Harry Bickel has been passionate about the folk songs and bluegrass music of Kentucky since he was a kid. While in college, he took banjo lessons from J.D. Crowe and learned how to repair...
Kim Breedlove began building banjos in the 1960s, during the Folk Music movement and the popularity of such performers as Pete Seeger. After working with his brother for a few months he m...
David Brock is a gifted violin and banjo teacher who provides private lessons at the Folk Music Center in Claremont, California. His long association with the musical instrument store goe...
Susan Carson opened her first music store, Taylor Guitar Shop, at just 18 years old in Johnson, Tennessee. Taylor Guitar Shop became the local hangout spot for bluegrass pickers and those...
Mark Casstevens has always had a deep passion for music. He sang in church choirs and began piano lessons at age six, eventually teaching himself guitar. In high school in Ft. Worth, TX, ...
Roy Clark, the Country Music Hall of Fame guitar player, was always proud of his connection with the music products industry. In addition to the products he endorsed over his long career,...
Stu Cohen grew up playing the clarinet, and took lessons for close to eight years. In the early 1950s, Stu listened mostly to country music on the radio, just because it was the only stat...
Steve Cooley was just a kid when he heard Earl Scrugg playing banjo on the TV show “The Beverly Hillbillies.” The performance lit a spark in Steve who began playing guitar and banjo with ...
Ronny Cox is the actor who played the guitar in the famous Dueling Banjo scene during the 1972 movie Deliverance. That movie moment led to a big boom in banjo and acoustic guitar (and can...
JD Crowe recalled seeing Earl Scruggs perform in Lexington with Lester Flatt when he was a kid. The sound was so unique and different that all young JD could think about was getting a ba...
Greg Deering worked for a short time with Bob Taylor in San Diego as both men sought their dreams to create their own unique fretted instruments. While Taylor Guitars was being establishe...
Janet Deering has become the darling of the banjo industry as co-founder of the Deering Banjo Company. Along with her husband Greg, she has brought the banjo back to its popular roots wit...
Gerhard Dotzauer has made a living selling musical instrument parts to companies worldwide. He provides bridges, exotic woods, machine heads, and specializes in necks for banjos with moth...
Michael Doucet has become an important link to the roots of Cajun music, not only because he has written and performed the musical style since he was 6 years old, but because of the month...
Jim Foldvary was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, and was exposed to music at young age since his father was a violinist. Jim took up the guitar with some of his friends and remembers pla...
Graeham Goble is a founding member, main songwriter and the architect of Little River Band’s sound. Graeham always had a deep and passionate love for songwriting! When he bought his first...
George Gruhn is without question one of the top experts of vintage guitars on the planet! George collected guitars before opening the world renowned Gruhn Guitar Shop in Nashville, TN in ...
Renee Karnes recalls meeting her future mentor when she was just eight years old. Over the years she developed both a love of banjos and a friendship with Henry Lea, who taught her the c...
Richard Keldsen is the president of Saga Music in San Francisco, California. His first musical inspiration was hearing Earl Scruggs playing Bluegrass banjo for the first time. After two...
Michael Kropp loved folk music for as far back as he could remember. As he grew up and played in various bands in the 1960s and 70s he also became involved with the music industry. After ...
Jens Kruger is one of the world’s most technically accomplished 5-string banjo players who have worked with the Deering Banjo Company to create a more sophisticated instrument; one that c...
Marty Lanham first moved to Nashville in the early 1970s from San Francisco and soon set up his first workshop. He worked for Gruhn Guitars as a repairman for eight years while fine-turni...
Dan Levenson wrote the book on banjo playing, in fact six books. His love of old time music and his great talents as a musician have made him a well known and respected player, teacher an...
David Lindley grew up close to the Folk Music Center in Claremont, California, where he was exposed to stringed instruments from around the world. He also worked for Berry Grassmuek Music...
John Logan became hooked on the Folk music craze and picked up the banjo as a result of the inspiration he felt from the genre. While attending the University of Tennessee, he formed a fo...
John McEuen is a founding member of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, considered to be one of the most successful folk-rock groups in history. He played with the band from 1966 to 1986 and took par...
Gary Morse points out that playing a pedal steel guitar can be complicated. The pedal steel guitar has a series of levers and pulleys that when used often, such as in country music, requ...
Frank Murphy opened Frailers Guitar & Banjo Shop, which is situated in Runcorn, Cheshire on the banks of the River Mersey - just southeast of Liverpool England. The store was establis...
Chuck Neitzel joined Deering Banjo in January 1979 having previously been a woodworker with antique furniture. Chuck also brought with him a deep respect and passion for bluegrass music, ...
Tracy Newman Tracy Newman jumped into the Folk music scene in the early 1960s just as the genre was making its sweep across the country. She was among the early members of the New Christy...
Tanya Ogsbury was often brought to her father's banjo workshop as a small child. She later spent summers in the Colorado mountains with her father as he designed new and innovative banjos...
Sonny Osborne and his brother Bobby created one of the most powerful bluegrass sounds of their generation. The Osborne Brothers were powerful in popularity because of their influence as w...
