Braun Mischel grew up in Owensboro, Kentucky, and attended the University of Kentucky where he focused on business. His brother-in-law was working at Ken-Tron Manufacturing in town and to...
Robert Hudson is the owner of Ken-Tron Manufacturing located in Owensboro, Kentucky. The name is short for Kentucky Electronics, which was the name of the company when he started working ...
Rick Thompson worked in a metal stamping company before learning of the opening at Ken-Tron in Owensboro, Kentucky. The company has two divisions, the metal stamping side and the wire sid...
Cathy Pullin was hired by Ken-Tron Manufacturing 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...
Maryann Sfarzo has always loved singing! She is fondly remembered in the Baldwin NAMM booth alongside Lowell Simpson as Mr. & Mrs. Baldwin. The two entertained attendees with songs as...
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...
Tiffany Johnson gets a real kick from serving her school accounts for Southwest Strings and helping each obtain the instruments and services they need in order to provide for their music ...
Pablo Ortega was interviewed during the Summer NAMM Show in 2021, just as Magma Strings was launching their American distribution branch. The show was both Pablo’s first as well as the fi...
Juan Grecos is the president of Amigos de la Guitarra de Valencia and has served in that position since 2004. The organization is dedicated to showcasing the Spanish classical guitar and ...
Carlos Medina is the owner of Medina and Magma Music in Argentina. His passion for music traces back to his grandfather who played guitar in a local band. In fact, much of the business’ s...
Tim Miklaucic; If you had asked a college-aged Tim Miklaucic where he thought he’d be in 2018, it certainly wouldn’t be as a CEO & Founder of an industry-leading guitar company & ...
Otto Werner grew up surrounded by music. His dad, a violin maker in Schönbach, produced violins at home and sold them in Markneukirchen while his aunt worked at Junger Company, the main p...
Robert Gillespie was teaching at Ohio State University in the music department when he developed and hosted a summer workshop for violin teachers. In addition to his regular teaching, pl...
Ken Dattmore is the Marketing Manager for Yamaha within the strings department, which has been his passion for his entire career. He started in the industry with the William Lewis & ...
Mark Dronge was the President of DR Strings and a veteran of the music products industry, having been involved since he was four years old in his father’s retail store! Mark recalled the...
Gerard Garnier is the president of ALGAM in France and likes to say with a proud smile that he started in the music industry with only one thing, a Black & Decker drill! He began mak...
Peter D’Addario is proud of his family’s long association with the music industry. In fact, his family’s string making goes back to the seventeenth century. Peter recalls going to the w...
Michael Laiacona wanted to create a guitar box with special effects just for himself. In fact, when he first showed it to the members of Taj Mahal in 1971, Michael didn't even have a nam...
Arnold Davidson was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa where he began playing in area bands. He was given the opportunity to distribute the strings he special ordered from England and ...
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...
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 ...
Ron Sfarzo may be the only interviewee within the NAMM Oral History collection who served as a police officer in California! Ron has been involved with music his entire life, with both h...
Sterling Ball’s great-grandfather was a successful songwriter in the golden era of Tin Pan Alley and wrote a series of hits such as “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” and "Mother Machree” His ...
John D’Addario’s family history in the music industry can be traced back to the 1670s when Donato D’Addario worked as a “cordaro” – the Italian word for “string maker.” Since that time t...
Martyn How is the Commercial Director or the British string company Rotosound. Martyn and his brother Jason carry on the traditions of their pioneering father who started the guitar and ...
Jason How is the CEO and Chairman of Rotosound, the British string company his father formed in 1958. James How was an innovative toolmaker who designed equipment that could produce vari...
Neil Lilien has been a life long supporter of the arts, playing music since he was a child and growing up to own one of the finest names in stringed instruments. Neil worked for Guild Gui...
Dean Markley thought there must be a better way of making a guitar string, so he found it and in the process changed the way accessory products were sold. Founder of Dean Markley String...
Tony Acosta had a dream to make the world’s finest classical guitar strings. He began working nights to perfect his product and build relationships within the industry and slowly gathere...
Jim D’Addario has worked long and hard within the research and development arm of D'Addario & Co., along with his brother John Jr. Headed by Jim, the engineering department has accumu...
George Osztreicher pioneered importing and exporting guitar and violin strings in the United Kingdom back in the 1960s. He formed British Music Strings after working for General Guitar St...
Dick Boak has served as Director of Artist Relations for the C.F. Martin & Company during the development of the popular signature series product line, as well as for such historic pr...
