Oral History Interviews

Neal Preston recounted a special photograph he took while on tour with Led Zeppelin in the 1970s. The image captured Jimmy Page playing guitar as stage smoke was raising and the iconic musician looked right into Neal’s camera lens. It was one of a dozen stories Neal provided during his NAMM Oral History interview, which took place during the Anaheim trade show in 2018.

Pete Best grew up with a strong musical influence within his mother. She encouraged the passion and desire to bring music into the lives of Pete and the kids in Liverpool, England by opening the Casbah, a music club, below his childhood home. Despite picking up a guitar as his first instrument, Pete quickly found his way to the drums and joined a local group, the Blackjacks. Pete then joined up with three other young guys, John, Paul, and George, from Liverpool as they were setting out for their first tour in Hamburg, Germany. Pete remained the drummer with the Beatles from 1960 t

Mike Adams was a sound designer and engineer who began servicing SouthernCalifornia's audio needs in the 1970s. Seeing the need for sound reinforcement during changing times, he left his band to join Silverfish Audio which was founded in Rochester, New York, in 1971 and isnow known as Sound Image located in Escondido, California. Mike worked as a front-of-house engineer for the likes of Jimmy Buffett and helped form many other audio companies such as Audio Composite and Vue Audio. Mike also collaborated with companies like JBL, Yamaha, and QSC on various design projects.

John Jorgenson is best known as a guitarist, although he also plays and records with a number of musical instruments. While performing in the bands The Hellecasters and the Desert Rose Band, John often plays his signature model Fender. However, he often can be heard playing the piano, clarinet, and saxophone, as well as a wide variety of stringed instruments such as the bass, mandolin, pedal steel, and the Dobro. Fender created several special Jorgenson Models including The Limited Edition John Jorgenson Hellecaster made in 1997 and The Fender John Jorgenson Signature Custom Korin

Stephen Bennett provided music lessons in two music stores in the late 1970s while gigging at night. It was the first time he quit his day job, at a department store, to focus on music full time. During the 1980s he was given his great grandfather’s harp guitar and soon incorporated the instrument in his regular performances. Stephen is the founder of the Harp Guitar Gathering, an annual event that brings players, luthiers, scholars, and fans of this instrument together for a weekend of performances, workshops and camaraderie. The 15th annual event was held at the NAMM Foundation’

Steve Held was involved in music retail beginning when he was a teenager working at the Music Corner in Waterloo, Iowa. He later worked for West Music in Iowa City for well over a decade and then had his own piano store with his business partner Jim Hall. In the early days, Steve was trained in the Wurlitzer Way of selling musical instruments and throughout the years enjoyed the training support that manufacturers offered for their respective instruments. Along the way, Steve created a special philosophy in approaching a family coming into a store for the child’s first instrument.

Dana Bourgeois formed Bourgeois Guitars in 1993, having already worked as a luthier on several projects including those with Paul Reed Smith and Eric Schoenberg. His passion for guitar building began in college when he read Classic Guitar Construction by Irving Stone. His first repair shop was opened in 1976 and he continued to hone his craft over the years while learning about woods and techniques of construction as well as meeting musicians who had an interest in unique guitar sounds. Dana has been attending NAMM Shows since the 1980s and regularly displays new models at the Ana

Bobby Thrasher has his roots in fabrication and was able to merry that talent into a career in music by accepting a position as a stage hand managing hydraulics with Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Using that tour as a launching point, Bobby continued to excel within the industry eventually working on tours with Bruce Springsteen, Simon and Garfunkel, and Billy Joel. Bobby was awarded the Parnelli Lifetime Achievement award at the 2018 NAMM Show in Anaheim. During his 2018 NAMM interview, Bobby discussed the changes and innovations in stage design and fabrication over the years.

Frank Baxter is the proud founder of Piano World (PianoWorld.com). Having programed webpages in the early 1990s, Frank used his skill and his insight that the web would soon be growing, to create a platform for his business. As a piano technician, Frank found his online marketing very successful as well as the community of piano forum members, which continues to grow each year. Frank cut his teeth in music retail at Curtis Music in 1968 and would later open and manage two of their mall stores and eventually a store of his own. Frank’s passion for the music industry continued to de

Pete Langdell grew up in Northern Vermont and takes great pride in the fact that he has lived and worked in the same area his entire life. When he had an opportunity to establish his own musical instrument company, Rigel, making mandolins and guitars, he insisted the factory be located in Vermont. After downsizing his company, Pete began working as a repairman and luthier for Metropolitan Music, which has sold violins since 1920. And you guessed it, Metropolitan Music is located in Vermont.

