Oral History Interviews

Michael Simmons is a co-founder of the Fretboard Journal and the author of several articles and books about vintage guitars and other fretted instruments. He began his career at Gryphon Guitars in Palo Alto, where he caught the bug for the history of the instruments. Over the years he has interviewed hundreds of performers and luthiers and has become an expert on the subject.  Through it all, Michael enjoys most the pursuit of documenting the history of fretted instruments, something we have all benefitted from.

Richard Johnston began buying and selling used fretted instruments long before there was a "vintage guitar market."  Back when Richard started they were just known as used instruments, but he saw the value. After meeting his partner Frank Ford, they opened a small guitar repair shop in Palo Alto, California called Gryphon Guitars.  They made instruments together but focused on repairs until it was clear their expertise was suited perfectly for selling. The store has played a very important role in the vintage market ever since

Frank Ford was beginning to build guitars and mandolins when he met Richard Johnston.  The two guitar lovers decided to open a repair shop in Palo Alto, California called Gryphon Stringed Instruments. Before long he felt a need to expand and the shop became an important retail store for the emerging vintage guitar market.  Frank's passion for research and understanding the subtle history of the processes and materials used in the vintage instruments led to a series of articles on the subject for several publications including frets.com. 

Andy Penn opened one of the first music stores dedicated to drums and percussion in Northern California.  As a drummer he wants to create a place for others to gather and be able to purchase quality gear.  He opened Andy Penn’s Drum world in 1965 only to soon discover the name Drum World was already taken, so he bought one guitar to sell and changed the name to Andy Penn’s Drum and Guitar World!  The store became known for the hardware that Andy built and sold himself, the strong customer service and the staff, many of whom went on to great careers in the music industry.

Paul Shuffield opened a small mom and pop music retail store with his wife in 2008, just a few weeks before the bottom fell out of the American economy and retailing suddenly became much different.  Paul reacted quickly to the challenge and soon offered services and products he didn’t originally think about, but he followed the need.  First he installed a large church PA and soon after filled the need for instrument rentals.  As a result his business continues to grow and he has provided our industry with a wonderful success story!

Perry Pedersen is a full blooded Basset Hound, who has been a show dog for several years.  His role in the music industry started when he began joining his owners, John and Nedra, on walks to their music store in Burbank, California.  Perry is the official store greeter and plays a vital role in making customers feel at ease and at home when they visit.  John has even credited Perry for the sales of several instruments. Perry is missing a tooth but is otherwise intact. Perry is musical himself as evidenced by his soulful howl.  

Ed Seelig opened a small guitar shop when he was a teenager, having already made connections within the concert circuit selling used gear to traveling musicians.  The store, Silver Strings Music and Repair in St. Louis, Missouri opened in the early 1970s.  He organized one of the very first vintage guitar shows in 1973 and witnessed firsthand the growth of the vintage guitar market.  Along the way Ed has made lifelong friends with musicians and industry leaders alike, including Joe Walsh and Seymour Duncan.

Reiff Lorenz grew up in the music publishing business and, like his father and grandfather, Reiff is happy and proud to carry on the family tradition.  The company was established back in 1890 with a focus on choral, keyboard, hand-bell, and instrumental music in support of church worship programs and ministries.  Just a few years after the company began, its founder, E.S. Lorenz, published the company’s first subscription magazine called The Organist, which provided a variety of music in different styles and levels of difficulty for church organists.

Ed Stasium, the producer and engineer, started out his career in the music industry performing with the Band Brandywine in the early 70’s. He engineered  and produced records for The Ramones, engineered  the Talking Heads as well as recordings for more than 200 bands. His years working at the Powerstation in New York were an essential part of his early career. Ed Stasium gives detailed insight of key moments for the creation of some very influential music and the people who were involved.  

Nedra Pedersen grew up playing French horn and studying all areas of music.  She landed a job in the publishing side of Disney and worked with Hal Leonard on several projects including The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast.  In the year 2000, she began working full time with her husband in their retail store in Burbank, California, Pedersen's Band & Orchestra.  She has been very proud of the relationships and the role she has played during her career.

John Pedersen, the founder of Pedersen's Band & Orchestra in Burbank, California, began his career with a small instrument repair shop.  The store, which began in the early 1970s, continued to grow even during the 17 years he spent working for the Los Angeles Unified School District repairing student instruments.  In 2000, his wife Nedra began working alongside John full time to make the business a true mom and pop operation.  The couple is very proud of the role they have played over the years of bringing music into the lives of so many young students. 

Mitch Holder is among the legendary Los Angeles recording studio musicians known for playing all styles of music.  As a well-respected guitarist, Mitch has played for nearly every studio and every composer in LA over the last forty years!  He has worked on movies for conductors such as John Williams and Dave Grusin as well as pop recordings with the like of Lee Ritenour and Minnie Riperton.  During his NAMM Oral History interview, Mitch spoke of his instruments and shared advice for up and coming musicians about the art form of studio work, which he expressed as being a blessing i

Ted Kraut loves teaching guitar!  It's in his blood and very evident to anyone who talks to Ted for over a minute. His passion has inspired thousands of students over the years, first when he taught at Canoga Music and in more recent years when he bought the business and focused on forming its music school! Canoga School of Music, formed in 1961, teaches a wide range of instruments and styles and often uses the catch phrase "join the band" to encourage students of all ages and levels.  

