Ernie Isley was born into a very musical family and grew up with his older brothers forming a group and singing gospel. When Ernie was 14 years old he played drums as a member of the fam...
Ben Jack was born and raised in Arkansas, so it was no surprise that the passionate steel pedal guitarist would open up a string of successful stores in and around Fayetteville. As one of...
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...
Grover Jackson grew up outside of Nashville, TN and developed a strong and lasting passion for music, not just playing it in noted bands, but in designing instruments to achieve creative ...
Wanda Jackson has been performing as an entertainer and singer worldwide for over 50 years. Known affectionately as the “Queen of Rockabilly”, she began her career as a teenage country si...
Roland Janes! There were musicians/engineers/producers and then there was Roland Janes! The man nearly single-handedly invented many of the engineering methods used in modern recordings...
Kevin Jarvis began working for Gelb Music in Redwood City, California in 1966 as a guitar teacher. The store was established in 1939 by Sydney Gelb, who was still running the store when ...
Stanley Jay always admired rare and special fretted musical instruments, so it came as no surprise when he and his friend, Haf Kuffner, opened a guitar shop on Staten Island in New York. ...
David Jenson spent his early childhood in Southern California and was inspired early on by The Beach Boys and surf rock, but began his musical journey in earnest after moving to Utah and ...
Mickey Jent opened a small music store in Lubbock, Texas after World War II with her husband, Ray, after his return from military service. The store became a hub for local musicians inclu...
Don (DJ) Johnson joined the Ovation Guitar Company in 1968, just about the time Glen Campbell was introducing the unique round-back instrument on national television. DJ worked for the fo...
Paul Johnson formed one of the early surf bands in Southern California during the golden era of instrumental music. As a guitarist and songwriter, Paul performed and recorded in the days ...
Gene Joly is a well respected leader within the industry who has mentored many young employees who have developed within their own careers as well as helping grow the industry! After per...
Phil Jones grew up in the UK in the 1960s and, like many of his schoolmates, he wanted to be a Beatle! He played guitar and his first guitar was one he made, and later a bass. He create...
Simon Jones has a rich background with the guitar, which has come full circle with his role with the Yamaha Guitar Group. As a teenager he played, and even built his own guitar to play wi...
John Jorgenson is best known as a guitarist, although he also plays and records with a number of musical instruments. While performing in the bands The Hellecasters and the Desert Rose Ba...
Laurence Juber, like so many kids in the 1960s, began playing guitar soon after hearing the Beatles for the first time. He couldn’t dream that one day his talents as a guitarist would all...
Henry Juszkiewicz, Gibson Guitar Corporation’s former CEO, attended the Rainforest Alliance’s annual gala concert in 1994, where he first heard about the SmartWood program. He realized by...
Ledward Kaapana grew up in Hawaii with his twin brother, surrounded by musical passion. His parents, grandparents and several aunts and uncles played and sang, and Ledward can recall his...
Gary Kahler had an idea to add improvements to the electric guitar when he started playing in the 1960s. Over the years he developed a tremolo system that provided different sounds and ad...
Howard Kalisky is the president of Efkay Music Group in Lachine, Quebec, Canada. Howard's father Fred founded the company in 1957, and Howard is following in his footsteps. Howard has als...
Fred Kalisky became enamored with the maracas on his very first trip to Mexico City and realized it was an instrument that could be successful in the Canadian market (his home since reloc...
David Kalt remembers, with a smile, the Fender Stratocaster he dreamed of as a kid. He also recalls that great day in 1985 when he finally got a 1970s Strat! The instrument has a special ...
Bill Kaman served as president of Kaman Music Corporation, a company started by his father. Under Bill’s direction, Kaman Music expanded its product line, developed overseas markets, and ...
Hideo Kamimoto wrote the book on guitar repair! He built his first guitar in the late 1950s and soon discovered he had a true passion as a luthier. Within a decade he opened H. Kamimoto...
Ken Kantor is the president of ZT Amplifiers and the inventor of the compact amp technology used in such products as The Lunchbox and The Club. His long career in music began when he was ...
Debra Karlowitch likes to tell people that she started working at C.F. Martin & Company the same week Chris Martin joined full time! At the time of her NAMM Oral History interview in...
Jorma Kaukonen played guitar in two classic rock bands of the 1960s and 70s, Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna! His passion for the blues helped create his style, which was in such demand ...
Carol Kaye can be heard on such landmark recordings as “La Bamba,” the Mission Impossible theme, and scores of hits produced by Phil Spector. She started playing jazz guitar in a big band...
TK Keckler moved to Memphis at an early age and began playing with local bands, which is when he met Mike Ladd. Mike was a musician who opened a small guitar shop in town and would later ...
Catfish Keith was proud to take part in the 40th anniversary of Santa Cruz Guitar Company in the fall of 2016. He not only performed on his favorite SCGC model on stage at the Rio Theate...
Richard Keldsen is the president of Saga Music in San Francisco, California. His first musical inspiration was hearing Earl Scruggs playing Bluegrass banjo for the first time. After two...
