Exchange at 17 years old, which was followed by an addressograph job, and then ended up working for the Gretsch company. While at Gretsch, Jim worked in about every position he could, starting with making ukuleles and then banjos. After Gretsch was purchased by Baldwin, Jim relocated to Arkansas to open u

Rich Formidoni cut his teeth in the industry as a salesman in the keyboard division of Sam Ash Music in Queens, New York. That experience led to his move to Korg in 2005 as a product specialist. The move was the perfect fit for Rich who was then tasked with producing demo videos, artist relations and enhancing the company’s website. Loving the products, Rich fell right into the development of new products such as voicing presets and being a part of product launches such as the Korg Kronos Workstation, for which he worked with Herbie Hancock and other artists to perfect the voicing

John Fulton has had a very interesting ascent to his position as Vice President of Sales for Conn-Selmer. He started taking violin lessons in the fourth grade, at first to get out of class but discovered a teacher who inspired him to do his best and work hard. He played in the all-star band in high school and earned a degree in music education at Arizona State University. John picked up a part-time job cleaning instruments at American Music Company in Mesa in 1997, which led to a school road rep job for Milano’s Music where he stayed for five years.

Mitch Gallagher grew up in a musical family. His mother and her sisters sang three-part harmony for dance bands, encouraging all of the children in the family to get involved with music. Mitch followed his love of music throughout college and into a salesman job for the Sweetwater Sound retail store beginning in 1992. He grew in that position and helped with the marketing side of the business and writing for the company’s newsletter. Mitch enjoyed writing about the gear and in fact left Sweetwater for a time to become editor of Keyboard Magazine as well as EQ Magazine.

David Garretson is a special representative for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which represents motion picture technicians, artists and allied crafts of the United States and Canada. As a union leader, David has overseen the creation of several initiatives that have benefited stage hands and roadies for years. He began his career lighting dance recitals and worked his way up to working for the Chicago ballet and regional theater in the mid 1970s.

Scott Gauthier is the Repair Shop Manager for the Arlington Heights location of Quinlan & Fabish, a chain of music stores in the greater Chicago area. Scott was encouraged by his mother to play a musical instrument and while still in grade school, Scott gravitated toward the saxophone. He played throughout high school and college at which point he sought to learn more about his instrument and how to repair it. Scott attended the Band Instrument Repair School in Red Wing, Minnesota in 2003.

Harry Gillum was interviewed for the NAMM Oral History program during the Stay-At-Home Orders for Covid-19 in June 2020. His interview was recorded on Zoom and captured his remarkable career in music retail and his contributions to our industry. Harry was just 16 years old in 1971 when he began working at a local music store. About a year and a half later he began to sell instruments for the store and after his first grand piano sale he was hooked. Harry dedicated his career to music retail ever since. In 1991 he had the opportunity to open his own store, Showtime Music in Bridgep

Gio Giovanni has a rich background in music, a passion of his since he was a kid. Gio grew up in Detroit, where he studied guitar and became a Hip Hop DJ. He took classes that incorporated music theory into the art of DJing and worked part time as a DJ when he moved to Nashville in 2006. With the help and support of his parents, a year later Gio formed his own studio, The Record Shop, which provided artists a full scope of services. Gio views his role as being involved with the creative process in order to help the artists achieve their vision of each project.

Graeham Goble is a founding member, main songwriter and the architect of Little River Band’s sound. Graeham always had a deep and passionate love for songwriting! When he bought his first Banjo and was taking lessons, instead of practicing, he prepared songs he wrote to share with his teacher. He played in several bands growing up in Australia and in 1974 moved to London with Beeb Birtles and met Glenn Shorrock. When the three sang together, blending their voices, Graeham knew they had something very special.

Mark Goff was ready to work for a musical instrument manufacturer after college when he was told that he needed retail experience. Impressed with the idea and eager to learn all he could he applied to work at Paige’s Music in Indiana. Mark enjoyed working with the owner, past NAMM Chairman Warner Paige, and the vibe of the music store. Mark later followed in Mr. Paige’s footsteps serving on the NAMM Board and EXCOM. He also served as president of NASMD

Jerry Goldenson has always had a love for music growing up and has many fond memories of playing drums in clubs and weddings as early as 12 years old. He later toured and recorded with many bands over the years but found a home in the music industry in a retail music store as his day job at Pianos N’ Stuff Music. That was the start of a musical journey that married his business acumen and education with his love of music. As with many of our leaders, working in retail was only the beginning.

John Green began installing pipe organs when he was still in school and fell in love with not only the technical process but in the reaction of the customers. He worked in a music store in Newport Beach, California before being hired by Rodgers Musical Instrument Company in 1976. He was with the company on two different occasions, and in between owned a music store with his wife in Nebraska. Each experience brought him a better understanding of the product line, the customer and their needs.

Jim Greenhill opened Jim’s Music store in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The area was brimming with recording activity in 1977 when Jim opened the store and as a result, most of the studio sessions players were customers of his. Jim focused on the latest in electronic technology in his store and among his early customers were LeBlanc & Carr, who purchased all of their amps and Anvil cases from Jim for their first tour. After closing the store, Jim worked with Ron Tunks Sales and began his long career as an independent rep, first for Ron and then on his own.

George Gruhn is without question one of the top experts of vintage guitars on the planet! George collected guitars before opening the world renowned Gruhn Guitar Shop in Nashville, TN in the early 1970s. Since that time he has authored several historical reference guides and thousands of articles on his vast collection and knowledge including “Acoustic Guitars & Other Fretted Instruments: A Photographic History” published in 1993.

Dennis Hagerty, the founder and retired president of Keyboard Concepts, embarked on his musical journey as a teenager, drawn to the piano's enchanting melodies. In 1972, under the guidance of mentor Lou Como, Dennis honed his skills in piano tuning and repair, later joining Owen Piano Company in 1973 under the mentorship of Bob and Maggie Owen and then Colton Piano in 1982 working with industry luminaries such as Harry Heideman, Bob Tacket and Vern Schafer. Inspired by the legacy of piano dealer David L. Abell, Dennis forged his path, establishing Keyboard Concepts in 1983.

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. Australasian Music Supplies, known as AMS, all started when Kevin began importing the Zachary Organ from New Zealand into Australia, which was, at the time, part of the home organ boom. That success led to strong relationships with dealers across the country. Another early milestone for AMS was the decision to distribute a wide range of Accessories which led to many firm business relationships and strong