Fred Oster was encouraged by his cousin to play the guitar as a youngster, which quickly expanded to include playing the mandolin and the five string banjo. By the time Fred was playing b...
Bruce Perrin is the Managing Director for Barnes & Mullins, located in Oswestry, England. The company was formed in 1895 and published the famous banjo magazine called “The Jo.” The c...
Daniel Puccio grew up in the music store his mom and dad ran in Corning, New York. As you might guess, the passion for music was passed along to Daniel at a young age. He played and lat...
Sam Radding is the founder the famed American Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company, which was the training ground for several future iconic luthiers including Bob Taylor, Kurt Listug ...
Bill Rickard is the founder of Rickard Banjos – banjos featuring a classic design with modern innovations. In the early parts of his life, he fell out of touch with music. Following a tra...
Bob Riskin started working for McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica just a few years after it opened in 1958. Before long the shop was abuzz with the folk music boom and later played an ...
Earl Scruggs was the father of bluegrass and country banjo playing. His style and techniques have been both influential and inspiring for generations of banjo players around the world. Hi...
Pete Seeger was the American folk icon who made it a personal goal to bring peace to the world by getting people to sing! His role in the folk music movement, beginning in the 1930's, fo...
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...
Rick Shubb has always been fascinated with bluegrass music and its instruments. He has recorded and performed often playing his five-string banjo. He grew up in the Berkeley area and met ...
Bob Smakula built his first dulcimer when he was 14 years old. Having grown up all around the roots music of West Virginia, Bob loved all aspects of musical instruments. Along with play...
Harry Sparks is the founder of the Famous Old Time Music Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. Harry grew up in the folk and bluegrass era of the 1960s and joined a band at a young age. Over the y...
Ralph Stanley was best known for his featured songs in the movie "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou," although his career began in the 1930s. He sang in church with his family and later hit the ...
Otis Taylor can remember saving long and hard to purchase his first banjo from a small store in Denver, Colorado as a child. The instrument led him on a career path of playing blues and ...
Dick Weissman played an important role in the resurgence of the popularity of Folk Music in the 1950s and’60s. As a songwriter, producer and musician, Dick’s handy work can be heard and f...
Mac Yasuda played country music at an early age and fell in love with the style. He organized a band in Japan dedicated to country music. As his audiences grew, Mac was being asked more...
