Gary Stewart Hurst is known around the industry as “Gary the Fuzzman” for being the inventor of the Tone Bender fuzz pedal, which he began producing in the 1960s. Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page...
Chris Huston produced and served as the recording engineer for The Who, Led Zeppelin, and Blood, Sweat and Tears, to name just three. Chris helped shape the role of the engineer in an er...
Walter Hutcherson began repairing guitars in the 1950s and was one of the first repairmen to work on Fender Instruments. He opened Walters Music Exchange in Austin, Texas, and soon gained...
Marlene Hutchinson has come up with several clever ways to encourage people to become music makers. With an emphasis on fun and ease, she had such success with her own guitar students tha...
Ken Hyams was a key franchise owner of Altec Lansing in the early days of consumer electronics. He worked for a Los Angeles retailer for audio, consumer-electronic, products in the late 1...
Dale Hyatt was hired by Leo Fender while the iconic guitar builder was still a radio repairman in Fullerton, CA. The year was 1948. Dale recalled all of the major landmarks that helped es...
Rob Ickes is a world class Dobro player who was a founding member of the contemporary bluegrass band Blue Highway. He was named Dobro Player of the Year for the thirteenth time by the IBM...
Enrico Iori founded IK Multimedia in 1996 with his friend and partner Davide Barbi. Starting as a software company and becoming a pioneer during the growth of computer music led to today’...
Kazuo Ishibashi spent over 25 years in the Special Equipment Division of JVC (Japan Victor Corporation) and headed their musical instrument engineering section. JVC marketed electronic o...
Clayton Ivey is proud to have been the first white producer to sign exclusively with Motown Records. As a result of his work at Motown (which was located in Los Angeles at that time), Cla...
Terry (TJ) Jackson served as audio engineer for live events with such artists as Michael Jackson, Earth Wind & Fire, BB King and Anita Baker. TJ befriended the members of Tony! Toni! ...
Vasti Jackson is a fifth-generation music maker in his family! He started on drums and then switched to guitar which he began playing professionally by the time he was 12 years old. In 19...
Lance “KC” Jackson was always the one to fix the instruments in the band growing up. He realized early on the importance of learning a little bit of everything and continuing to educate h...
Jeff Jacobs grew up in Chicago and remembers going to Gand Music to buy his first very own instrument, although his parents had an upright piano in their home. Jeff’s purchase was the eve...
Jerry Jacobs was born Jerome H. Jacobs in San Jose, California. His father owned a clothing store called The White House, and Jerry, after his service during World War II, followed in his...
Chuck Jacobs played bass in Kenny Rogers’ band for more than 40 years and enjoyed every minute of it. His roots in music go back to the Dixieland group his family formed while he was too ...
Kristi Jacobsen has always been surrounded by music. During her school years, she played clarinet in the wind ensemble, marching band, and for several musicals. After earning a degree in ...
Siggi Jäger is a founder of Human Base. He specializes in hand crafting bass guitars. Sigge started making instruments in the mid 1980’s at Hoyer Guitars in Tennenlohe near Erlangen, Bava...
Michael Jago has always had a great deal of respect for music retailers and can boast of working with several over his long career. He started retail with one of his early mentors in the ...
Markus Jahnel, COO of Adam Hall started out working for the company when he was 15 years old. After 30 years working closely with David Kirby he is now a partner since 2013 overseeing the...
Barney Jameson, the managing director of The Inside Story, stands at the forefront of marketing innovation within the pro AV and professional security sectors. As the founder and driving ...
Richard Janda specialized in repairing stringed instruments. It was also something he enjoyed very much. During World War II he was trained to repair the band instruments for the U.S. Mil...
Peter Janis played in school orchestra and rock bands growing up as his mother played piano in the home and encouraged him to pursue music. His first job in the industry was working at S...
Chris Jasper was the funk and soul keyboardist, singer and composer who played a key role in the Isley Brothers sound. He later helped form Isley-Jasper-Isley, which, like the Isley Brot...
JW Jenkins was president of the large music store chain in and around Kansas City that his great grand father first opened in 1878. His father, Paul W. Jenkins, kept the company running d...
Ella Jenkins earned the title The First Lady of Children's Folk Songs and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for her dedication to bringing music to children. She began collecting and w...
Al Jensen began his musical career at the age of 13 playing clarinet in a Vaudeville show. That is, he played until his parents found out where he was playing. His band director convinced...
Marie Jensen was born in Rosebud, Texas as the daughter of a Texas Ranger. She graduated college in Houston with a business degree before meeting Al Jensen on a blind date. The two were m...
Dr. John became the unofficial ambassador of New Orleans music by showcasing the mystic and voodoo rich traditions of southern Louisiana, which has become the backdrop to many Mardi Gras ...
Dr. Mable John played many roles for a wide variety of people. She was a singer, songwriter, arranger, producer, author, educator, leader, minister, mentor, and friend. Her career as a ba...
Alphonso Johnson, an internationally renowned bassist and Chapman Stick virtuoso, epitomizes the epitome of musical mastery and innovation. With a career spanning decades, Alphonso has ca...
Merle Johnson was a past president of the famous EK Blessing Company in Elkhart, Indiana. Emil Karl Blessing opened a small brasswind valve company in 1906 and soon expanded his products ...
