Manuel Velazquez was one of the greatest guitar luthiers of the last one hundred years. He was born in Puerto Rico in 1917 and handcrafted his first classical guitar when he was still a t...
Koob Veneman’s father started the first Veneman’s Music Store in Holland, an idea copied by Koob in Maryland in 1960. Koob, like his father, was a luthier who designed his own instruments...
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 ...
Dee Vinton was known as Dancin’ Dee around the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music where she was a noted docent since the early 2000’s. Dee was fond of telling her tour groups that h...
Harvey Vogel was having a difficult time finding and purchasing quality percussion instruments and accessories for his daughter Lauren while she was in high school. He decided to do somet...
Herbert Volkmann like so many of his generation saw the horrors of war while growing up in Germany before and during World War II. Herbert and other musical instrument makers moved to Bub...
Harry Voshell started playing the saxophone in the fourth grade and fell in love! His interest in music grew over the years as he served in the United States Navy, where he played in sev...
Himie Voxman was a band director nearly all his life. He studied chemistry in college but fell into music because jobs were hard for chemists to find in the days of the Great Depression. ...
Chuck Wackerman always enjoyed making music. As a child he took trumpet lessons and later fell in love with jazz. Chuck joined the United States Air National Guard after high school, and ...
Lester Wagner began in the woodworking and sanding department of the C.F. Martin & Company before World War II. He moved from the North Street Plant in 1964 to the bigger manufacturin...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Bea Wain was a singer with the big bands during the great s...
Bill Walden began playing harmonica at the age of 11. He joined a few harmonica groups in the from the 1930s through the 1950s, which were very popular, especially in night clubs. One suc...
Saul Walker’s career in the field of electronics went back to the early sound designs before World War II. As an engineer he was trained in the United States Navy and worked on several im...
John B. Walker was a well-recognizable character of the music products industry having been a piano mover most of his career. He enjoyed success and friendship but is perhaps most proud o...
Charles Walter was a pillar in the piano business for nearly 60 years. He was hired by the C.G. Conn Company to work in the piano design department back in 1964. While there he worked und...
Rick Walters made a lasting impact on the world of classical and vocal music publishing during his remarkable career at Hal Leonard. Starting out transcribing popular sheet music, he quic...
Guy Ward was the president of the Ward Piano Company, located in Canton, North Carolina, from the 1940s until his retirement. After his daughter and son took over the company, he continu...
Virginia Waring began her musical career as a concert pianist. In fact, it was while performing a duet piano performance on the Fred Waring Radio Program that she first met her future hus...
Bart Wascom was the electrical engineer who sought to improve the pro-audio speakers by improving the distribution of sound. After several tests, he concluded that large wooden cabinets c...
Walter “Wolfman” Washington was a staple on the New Orleans music scene since first picking up a guitar in the 1950s. After some minor corrections on technique and tuning, Wolfman hit the...
Steven Wasser grew up in a very musical family, played reed instruments as a child and dreamed of owning his own business. After graduating from Harvard Business School, Steven worked in ...
Charles Watkins invented the Watkins Copicat, an echo unit introduced in 1958. Mr. Watkins was inspired by the Morino Marini Quartet who made famous the Comi Prima, which contained a spec...
Claude Watson was a precise and revered luthier who perfected the fine art of handcrafted instrument building. He was known for his clever design and complex inlay work in country-style ...
Richard Webb’s grandfather opened a pawnshop in England and his father, Sydney, developed a small music division within the shop some 20 years later. Since the age of 12, Richard thought ...
Jimmie D. Webb operated a small music shop in Antioch, California, which was also the headquarters for his amplifier business. The Webb Amps were widely used by electric blues and rock b...
Red Dog Weber first encountered a pogo cello at the NAMM Show in the early 1950s and was inspired to create a percussive version for his band. In 1958, he began designing the boom schtick...
Big George Webley was a beloved voice over the BBC for many years who often included many of his own incredible musical experiences in his late night radio program. As a session bassist,...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: George David Weiss wrote a number of successful songs for E...
Steve Weiss loved playing the drums as a small child, but never imagined in a million years that he would have a career in music, let alone a pioneering and successful career in the music...
John Welch was the president of Sofia Violins, which is an American-made instrument company based in Indianapolis, Indiana. John’s incredible life in music began as a child when he was cl...
Bill Wellborn was honored with the National Piano Traveler’s Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007 for his dedication to the industry. As a piano salesman, Bill has traveled the ...
Bobby Wellins was surprised to learn that Charlie Watts, the drummer for the Rolling Stones, listed Bobby as an influence on his playing. After all, the jazzman played tenor saxophone. ...
