Thomas Claxton has had some meaningful vocal coaches over the years who have inspired him and taught him important tips, such as how to protect his voice. Lauren Ringwald was his vocal te...
John Clayton loves music! Since the age of 16, the future Grammy winner enjoyed being able to express himself with his music. He studied with Ray Brown before becoming the bassist for Hen...
Eddy Clearwater was a teenager when he left Mississippi to live with his uncle in Chicago. There he discovered his love for the blues. As a guitarist, Eddy became a sought after session...
Judy Collins is perhaps best known for her string of hit recordings in the late 1960s and 70s such as “Both Sides, Now,” “Amazing Grace,” and “Send in the Clowns.” However, did you know J...
Jim Collins was given a Silvertone Guitar by his dad following the Beatle’s appearance on the Ed Sullivan television program, an event he still recounts with enthusiasm. Jim took a day jo...
John Conlee was not even a teenager when he joined a barbershop quartet in Versailles, Kentucky where his father ran a tobacco farm. He was often heard singing and playing his guitar and ...
Frankie Connor was an original member of the Liverpool based band The Hideaways, which enjoyed success since first forming in 1963. A few of the bands’ career highlights include playing a...
Roger Cook was born in Bristol, England, and was involved with making music at an early age. He sang in a local Doo Wop group while a teenager, which is when he met his longtime friend an...
Jack Cookerly was an accordionist who was among the first to connect the instrument to the technology behind the electronic keyboard. He was chief engineer at Lowrey Organs and designed a...
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 ...
Chick Corea loved being a music maker! Nominated over 60 times for a Grammy, Chick was among the most high profile musicians we have been blessed to interview for the NAMM Oral History pr...
Kimo Cornwell was born in Hawaii and became a sought-after studio musician and sideman for several top local artists there, including Don Ho. After relocating to Los Angeles with his wife...
Dave "Baby" Cortez recorded an instrumental hit playing the Hammond B-3 entitled "The Happy Organ." He followed that with another top ten hit "The Whispering Organ" and continued to play ...
Tomcat Courtney was raised in a cotton field outside of Marlin, Texas. When he was ten years old he saw Bill Bojangles dance in a traveling minstrel show and Tomcat was hooked. He left ho...
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...
Paul Craft always felt a pull towards music but was not just sure how it would take hold in his life. For a time he ran a music store in Memphis called Paul Craft’s Music and Drum City al...
Don Cromwell realized music was his passion when was playing in bands with his friends at a young age. His sophomore year of high school he switched from guitar to bass and never looked b...
Juan Croucier toured the world as a rock and roll star as an original member of Ratt! He began performing bass in Hollywood in 1973, which lead to friendships that would later become the ...
Damien Curry had been working for Guitar Center as the Product Marketing Manager for a few years when he began a night and weekend gig composing and recording music for television. Since ...
Sonny Curtis is thought to be the first person to have recorded a rock and roll song using the Fender Stratocaster. The recording date took place in Nashville with his friend Buddy Holly...
Karl DAmico graduated with a bachelor's degree in music from Stoney Brook University and embarked on a sonic odyssey with his skillful guitar playing. He appeared on stages and in the rec...
Charlie Daniels won the Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance in 1979 for "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", which reached #3 on the charts. The following year, "Devil" became a ...
Arthur Dark grew up in a musical household thanks to his parents. Arthur dabbled with the violin when he was 4 years old, but was quickly drawn to the piano around age 5 or 6. After a tim...
Hal David followed in the footsteps of his older brother Mack, who penned several popular songs in the 1930s and 40s. Hal worked hard to learn the craft and spent many years in and around...
Gail Davies was the first female Record Producer in Nashville. In 1973, she was encouraged to run her own sessions by Henry Lewy (1926-2008). It was not easy to establish herself as a pro...
Spencer Davis hit it big with a string of rock songs during the heyday of the British Invasion of the 1960s. His band, The Spencer Davis Group, started with a school mate named Muff Winwo...
Paul de Benedictis recalls the day he was working along side software designer Dave Oppenheim when a series of commands were created to allow a drum machine to sync to Dave's MIDIMAC Sequ...
Luis de Pablo was a Spanish classical composer who provided works for symphonies, chamber orchestras, operas, choir and film over his long and successful career. He was born in Bilbao, Sp...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Frank De Vol was a noted arranger who took jazz to televisi...
Barry De Vorzon began writing songs as a teenager and had several hits during his long career. Among his top charters were two hit instrumental songs, the theme for the television show S...
Eddie DeGarmo grew up across the street from Graceland (he has a great Trick or Treat story from 1960) and somehow always knew he wanted to have a career in music. As a member of a Chris...
Rick DeJonge has always had a passion for music education and applied that focus to each place he has worked and for each new project. His mother was a band director for 34 years, which i...
