Rose Wernes Drake traveled with her husband, Ivor, when he became the second salesperson hired for the Winter Piano Company following World War II. He often said the company got two for t...
Johnny Davis had several key roles within the music products industry, which made his Oral History interview particularly meaningful for the NAMM collection as we seek to preserve our ind...
Tom Ostrander was the founder of Colonial Music in Mt. Vernon, Ohio. Now a string of stores, the retail company began with the simple idea of providing top quality instruments to the area...
Bernie Kalban was one of the great veterans of the music publishing industry. Having worked in the era right after Tin Pan Alley, in the Brill Building and with many of the top firms, Ber...
Jack Linton followed in the footsteps of his father who formed the famed Linton oboes brand of musical instruments. The instruments have been handcrafted in Elkhart, Indiana, since the 19...
Ralph MacDonald grew up in Harlem, where he was exposed to many musical traditions. As a drummer, he focused on his African roots and as a songwriter he relied on his soulful understandin...
John Majeski Jr. was appropriately given the AMC Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 for a long career as editor of the Music Trades Magazine. During John’s era, the Beatles came to Americ...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Bob Brookmeyer played trombone for several name big bands d...
Ed Roman opened a guitar store in Las Vegas after a successful career in the motorcycle industry. What he learned about that business and the customer base he found, he could easily apply...
Harold Moseley was hired by Charles Hansen in the 1960s at the height of the legendary music publisher’s innovative career. Harold was on hand when Hansen developed several now standard p...
Budd Johnson was a key member of the TEAC team that oversaw the development of the American branch of the company known as TASCAM. As a result Budd was there in the late 1960s through the...
William Tapia stood up in front of United States solders playing his ukulele and singing at the tender age of eight years old. He was entertaining the troops for World War I and did not s...
Lillian Siegh played a vital role in the inner workings of NAMM for over 35 years! William Gard hired Lillian as a secretary in 1949 and for a time she was the office manager before becom...
Himie Voxman was a band director nearly all his life. He studied chemistry in college but fell into music because jobs were hard for chemists to find in the days of the Great Depression. ...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Memo Bernabei led a popular society orchestra during the gr...
Roger Williams was known throughout the world for his countless albums and top ten hits as a solo pianist. He had a remarkable career in bridging rock and roll and in incorporating jazz a...
Frank Nelson played trumpet and cornet during the swing era, touring with Alvino Rey’s Orchestra among others. He arranged music for the bands, both small groups and the larger outfits an...
John McDermott could sure sell pianos! His knowledge of the products and his strong relationship with music retailers made him an ideal and successful sales rep. John worked for the Gulbr...
Russell Kephart enjoyed his years as a band director but found great satisfaction when he opened his own music store and could provide the service he felt band directors were missing. The...
Johnny Wright was among the most popular of the traveling country bandleaders during the big band era. Blending his country music roots with a slight bluegrass feel, Johnny’s band was the...
Lothar Meisel was the ninth generation of violinmakers in his family, going back to 1660 in Klingenthal, Germany. He recalled with a smile the days as a young boy hiding under his grandfa...
Kurt Lutz was a well-regarded German luthier who, along with many other instrument makers, settled in Bubenreuth, Germany following World War II. Mr. Lutz provided a first-hand account of...
Jerry Leiber was one half of Leiber and Stoller, one of the most influential and successful songwriting teams of the 1950s R&B movement. They played a critical role in the early days ...
Tony Schmidt was the very first volunteer of the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music (located in the NAMM building) to provide 1,000 hours of service. As a kid, he saw Duke Ellington...
Billy Grammer formed his own guitar company after years of playing country music in and around Nashville. Billy recorded several hit records on his own as well as playing behind some of t...
Bart Wascom was the electrical engineer who sought to improve the pro-audio speakers by improving the distribution of sound. After several tests, he concluded that large wooden cabinets c...
Dale Beacock grew up with a love of band music. After college he was hired as a band director and he felt as if his dreams had come true. He worked hard to design methods of teaching that...
H. C. McMurtry sure knew a lot about the Wurlitzer Company! Not only did he work for the company for nearly 20 years, he traveled throughout the country, selling the company’s product l...
Jess Oliver was the inventor of the Ampeg Baby Bass, the first electronic upright bass instrument. The fiberglass body and unique design was key to projecting the sound of a double bass i...
William McNamara reported to Mr. Alfred LaMotte, a true legend in the music products industry when Bill was first hired by Thearle’s Music stores in San Diego in the 1930s. Mr. LaMotte wa...
Joe Campana returned from serving in World War II to his native Oakland, California, with a dream-–and the GI Bill. While taking business classes, Joe established Campana Music in nearby ...
Pete Valentino noticed that band instrument repairmen often had a difficult task in replacing worn pads on flutes and saxophones. He had burned his hands on many occasions and thought tha...