Adam Juzek recalls playing around in his father’s workshop as a kid. It never occurred to him to do anything other than working in the family business. As a result, Adam and his brother Rob, purchased the family business from their father in 2008. His family’s involvement in music goes back to the very early 1900's when his great uncle began making violins. His great-grandfather established Metropolitan Music in 1920 to sell the instruments, which has focused on wholesaling and catalog sales since the 1970s. Adam is proud to work alongside his brother as they continue the family t

Rob Juzek and his brother Adam are the owners of Metropolitan Music in Stowe, Vermont. The family business dates back to the very early 1900’s when his great uncle, John Juzek, began making violins. His brother, Rob’s grandfather, began selling the instruments and by 1920 their distribution company, Metropolitan Music, was born. Rob enjoyed the business end and in fact helped the company transition into the Internet era by creating a website in the early days of e-commerce.

Jacques Masson was just 15 years old when he began giving drum lessons at a local music store. He has been involved with teaching music ever since. As a player, Jacques was approached by Premier Drums to serve as an endorser in 1986, which served as his introduction into the music products industry. He has since worked with several companies on cymbal design and development as well as a clinician in music stores and trade shows in both Canada and the United States.

Rick Peate recalled the story of how his family’s multi-generational music business began and developed. During his NAMM Oral History interview, Rick talked about his innovative grandfather, George Peate, who moved to Montreal from Utica, New York as a teenager and opened a music store in 1899. George made musical instruments, wrote method books, and was a band director. Peate Music developed over the years and Rick’s father took over from his grandfather just as Rick would take over from his father. In 1968, the company officially became a distributor, which Rick has taken into t

Stefano Galante is a recording engineer and producer who designed his own studio in his native Italy before moving to Montreal. Over the years, Stefano has witnessed many changes in the technology used within recording studios and has helped pioneer the use of new products. As a composer and arranger, he has worked on several products over the years that required early adaptation of studio tools and techniques, especially those he has used in symphonic rock and electronic music.

Guy Desjardins was composing and arranging music as technology in musical instruments was changing. His adaptation of these developments resulted in his nickname of Mr. MIDI. He was hired as a clinician for Akai-Digital and helped with product development for Steinberg as well. Along the way, he became a product specialist and assisted with the growth and development of Cubase and other music related software. Guy is currently teaching at Trebas Institute in Montreal and is the host of Club Cubase Montreal.

Marc-Pierre Verge came to work on computer generated musical instruments by first studying acoustics. He and his colleagues at Applied Acoustics Systems used physical modeling to recreate the sounds of analog synthesizers and acoustic objects. When they released their first PC based products in 2000, beginning with Tassman followed later by Lounge Lizard EP, they realized they were on to something very exciting. The music products industry agreed. Since that time his company has continued to create innovative products that have inspired musicians around the world.

Gerry Labelle’s first musical instrument was the alto saxophone; later the tenor and soprano saxophone remained his main instruments, and he later played C Flute, piccolo & Alto flute. Gerry studied music with Frank Mella in Montreal, Canada.  He has traveled across Canada and the United States with a group called “Illustration”, and then moved on to jazz with the great piano player, Marius Cultier, and bassist, Alex Bernard, touring the west Indies mainly in Martinique & Guadeloupe. He returned to Montreal playing with drummer, Claude Ranger. This is when he met Elvin Jon

Dave Morrison is a big fan of Jimi Hendrix and was able to see the legendary guitarist in Toronto in the late 1960s. Dave’s passion for music was equaled only by his love of audio. When he found an opportunity to blend both, Dave not only found his dream job, but he established a company that provides products for those with the same passions. After being involved in the design and construction of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s centre, which included approximately eight television studios and 25 radio, music, and drama studios, and one performance studio, Dave established

Mark Kortschot is a Professor of Engineering at the University of Toronto who was approached by Guy Légère with an interesting idea in 1997. Guy wanted to make a synthetic reed for the clarinet from oriented polymers, but needed some help obtaining and working with these high-tech materials. Mark immediately saw the potential, and the two formed Légère Reeds Ltd. in 1998 after showing their reeds at ClarinetFest. Since that time, Mark and Guy have developed a whole family of synthetic reeds for single and double reed instruments, which have been embraced by amateurs and profession

