Alfredo Campanelli is a strong supporter of the Internet, and has used it as a tool to connect and expand his customer base. Beginning as a retailer, Alfredo expanded to wholesaling and ...
Ernie Isley was born into a very musical family and grew up with his older brothers forming a group and singing gospel. When Ernie was 14 years old he played drums as a member of the fam...
Honoring Jim Funada for his invaluable service in assisting the NAMM Resource Center in obtaining fantastic interview contributions to the NAMM Oral History Program.
This video contains ...
John Waltrip began being involved in music as a small child and in fact, became the main pianist for his church as a teenager. He played in the school bands and studied music in college....
Todd Rundgren was interviewed for the NAMM Oral History program the same day he was presented with inducted into the TEC Awards Hall of Fame. His visit to the NAMM show was his first in ...
Jesus "Jet" Fernando opened a small music retail store with his wife, Elizabeth, in their native Philippines. Elizabeth grew up in her parent's store across town and knew the business sid...
Elizabeth Fernando grew up in her parent’s retail music store. By the age of ten she ordered special strings customers were asking for that her parents did not carry and sold them within...
Mark Dronge was the President of DR Strings and a veteran of the music products industry, having been involved since he was four years old in his father’s retail store! Mark recalled the...
Wes Dooley is the founder of Audio Engineering Associates (AEA) and the inventor of the company’s product line of ribbon microphones. As product engineer, Wes brought his experiences in ...
John Anning is the Executive Director of the Alliance of Independent Music Merchants (AIMM). He began his career as a sales rep for the pro audio industry after growing up as a musician ...
This video is of our annual NAMM Tribute, created in honor of our members and music industry friends who passed away in 2013 and early 2014. This Tribute was shown for the first time at ...
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...
Tim Vear was interviewed for the NAMM Oral History program in the months leading up to the 75th anniversary of the famous Shure microphone. Tim covered much of the history of this iconic ...
Don Mozingo was a teacher in a small schoolhouse for over 20 years and among the topics he taught was music. His love and passion for music can be traced to his parents and, as a child, ...
Jeff Mozingo cannot recall a time when he did not have music in his life! His father was a band director who opened Mozingo Music in the St. Louis area. Growing up, Jeff's love and sinc...
Ron Lorenz has enjoyed a long career in the music business beginning in the early 1960s. Ron worked in retail, as a road rep, owned his own music retail store, and was the founder of Rap...
Steve Judge is the president of Griggs Music in Davenport, one of the oldest music retailers in the country. Formed in 1903, the company has gained a reputation for staying power, which ...
Phil Jost had a very interesting career in music as a musician before joining the sales team at St. Louis Music in 1974 and thus entering the music products industry. In his early days, b...
Casey Jones began his musical career as a Chicago-area blues drummer in the mid 1950s. He had only been playing a few years when he was encouraged to sing at a gig. He imitated Little R...
Syl Johnson recorded a string of popular blues and R&B songs in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, which have been inspirational for generations of musicians. Soul, funk and Hip-Hop artists hav...
Carol Holtz was hired by the Martin Band Instrument Company in Elkhart during World War II. She has many fond memories of working for the company and the family feeling it had. Speaking...
Willie Hayes was a Chicago blues drummer renowned for his versatile style, making him an ideal fit for a wide range of performers and media. Over the years, he became a prominent figure i...
Bob Gand opened a music shop in Deerfield, IL in the early 1960s, which was an influence not only to the community but to his son Gary. Gary went on to open his own successful retail bus...
Christi Foster-Nunnally grew up in her parent's Iowa piano store and recalls with fondness getting paid a nickel to dust each piano. She became a buyer for a local chain department store...
Marilyn Foster supported her husband's idea to open a music store in her home state of Iowa. From the beginning, she looked after all of the books and accounting for the store. She enjoy...
Jim Foster had worked for a few piano stores before opening his own store, with his wife Marilyn, in Bettendorf, Iowa. Foster Family Music focuses on piano and sheet music for pianos and...
Tracy Dean is a well-known and well-regarded independent rep based in the St. Louis area. He began his career in the industry at St. Louis Music where he began as a telephone salesman. ...
Peter D’Addario is proud of his family’s long association with the music industry. In fact, his family’s string making goes back to the seventeenth century. Peter recalls going to the w...
Eddy Clearwater was a teenager when he left Mississippi to live with his uncle in Chicago. There he discovered his love for the blues. As a guitarist, Eddy became a sought after session...
Carma Lou Beck was an active musician and teacher when she began working in music retail in Iowa in the 1960s. She opened her own store in Cedar Rapids in 1967, after working for a few ot...
