John Perdue has always had a deep passion for music, first as a kid playing clarinet in horn bands, then as a music educator, and now as a docent for NAMM’s Museum of Making Music. He tau...
Chaco Amazè fell in love with music at a young age, after all his father was a music teacher and his mother was a dancer of Mexican folklore music. His father introduced young Chaco to J...
Carle Vickers’ grandmother was a noted soprano and pianist who gave him a great appreciation for classical music as well as piano lessons. He began playing trumpet and saxophone in grade ...
Mike Smith, the jazz saxophonist who toured with Maynard Ferguson, Buddy Rich, and Frank Sinatra, is also closely associated with the music products industry. Mike plays an important role...
Luis Orta is a jazz saxophonist from Puerto Rico who spent much of his NAMM Oral History interview engaging us with the rich history of Latin Jazz. He spoke of the importance of the percu...
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...
John Richardson has fond memories of walking into Don Wilson Music in Kentucky and purchasing his first tenor saxophone. Mr. Wilson sold the instrument for less than it was worth in the h...
Larry Dougherty has always been grateful for the vast pool of great musicians who made up the swing bands of the 1940s and 50s. This allows so many to go on the road with a number of band...
Lanny Aplanalp says he was happily playing football in school at the age of 16 with a focus on sports when he first heard the jazz saxophone. He was hooked and everything changed for him!...
Sam Glenn has had a marvelous career as a saxophonist in big bands and many Los Angeles-based recording studios. He took clarinet lessons at Kitt’s Music in Maryland (now Jordan-Kitt’s Mu...
Seth Strickland had a wonderful grade school music teacher who was a great inspiration for him. Seth played saxophone throughout high school and in the jazz band. He later performed in a ...
Rafael Perez played a variety of instruments at an early age. He played saxophone in his school’s marching and jazz bands and with several local groups as a teenager. Right out of high sc...
Phil Rovner was having some trouble with his intonation as a saxophone player, and decided to design a new approach to attaching the reed to his mouthpiece. As an engineer, he had the kno...
Doug Lawrence was first musically inspired by his father, a woodwinds player. However, at a young age he watched as his older brothers’ professional careers developed and Doug had tunnel ...
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...
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...
Joshua Baldi wasn’t quite sure what to expect when he answered an ad for an artist at a musical instrument company. With a background and deep seated passion for art and music, Joshua was...
Matthew McBeth applied for a job at Cannonball Musical Instruments in Sandy, Utah, right after he graduated from high school in 2011. At first Matthew was given the tasks of mowing the gr...
Marietta Robison was living next door to Sheryl and Tevis Laukat in 1996 when the couple approached her for help with their idea to start an instrument company. With a strong background i...
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...
Randal Clark is the Media Director and Education Specialist for Cannonball Musical Instruments in Sandy, Utah. He began working at Cannonball in 2000, focusing on addressing the needs of ...
Matthew Green grew up in a very musical family. His father plays French Horn and was greatly influential on Matthew's own musical pursuits. At first he played the cello in school then lat...
Massiel Gregory grew up surrounded by music in Guatemala before moving to the United States and settling in the Salt Lake City area. In the early 2000’s she began working at Cannonball Mu...
Julee Laukat is a technician and hand engraver at Cannonball Musical Instruments in Sandy, Utah. Julee is dedicated to her craft, and she is also married to Tevis’ brother. Tevis and his ...
Rocky Peoples is the saxophonist heard on hit recordings such as “Will We Go Round In Circles” and “Nothing From Nothing” by Billy Preston, as well as his own composition “Driver’s Licens...
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...
Ernie Watts is the answer to the question - who was playing the “mystery horn” on Frank Zappa’s The Grand Wazoo album? A veteran studio musician and bandleader, Ernie has had thousands of...
Derek Brown is best known for playing the style of music known as Beatbox Sax. This way of playing the saxophone incorporates percussive playing techniques that were developed by Derek. H...
José Nogueira was eight years old when his parents started a music business in Porto, Portugal. He took accordion lessons as a child as well as guitar and piano. In 1974, a group of frien...
Albie Donnelly started playing saxophone at an early age and played with Merseybeat groups in Liverpool, England. He was then signed to Virgin Records with his group, Supercharge, which h...
Dr. Merryl Goldberg grew up inspired by music. Her parents wanted her to learn guitar, but she always had a soft spot in her heart for the saxophone and would sneak in lessons whenever po...
James Evans met one of his musical heroes, Louie Lee, in 1977. Mr. Lee took the time to show James techniques in playing his saxophone that greatly inspired him. Over the years he develop...
