Bob Rissi was the founder of Risson Amplifier Company, which produces Made-in-America products based on Bob’s own designs. He began designing amplifiers in 1960 when he was hired by Leo ...
John Gronemeyer enjoyed his career in the school band instrument segment of the industry, which included sales positions at CG Conn, King, UMI and Jupiter Band Instruments. John worked fo...
Ron Griggs dreamed of being a band teacher as a child. His career as a teacher was rewarding as he was often stopped in the street by former students who would remark on how much of an im...
Evelyn Brue-Roeder opened her music store in 1940! Her main focus in the early days was music lessons, however she soon added sheet music, accessories and musical instruments. She develop...
Marty Baxter entertained the troops during World War II as a member of a singing quartet. While with bands, such as Frankie Master’s Orchestra, she not only sang but arranged the four pa...
Bob Shane was among the most influential performers of the folk music boom of the late 1950s and 60s. As an original member of the Kingston Trio, Bob was at the cornerstone of the Americ...
Garrett Bowles was always interested in computer technology, music and library science, so it came to no surprise to his family that Garrett found a way to combine the three fields long b...
Sheldon Sazant began working for Steve's Music in Canada in 1978. What he recalls as his first impression of the store was the very tall, big, red-bearded owner, Steve. Steve was bigger...
Karl Hoyer was born in Schönbach/Luby in the Czech Republic to a family of violin makers. As a child, he helped in his father’s workshop, and in 1944, went to the school of violin making ...
Bob Saunders began working in the accounting department for Kaman Corporation. He was asked by the company’s founder, Charlie, to work with his son Bill for the Kaman Music Corporation. ...
Franco Guccini expanded his family’s cane business from basket making to producing reeds for musical instruments. As president of Marca: Aches Reeds Canas Accessories, established in 1957...
Allee Willis wrote a number of successful songs that have become part of the fabric of pop music. Allee either wrote or co-wrote songs such as “September” by Earth Wind & Fire, the th...
Scott Anderson was among the renowned sales representatives at Wurlitzer during the iconic company’s heyday. When Wurlitzer “meant music to millions” (to use their famous slogan) Scott ...
Emil Richards played a significant role in the expanded use and knowledge of world percussion instruments. Through his recordings and work for TV and the movies, Emil was known for adding...
Gershon Kingsley composed several hit recordings using the Moog synthesizer in the very early days of electronic music. His mega hit “Popcorn” in 1969 led to a series of pioneering electr...
Stu Goldberg established Marina Music in San Francisco at the beginning of the guitar boom. The folk music craze was in full swing and the Beatles just hit the USA and within a few month...
Russell Lindquist joined his uncle’s piano store in Iowa in his early 20s, and soon discovered his love of the business. He especially loved selling. Russell opened a Hammond Organ dealer...
Mary Lou Hoogenboom was a factory worker for the Gibson Guitar Company when it was located in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She was hired in 1951 and began working in the sanding department, but ...
Eddie Tishkoff and his brother Jerry owned the famous Hollywood Piano Company and Hollywood Piano Rental Company located in Southern California, one of the busiest piano rental outfits in...
Ed Cherney won a Grammy Award for his work as recording engineer for the 1989 Bonnie Raitt’s album “Nick of Time.” This was just one of his many projects as mixer and engineer. He has wor...
William Reglein played a key role in the growth and development of the jj Babbitt Company since taking over its presidency from his father, Bud. William’s great uncle was the company’s fo...
Richard Loberg worked for the Schmitt Music store for nearly his entire working career. The company was formed in 1896 in Minneapolis, largely as a piano store. Over the years the company...
Vinnie Bell was a studio musician in New York who often was asked to create new and unique sounds. As a luthier, Vinnie built several innovative guitars including one tuned like a sitar. ...
Karl Hirano was an electronic engineer for Yamaha in Japan during the great MIDI boom of the early 1980s. In fact, Karl was a member of the team that gathered at the 1983 NAMM Show to dis...
Gene Gray was a sales rep for the mighty Wurlitzer Company from 1965 until 1988. During his NAMM interview, Gene spoke first hand of the great family feelings many had while working for t...
Elaine Taylor began working on the bench at Selmer in Elkhart in 1975, where she covered cases. Over the years she has worked in the cork and padding department for saxophones, also in t...
Bob Hale had a long and successful career as an engineer and was able to devote his retirement time to his passion for music as a docent at the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music in...
Joachim Schneider proudly continues in the family tradition of hand crafted instrument making. His great grandfather was a violin builder as was his grandfather. His grandfather and fathe...
Jimmy Johnson was a co-founder of the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama along with fellow studio musicians Roger Hawkins, Barry Beckett and David Hood. The four musicians, known as th...
Donnie Fritts was born in Florence, Alabama, the right place at the right time to grow up to become a studio musician and songwriter. Just a little way down the road from where Donnie gr...
Clora Bryant was billed as the female Louie Armstrong in the era of the Ed Sullivan variety show. Her raspy-voiced imitations were a big favorite among viewers but the gimmick often over-...
