Remo Belli revolutionized the music products industry by introducing the Weather King, the single most popular drumhead in the world! As a jazz drummer, Remo was looking for ways to impro...
Richard Berger is the President of Grover Musical Products. Richard also oversaw the Trophy Grover Company as well as Grossman Musical Products, which was formed by his great uncle, Henr...
Charles Bickel was working on the bench at Selmer when George Bundy decided to try a different plastic emulsion for his idea of a plastic clarinet. The first try was not successful. Mr. B...
Thomas Burzycki served as President of Selmer Band Instruments while at the same time being on the NAMM Board as one of the first four commercial members to do so. He followed that term ...
Robert Campbell began his career in the music industry working for Conn Organ in 1947, the year the company gave a unit to President Harry S. Truman. Bob later worked with Don Leslie, th...
Jack Coffey is the founder of Coffey Music in Massachusetts. Coffey Music was a one-store operation that later grew to a chain of retail stores noted for their music lessons and attention...
Robert C. Cosgrove was hired by the Baldwin Piano Company following World War II and later worked his way up to vice president. He witnessed the re-building of the production line, which ...
Sidney Davis took over the Musical Merchandise Review (MMR) trade magazine in the 1980s. Originally the magazine began reporting on the industry in the 1880s and became an important resou...
Alfredo Flores Jr. proudly took over the music store his father established in 1928. Alamo Music Center in San Antonio, Texas, has long been established as a focal point for music making ...
Maurice Fox loves selling organs to area churches. In fact, even after a retirement from the presidency of Fox’s Music in Charleston, South Carolina, (his son now holds that position), he...
Peter Giles, the founder and president of Giles Communications, celebrated 20 years in business at the 2007 NAMM Show. During his interview, Peter proudly recalled his work in promoting ...
Jerry Gorby followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming a passionate advocate for music and music making. Jerry worked in the family music store, Gorby Music, in West Virginia, later b...
Glenn Holtz was raised in the music products industry. His father, Ed, was a sales manager for Ludwig Drum Company. Glenn spent 9 years as Selmer District Manager then 2 years as Field Ma...
JW Jenkins was president of the large music store chain in and around Kansas City that his great grand father first opened in 1878. His father, Paul W. Jenkins, kept the company running d...
Dr. Mable John played many roles for a wide variety of people. She was a singer, songwriter, arranger, producer, author, educator, leader, minister, mentor, and friend. Her career as a ba...
Don Johnson received his degree in journalism and later landed the editor’s job at a recording industry trade magazine. Years later the magazine was sold to the owners of the Music Merc...
Al Kahn, the founder of Electro Voice and the inventor of several important microphone models told a great story on how his company got its name. Mr. Kahn was an industry pioneer and an e...
Dick Knaub served as president of the Rico Reed Corp. during the 1970s. He oversaw the reed manufacturer’s expansion into magazine advertisements and the company’s return to industry even...
Gene Kornblum’s father formed the famed St. Louis Music Company, which played a legendary role in the music products industry during most of the 1900s. As President beginning in the 1960s...
David Kutner was new to the music products industry when he was offered the job as President of Hammond Organs in the late 1960s. It was a time for change in the organ business as sales s...
Ernie Lansford has served our industry well. With his attention focused on his customers and dedication to their satisfaction, Ernie has earned the respect and friendship of many – both s...
Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser was presented the highest honor from the American Music Conference (AMC) when he was given the Henry Grossman Lifetime Achievement Award. The award honors those dedi...
Neil Lilien has been a life long supporter of the arts, playing music since he was a child and growing up to own one of the finest names in stringed instruments. Neil worked for Guild Gui...
Larry "Link" Linkin began his career in the industry as a salesman for the G. Leblanc Corporation and wound up the C.E.O. of NAMM, retiring the year that the organization marked its 100th...
Brian Majeski is the editor of The Music Trades Magazine and has lived and breathed the music business since the day he was born. His grandfather and father both ran the magazine, which ...
Vivian Majeski had just married John when she visited the NAMM Show for the first time. The year was 1951 and John, who would later follow in his father's footsteps as editor of The Musi...
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...
Keith Mardak provided great detail of the history of Hal Leonard Publishing, especially the stories of the company's founder, who passed away years ago, before they could be interviewed f...
Ted McCarty was the president of Gibson Guitars when he signed Les Paul to help design a series of instruments with his name. Ted went on to design and patent guitars such as the Flying ...
William McCormick may always be referred to as an industry outsider by some because he came to the music retail business with a Harvard MBA, from the sugar industry – over 30 years ago! ...
James M. E. Mixter may very well have been the only person in the industry to have worked for Baldwin Pianos before, during, and after World War II. As a result, he was able to provide me...
Herbert Newton opened his piano store in 1939, a few years after becoming a piano tuner in the Norfolk area. Back in the beginning of the store, traveling out to nearby farms was key to h...
