Porter Howell recalls with a smile that his piano playing mom strongly encouraged young Porter to play the guitar. He participated in choir and a school pop band called PT Express. Future...
Rock Clouser is the String Brand Manager for KHS America but would you believe his passion for music started with the zither? His fondness for the instrument ignited a passion for playing...
Chris Hankes and his sisters attended Catholic schools and were always involved in the music programs, including Chris playing in the marching band in 7th grade. Those experiences created...
Brent Rosborough can trace his family roots in music back to his father who played during World War II. Brent picked up the guitar when he was eight years old playing in 70s rock bands be...
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 ma...
Chris Miller has helped more music retailers with their store designs and merchandising than just about anyone else in the industry. Always with an eye for design and graphics, Chris was ...
Steve Halpern is an esteemed docent volunteer at NAMM’s Museum of Making Music, which provides an opportunity for him to blend his love of music with his background as an educator. As a y...
David Doucet recalls the day his older brother, Michael, left for school. David dashed to pick up Michael’s guitars and taught himself to play. His passion grew the more he listened to ar...
Chad Huval puts a whole lot of Creole heritage into his playing. Born in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, he received his first accordion from his father as a child. As he grew and developed his...
Itte Nygren first learned of the Ronnie Gardiner Method of music therapy in the early 2000s and at once was eager to apply the treatment to her patients. She has since witnessed the heali...
Ronnie Gardiner banged on his mother’s pots and pans enough that it encouraged her to buy him a toy drum set for Christmas when he was not yet four years old. He played all throughout sch...
Will Braham’s father gave him a guitar when he was in eighth grade. It is then, as Will puts it, that his career began. He played all throughout school developing his skills and his drive...
Perry Smith was already playing the guitar when he walked into a small music store in San Rafael, California, and heard someone playing jazz. That one moment changed his musical path and ...
Helena Armandula was a shining example of a dedicated volunteer serving at NAMM’s Museum of Making Music. In fact, in 2023, at the time of her interview, Helena was presented the Voluntee...
Rich Schermerhorn is a proud volunteer at NAMM’s Museum of Making Music, located in Carlsbad, California. The museum has several positions for volunteers and Rich seems to do most of them...
Brian Donaldson is an exuberant cheerleader for NAMM’s Museum of Making Music, where he volunteers as a docent. He joined the team in 2016 and can often be found leading tours, jamming wi...
Julia Huff joined the Museum of Making Music volunteer program in 2018, focusing much of her time in the museum’s gift shop. She enjoys working with her fellow volunteers, the staff and i...
John Denny is a very active volunteer for NAMM’s Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, California. If there is a tour, a special musical event, or a dulcimer that needs moving, John is your...
Phee Sherline brought her passion for music to NAMM’s Museum of Making Music a docent and gallery attendant. She was a young adult when the Folk Music boom occurred during the 1960s and 7...
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...
Barbara Wight smiled when she recalled being crowned the accordion princess of the Western States when she was a child. While she later had a long career as an executive in the agricultur...
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 ...
Bob Kilpatrick wrote his first song in the fourth grade and went on to pen one of the most popular worship songs in the last fifty years. In his early twenties, Bob and his wife performed...
Joe Wood was taught the Blues and how to play the guitar by his uncle. Throughout his career in Punk Rock, the feel for the Blues remained an important element in his playing and his song...
John Lambert is a docent at NAMM’s Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, California, having joined the team in 2019. Just after his docent training was complete the pandemic of 2020 hit and...
Norman Hamlet was just a kid when he heard this strange but wonderful sound during a Grand Ole Opry radio program. He was told the sound came from a Hawaiian Guitar, which was a term used...
Robert Price has been a journalist his entire professional life, in fact, he wrote for the newspapers at his high school and colleges before landing a job at the Bakersfield Californian p...
Jim Shaw formed his own country band in Fresno, earning a nice living when he heard Buck Owens opened a recording studio down the road in Bakersfield. Jim thought he could go down and mak...
Bob McNabb is a well-known and respected piano technician in Bakersfield, California, who began his training in 1973. He enjoyed the role of piano tech for the Civic Center for over 20 ye...
Daniel Tomlinson was giving drum lessons when he was 13 years old and grew up in his family’s music store, California Keyboards in Bakersfield, California. In addition, as a teenager, Dan...
