Jim Cruickshank had an eye for design! While a proud member of the Fender guitar team, Jim designed many of the most memorable trade show displays for the company, including the 14-foot n...
Del Courtney was among the most popular Big Band leaders of the golden age of swing. Getting his start in the Al Hill Orchestra, Del soon found fame when he formed his own band at the Cla...
David Cooper recalled, with a warm smile, when his father took him to his first NAMM Show. The Cooper Piano and Organ Store in Georgia began in 1905; therefore, David did not just grow up...
Clifford Cooper has always liked the color orange. So, when it was time to market his amplifiers, which he created mostly for his own use and for friends, he decided to use his favorite c...
Dick Contino had a series of hit recordings and popular television appearances in the 1950s playing his trusty accordion. By the end of that decade, he was hired by M. H. Berlin at Chicag...
Charles Connor was a pioneer in the early beat of rock and roll. As a drummer in New Orleans in the early 1950s, he played with Professor Longhair and became the original drummer for Litt...
Joy Collins had a very successful career selling pianos and organs! In fact she may very well be the person who sold the most Allen Organs ever. Joy was hired by Glenn Davis, who owned a ...
Buddy Collette changed music in more than one way. As a noted reed man, he played jazz along some of the greatest players in history including his boyhood friend, Charlie Mingus. Buddy wa...
Martin Cohen loves drums and he loves drummers, but as we learned in our interview with him, he loves making drums for drummers even more! His impressive innovations and forward thinking ...
Billy Cobham is the acclaimed drummer who was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society’s Hall of Fame in 2006. Billy was born in Panama but moved with his family to New York where he per...
Mike Clark helped established the funk-based drumming sound that emerged out of Oakland and the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1960s and 70s. In fact, his “The Funk Stops Here” was used fo...
Harvey Citron is one of the industry’s best-known and respected guitar luithers. Since a young age he has played the guitar and always seemed to have the ideas of changing the instrument...
Kenny Chilton was deeply passionate about the electric organ. While working at a piano and organ retail store in the Los Angeles area in the late 1960s, Kenny was approached by a research...
Leon Chiappini is the Head Zildjian Cymbal Tester who gained his skills and phenomenal musical ear from two of the true icons in the industry, the father and son team of Avedis and Armand...
Jimmy Cheatham was one of the coolest jazz cats in the industry. Having worked with many of the top jazz players such as Duke Ellington and Ornette Coleman, Jimmy brought the sounds of tr...
Jim Chapin had the idea of writing a method book for the beginning drummer that would provide clear examples and illustrations. The year was 1947 and no such book was in print. He gathere...
Tom Catalano opened his music retail store in New Hyde Park, NY after years of teaching and playing guitar professionally. In fact, he was being paid to play guitar professionally while s...
Rober Castle is currently the managing director of KORG UK, having been tied to the company in one way or another since 1981. In his early days with the company, Rob played a role on the ...
Bob Casey enjoyed a long career in pro audio and radio. It all began when he was four years old when he saw the large sound cones on his father’s truck. His father formed Edward P. Casey’...
Billy Carson was listed in the Guinness book of world records for growing the largest watermelon ever weighed. And if you think that is something, consider the fact that Billy also worked...
John Carruthers has established himself as a leading expert on guitars and amplifiers as a designer, builder and repairman. Working along side Leo Fender at Music Man, John helped improve...
Candido Camero was born in Cuba on April 22, 1921. By the age of four he was already interested in percussive instruments--a field he would revolutionize by blending Latin beats with jazz...
William Callaway worked in his father’s music store as a child, sweeping up on weekends and working his way up to president of Thearle Music in San Diego. His father, Harry, was President...
Harold Burt was just about 3 years old when a musician from a traveling circus came to his North Carolina town and sold his parents a clarinet for young Harold. His life has been filled w...
Roy Burns played drums for several big names in swing and jazz including Benny Goodman with whom he recorded with during the 1950’s. Roy later provided clinics for Rogers Drums in music s...
Edna Mae Burnam authored the now classic piano training books “A Dozen a Day” to help beginners learn in a fun and meaningful way. Her books have been critical to millions of young pianis...
Evan Brooks became interested in electronic musical instruments during the early days of synthesizer development. He worked on MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) controllers for ...
Arnold Broido was an industry treasure! The man had sophistication and charm as abundantly as he had energy and ideas! Having worked in nearly every level of the music publishing industry...
John Bowen was an engineer at Sequential Circuits during the early days of the synthesizer boom of the late 1970s. John worked with founder Dave Smith, who later went on to develop the Mu...
Crane Bodine’s father, Elmer, was a piano man who formed a retail store in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1933. When Crane was 17 years old, he began working in the store. In 1962, he took ove...