Letty Jo Randell formed her own music publishing company, Letting Go Music, after having worked for Screen Gems and a company she formed with her then husband, Denny Randell. She began using some of her poems to write tunes with Denny and later they collaborated on several other songs. She teamed up with other songwriters over the years and penned a number of songs that have been recorded including the cult classic “Shirley Wood (aka Surely Would)” for Disco-Tex and the Sex O-Lettes.

Mohini Dey is the noted bass player who has been playing professionally since she was ten years old. The world nearly lost the chance to hear her beautiful music as Mohini’s first career choice was to be a fashion designer. Her father, Sujoy Dey, is also a bass player and often performs with his daughter. She made her NAMM Show debut in Anaheim 2018 and was surprised to be recognized by so many retailers and suppliers while walking the show floor. Mohini took time from that busy show to provide her NAMM Oral History, which we hope will be the first of many.

Ralph Angelillo grew up inspired by Joe Morello. His dad was a bassist for big dance bands in the 1940s and '50s and his four brothers all played music. In 1961, at the age of 17, Ralph purchased his first Ludwig drum set, with money earned working as a busboy in local hotels. While working in the music industry, Ralph established several music magazines across Canada. At that point, he had the idea of putting on a drum festival.

Henry Diltz was the official photographer at Woodstock and has photographed over 200 record album covers including the iconic Morrison Hotel. His images have defined an era of music and inspired generations of artists. Henry sat down for his NAMM Oral History interview at the Anaheim trade show in 2018. Right after his interview was captured, fellow rock photographer, Neal Preston, walked in the room. The two hugged and exchanged stories to the delight of the NAMM staff on hand.

David Erny was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, and like his father Larry, began working at Professor Larry's Music when he was a very young boy. David has been running the family business with his dad for a number of years. David played a key role in bringing the music store online with Internet sales and a strong social media presence. The store has developed and changed over the years while remaining family owned and operated.

Larry Erny began working with his father when he was a very young boy, emptying trash and sweeping the floors in the store and traveling with him as he set up and created school band programs and music instruments all over Louisiana. Larry's dad was the first music teacher in the state and saw the need for an instrument rental program. Their first store was in Houma, LA and they eventually settled in Lafayette. Over the years, the Erny family has assessed between 180,000 and 200,000 music students. Today, Professor Erny's Music has a thriving band instrument rental program and is

Byron Walls was a singer/songwriter who began his career during the folk music boom of the early 1960s. He sang in a number of groups during his career, including The Travellers, for which Byron was a founding member. The group opened for Phyllis Diller at the Purple Onion in San Francisco and later recorded the album A Journey with the Travellers. As a songwriter, Byron’s songs, such as “Precious Love” and “Grandma’s Letter” have been recorded by Emmy Lou Harris, Glen Yarbrough, as well as Burl Ives, Ed Ames, and Ronnie Milsap.

Ervin Somogyi began his career as a instrument repairman, which is how he learned the important elements of a guitar. He studied what went wrong with guitars, their weaknesses, and what he could do in designing and building his own guitars that would make them unique and stronger. He developed his own style and went on to teach his craft. Ervin has also written two books including “Making the Responsive Guitar: The Techniques, the Tools, and the Procedures” published in 2010.

George Edwards is the General Manager for Sound Image Productions, a division of Sound Image that is located in the San Francisco Bay Area. His career has included working in every live sound position from FOH in small clubs to full production of large-scale musical events with some of the biggest names in entertainment. Along the way, George has developed long lasting friendships with people like Dave Shadoan, who hired George to run his production company. During his insightful interview for the NAMM Oral History program, George shared some of the lessons in business, as well as

Jerry Goldman's father, Harry, opened a wholesale piano business inside Marshall Field's Department store in Chicago with his brother back in 1947. Just over a decade later, Harry and his wife, Rita, moved out to California to open their own piano store while kept his roots from the department store and called the new store "Fields Piano". Jerry and his brothers grew up in the business and took great pride in continuing the business that his parents established. Jerry officially came on board in 1974, just five years before his parents sold the store to their three children.