Billy Taylor was first and foremost a jazz pianist. This fact might surprise some people who knew Billy best for one of a number of other careers he enjoyed in music, including teaching, ...
Jack Tempchin remembers buying his first harmonica at Ozzie’s Music in San Diego at the height of Bob Dylan’s influence as a performer and songwriter. Along with other influences, Jack fo...
Benmont Tench was drawn to music at an early age playing piano and being interested in composing and songwriting. He would frequent local music stores and check out all the new instrument...
Victoria Theodore has had some marvelous musical experiences both as a musician and teacher. Her first big gig was a seven-year stint touring with Stevie Wonder in his band. Being classic...
Terence James Thompson played the clarinet just as his father and grandfather did. Terence played clarinet in the British Army after World War II and in 1948 attended the Birmingham Schoo...
Scott Thurston emerged onto the scene as a versatile session musician. His melodic prowess has graced the stages alongside an array of artists, from Jackson Browne to the dynamic force of...
Johnny Tillotson had a music television program as a teenager in Florida before landing a string of hit recordings including his smash hit “Poetry In Motion” in 1961. A year later Johnny ...
Isao Tomita was the world-renowned composer of electronic music who famously used the Moog synthesizers to create award winning music that influenced a generation of music makers! Among ...
George Tomsco formed the influential rock band The Fireballs with several of his high school friends. The band became known for its instrumental recordings, which were very popular in th...
Peter Tork was an original member of the Monkees and enjoyed great success on TV and the top of the pop charts during the mid and late 1960s. Years later, Peter admitted that the cast mem...
Allen Toussaint represented one of the quintessential New Orleans sounds. Toussaint’s compositions and songs seamlessly blend blues, jazz, ragtime, R&B, and funk to create an amalgam ...
Happy Traum began his musical career in the 1960s, greatly influenced by the folk movement that had gripped the culture in America. He and his late brother, Artie, helped establish a New ...
Jane Traum and her husband Happy, are the founders of Homespun Music, which for decades has offered a growing collection of musical instrument training classes. Happy began with a new cla...
Leanne Trevalyan was just twelve years old when she taught herself how to play the guitar using the Mel Bay method book on a no-name instrument her mother picked up at Montgomery Wards. L...
Bert Turetzky likes telling stories in his playing. He likes to make his listeners think about new ideas and in doing so he often creates a way for people to feel something they may not h...
Sylvia Tyson wrote songs that a generation sang, and she also recorded songs by other songwriters which helped define the Folk Music revival of the 1960s. In 1962 she wrote “You Were On M...
Michael Udow served as principal percussionist with the Santa Fe Opera from 1968 until his retirement in 2009. His work with Keiko Abe in Japan as part of Summit Brass, Equilibrium and th...
Donna Ulisse has fond memories of her grandmother teaching her to sing at a young age. And that is all Donna wanted to do! As her career developed, she was encouraged by many in the music...
Midge Ure was on stage for the two largest musical events in the World! As co-founder of Live Aid in 1985 and Live 8 in 2005, Midge created the venue to raise millions of dollars to feed ...
This audio only interview was conducted by Bruce Duffie and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Vladimir Ussachevsky was a classically trained composer who worked in the field of el...
Billy Vera spent 40 years waiting for overnight success, which came in the form of his 1985 hit song “At This Moment.” His road to overnight success is a very fascinating story that began...
Michèle Vice-Maslin has always had a passion for music and songwriting. She grew up with her family in Queens, NY and started playing instruments and writing poetry at a young age. After ...
Carle Vickers’ grandmother was a noted soprano and pianist who gave him a great appreciation for classical music as well as piano lessons. He began playing trumpet and saxophone in grade ...
Johnny Vidacovich was born in New Orleans and raised by his mother and grandparents. He started playing drums when he was ten years old and would go to night clubs around New Orleans and ...
Fabrice Vignati and his wife Tracy teamed up to create a new take on Rockabilly music, which they call Gypsybilly. Being a fan of Rockabilly since he was a kid, Fabrice brings the classic...
Tracy Vignati and her husband Fabrice formed a band together using a style they call Gypsybilly! They debuted their band, The Vignatis, in 2009. Tracy describes their style as a blend of ...
Ernie Vincent played a key role in expanding the role New Orleans played in music on a national and international level. As a songwriter he wrote the funk based songs "Dap Walk" as well a...
Waddy Wachtel is the noted studio musician and songwriter who can be heard on hit records with the likes of Linda Ronstadt, Keith Richards, Jackson Browne and James Taylor, among others. ...
John Waite was born in Lancaster, England and began playing ukulele at the age of four. In school he studied art and always felt that his music incorporated art at some level in addition ...
This audio only interview was conducted by David Schwartz and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Narada Walden formed Tarpan Studios in San Rafael, California in 1985. Over the yea...
Greg Walker was inspired by musical masters and song stylists such as Nat "King" Cole, Johnny Hartman, Sarah Vaughn, and Sam Cooke, and started singing at the age of nine. These legendary...
Byron Walls is a singer/songwriter who began his career during the folk music boom of the early 1960s. He sang in a number of groups during his career, including The Travellers, for which...
