Bob Bennett has written songs sung by congregations around the world for decades. His life in music all began when his older brother taught him a few chords on the guitar when he was ten ...
Frank Wells has served as a radio and audio technician, installing, maintaining and modifying audio gear for broadcast and recording facilities, as a professional audio journalist, and as...
Joe Spivey is a much-in-demand fiddle player in Nashville who has recorded and toured with Shania Twain, The Blackhawks, Dolly Parton and John Anderson, among others. He grew up in Shreve...
Phil Hunt is the founder and president of Hunt Media, a broadcast and digital consulting group. With his impressive career in radio, Phil provides strategic planning and market analysis f...
Mark Narmore was influenced by his famous songwriting cousin, Spooner Oldham. Mark began playing keyboards in recording studios in and around Muscle Shoals, Alabama, which is where he too...
Jimmy Bowen is the successful record producer whose musical career began as a Rockabilly recording artist and songwriter. He formed a trio right out of high school and created a songwriti...
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...
Barbara Rodney is the step-daughter of Carl Langevin who took time in front of our camera to provide an in-depth look into her family’s history and her remembrances of her step-dad. She w...
Zenobia looked forward to church every Sunday growing up in the Los Angeles area. She loved to sing and cut her teeth on the old gospel hymns. Zenobia pursued singing and was cast in the ...
Will Eggleston was always interested in how the music he heard on the radio as a kid was recorded. He was fascinated by the process and was determined to learn all he could. When he worke...
Steve Propes has been a longtime supporter of the NAMM Oral History program and sat down with us to discuss his views on the development of R&B, doo wop and rock and roll. As a long t...
Lou Bradley served as a recording engineer in the famous Quonset Hut Studios in Nashville, TN which was operated by Owen Bradley (no relation). Among the thousands of recordings Lou playe...
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...
Bill Koepnick is the co-founder of Advantage Audio in Burbank, CA where he specializes in creating and recording sound effects for movies and television. Bill got interested in music at a...
Jerry Blavat was a DJ and radio broadcaster with a lot of energy! Also known as “The Geator with the Heater” and “The Big Boss with the Hot Sauce,” Jerry started his career on the origina...
Howie Schwartz has had a passion for music and sound since he as a kid, which landed him in the Eastman School of Music playing bassoon. After his time in school, Howie worked as a DJ at ...
Markos Kounalakis’ passion for music developed in the 1980’s when he worked at a broadcasting company in Sweden. The radio station had such powerful antennas that the government of the So...
Keith Shocklee is a pioneering DJ who began performing at the local youth center on Long Island in 1974, only a year after Hip Hop was established. Keith gives credit to the radio disc jo...
Fred Vail was making announcements on a local radio station in Sacramento, California when he was just 12 years old. While in high school, he led the committee that brought bands to the s...
Robert Hobbs is very proud of his father’s role in music. His father, Revis Hobbs, was a radio engineer for station WSM and later created the r/f switch for radio frequency stability. In ...
Billy Butler started in the early 1960s singing with the Merseybeats group, The Tuxedos, having also sang with The Merseybeats and even performed on the same stage as The Beatles. He soon...
Frankie Connor was an original member of the Liverpool based band The Hideaways, which enjoyed success since first forming in 1963. A few of the bands’ career highlights include playing a...
Bob Brumley was the owner of Albert E. Brumley & Sons, a music publishing company established by his father in 1944. Albert E. Brumley was a gifted songwriter who often penned religio...
Jim Marks always enjoyed ham radio and often sought opportunities to learn more about audio equipment. He was working as a radio station engineer for Progressive Broadcasting when he hear...
John Conlee was not even a teenager when he joined a barbershop quartet in Versailles, Kentucky where his father ran a tobacco farm. He was often heard singing and playing his guitar and ...
Dan Del Fiorentino is the Music Historian for NAMM who heads the industry's Oral History program. Dan began this special project in March 2000, after having served as the first curator of...
Fred Catero was the "go to" engineer at Columbia Studios in New York before teaming with Bill Graham to form Fillmore Studios in San Francisco. Over the years, Fred engineered or mastered...
Bill Gardner grew up in Los Angeles surrounded by music. His mother worked at a local record store where he heard the music that would forever shape his life. Years later, Bill went on th...
Kool DJ Red Alert, from Harlem New York, grew up listening to the Caribbean music of his grandparents as well as his brother's record collection. He was greatly inspired the day he first ...
John Walker’s career in music all began with guitar lessons at six years old. This lesson studio’s focus was on ensemble performance, which allowed John to start playing gigs at 11 years ...
DW Fearn began working part time as an engineer for WPEN in Philadelphia while still in high school. His passion for audio grew and developed as he collected equipment. His goal was to ...
Charlie Monk was known throughout Nashville as the Mayor of Music Row! Perhaps it was due to his long-running radio programs, books, and television spots with a top list of performers by...