Ray Scherr was hired by Wayne Mitchell, the founder of Guitar Center, to help strengthen and develop the small store.  Ray added the culture and helped drive the growth of the company from the one location to the largest music store chain in the world.  His passion for the music industry began when he was hired to work as an assistant to the buyer and manager at B&J Music in New York.  He worked there, mostly on organizing the invoices, from 1969 until 1971 when he moved to California.  While running Guitar Center, Ray also created the famous Rock Walk on Sunset Boulevard in H

Alexander Pietschmann is CEO of Adam Hall. His dad, a professional musician works for Adam Hall as a salesman. Alex joined the company in 2006 after studying law and business. During his student years he had organized parties and opened a music club in Frankfurt. Building on this background he took over marketing of Adam Hall. In the following years the company grew and in 2013 Alexander Pietschmann became partners with David Kirby, Executive Chairman and Markus Jahnel the COO of Adam Hall.  

David Kirby, originally from England, started out as a professional musician touring in Germany in the mid 70’s. Playing bass, he also took charge of fixing and upgrading the equipment as well as managing the band. After five years of touring the band broke up and David partnered with Adam Hall in England to sell fittings for flight cases and parts for speaker systems in Germany. His company expanded quickly to now successfully distribute and develop audio and lighting products. David’s early days on tour with his band shaped his sense on what musicians really need and Adam Hall c

Markus Jahnel, COO of Adam Hall started out working for the company when he was 15 years old. After 30 years working closely with David Kirby he is now a partner since 2013 overseeing the day to day operations of the business. Markus talks about the early days of product development at Adam Hall and his experiences at trade shows.   

Siggi Jäger is a founder of Human Base. He specializes in hand crafting bass guitars. Sigge started making instruments in the mid 1980’s at Hoyer Guitars in Tennenlohe near Erlangen, Bavaria. There he specialized in making basses for the company and finished his apprenticeship with the master luthier Henning Doderer. In this interview Siggi Jäger describes various bass models he produced over the years and speculates on what makes the instruments he creates unique.  

Petra Woodfull-Harris recalls taking lessons on the recorder at the age of six, followed by the piano three years later.  She enjoyed the idea of improving her skills and of expressing herself through music, which is a driving force in her passion today.  As the sales and marketing manager for Barenreiter, the German music publisher, Petra connects music materials to teachers and students to enhance their skills and develop their own passion for expressing themselves through music.

John Tumpak is the author and music historian who has focused most of his writings on the golden age of swing during the Big Band Era of the 1930-40s.  As a result, John has interviewed and written about many of the big names during that time as well as documenting some of the lesser known musicians, arrangers, singers and leaders.  In 2008, Marquette University Press published his book entitled “When Swing Was the Thing: Personality Profiles of the Big Band Era.”  John has been a strong supporter of the NAMM Oral History program over the years, helping us with research and in con

Allan Rosenthal has served as NAMM’s Certified Public Accountant beginning in the 1980s, when the trade association moved its headquarters from Chicago to Carlsbad, California.  Allan has played an active role in the growth and development of the organization, serving the board on many important projects including the creation of the NAMM Foundation and the construction of the building, which now houses the NAMM offices and the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music. Allan recalls with a smile the early task of converting NAMM’s ledger books from paper to computer as well as the

Don Langlie had a wonderful experience for ten years as a band director, mostly in North Dakota, which he enjoyed very much.  When he applied for a job at Popplers Music in Grand Forks, Don took with him his interest in teaching, which has served him well as a music retailer. Don worked in the store’s pro audio department before working with fellow directors as the store’s road rep.  More recently Don has managed the print department for Popplers.  In 2016, Don became the president of the RPMDA Board of Directors, a position that highlights his passion for the music industry and t

Elliott Wessel likes to point out the fact that he has had five different positions at Schmitt Music at five different times during his career. He also conveys, as many others have, that Schmitt Music employees are much like a family.

Bill Jones is the founder of Bill Jones Music in Knoxville Tennessee.  The retailer started in 1973 with a focus on piano and organs, which was during the height of the organ boom. Over the years the store has developed to fit the changing needs of its customers and has become a full line music store.  When the country enjoyed the banjo craze, Bill brought in banjos.  When the ukulele was all the rage, he offered a wide range of ukes, and still does.  All the while he and his wife developed a music school within the store to offer lessons of all types, which is a major part of the

Rachelle Gayer began playing her mother’s piano when she was six years old, not knowing that a method book in the bench beneath her was produced by the same publishing company where she would devote much of her career.  Rachelle was always very interested in music, which led to her first job out of college, working for Bonnie (Beebe) Bourne.  She later taught music for a short time before answering an ad in the newspaper for a job at Carl Fischer.  She began working for the company in the early 1980s in the warehouse, and later she was promoted to sales manager, which is a dream j

Mike Fazio opened a small retail shop in St. Louis called Fazio's Frets & Friends.  The year was 1978.  Within a few months it was clear that he found his niche and before long the store became a lifeblood for area musicians as well as traveling performers.  Mike was educated in retail business and worked with Bob McDowell as an intern to apply his teachings in a real store environment. The experience not only resulted in Mike being hooked on retail, but specifically music retail, which is what he did until his retirement!   

Don Koller cut his teeth in the print music business at Wingert-Jones working for Frank Fendorf. While there, Don oversaw and controlled the inventory, picked the material for many of the store's well-received reading sessions and mailed choral music packets to some 50,000 Methodist churches at one point.  In 1988 he started his own company, American Music, and later formed The Musicians Choice, again specializing in choral music, which he loves.    

These are some highlights of the questions asked by Eric Glasnapp during the four months he worked on the NAMM Oral History program.  

These are some highlights of the questions asked by Eric Glasnapp during the four months he worked on the NAMM Oral History program.  

Chaim Rubinov played the piano in his home as a child and when school age he began playing the trumpet , thanks to the encouragement of his band director.  He grew up in Montreal, where the high school he attended had a strong music program that included band exchanges and tours not only in Canada but into the United States.  Those early years were of great inspiration for Chaim who not only went on to play professionally but later became involved within the music publishing industry.