Jon Dawkes talked about the long-term vision of music education promotion at Dawkes Music during his NAMM Oral History interview. With help from brother David, Jon puts great effort in to...
David Dawkes is proud of his family's connection with the music industry. It was his grandfather who formed Dawkes Music. After losing hearing in one ear from playing in a band, his grand...
Christian Dean is the co-owner and guitar tech for The Magic Flute in San Rafael, California, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. In 1978, he purchased his first guitar from The Magic F...
John Denny is a very active volunteer for NAMM’s Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, California. If there is a tour, a special musical event, or a dulcimer that needs moving, John is your...
Bob Dingley felt lucky that he fell into the industry, which became his passion and his life-long career. On his way to a trumpet lesson he stopped by the local music store to pick up som...
Jerry Douglas fondly recalls his first guitar, a Sears Silvertone, which he replaced with a Gibson Les Paul Deluxe when he was 16 years old. When he was about 14 years old he began hangin...
Jeff Douglas worked with Bob Willcutt in Lexington, Kentucky, and learned all about guitar building and repair. Bob’s store is legendary and well respected for the selection and quality ...
Vernon Drane played several musical instruments growing up in Tennessee including the trumpet and saxophone. He later studied instrument repair and spent 68 years (!) working with the Amr...
Gil Ellman grew up in the big band era, loving the sounds of large orchestras. He was motivated to create as many opportunities for students to make music as possible. He studied band ins...
Joan Ellman and her husband, Gil, established Ellman’s Music Center in 1958. Five years later the store moved to Naperville, Illinois, where it is located today. Joan kept the books and i...
Robert Fleming has been a long time member of NAPBIRT, missing only a few annual meetings during his long career as a repairman. He worked with Pete Valentino on how plastics could be us...
Tadamichi Fukuda was the Chairman for the Global Corporation, located in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1975 based on the repairing of musical instruments, especia...
Bryan Galloup somehow convinced his parents to set up a guitar repair shop in their basement back in 1975. Their support encouraged young Bryan to learn all he could about the art of guit...
Gregg Gammon built a loyal and extensive customer base during his time at Buddy Roger’s Music in southern Ohio. When the store closed, many dedicated customers reached out to him, urging ...
Scott Gauthier is the Repair Shop Manager for the Arlington Heights location of Quinlan & Fabish, a chain of music stores in the greater Chicago area. Scott was encouraged by his moth...
Wilhelm Gertz was often seen working on the action of a vintage grand piano whenever you stopped to visit him in his store. After all, he has been doing this same thing most of his life. ...
Mark Gifford was a band instrument repairman before he joined the King Band Instrument Company, now known as Conn-Selmer. The factory, located outside of Cleveland, Ohio produces a long ...
Joe Glaser has always enjoyed taking a damaged guitar and repairing it to bring it back to playing condition. His passion for the craftsmanship of guitar repairs has made him one of the s...
Jimmy Gravity was setting up a newly made electric guitar as he talked with several of his customers gathered around his work bench. Holding court comes easy to Jimmy because he views hi...
Carlo Greco was known throughout the world as one of the premier guitar luthiers. Yet, if you ever got to meet him, he was a very humble man who brushed off compliments with a smile. Afte...
Jim Greenhill opened Jim’s Music store in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The area was brimming with recording activity in 1977 when Jim opened the store and as a result, most of the studio sessi...
Jim Hamblen proudly comes from a very musical family. His uncle was the great songwriter and musician, Stuart Hamblen, who wrote such classic songs as "It Is No Secret" and "This Ole Hou...
Sam Hart’s father was a preacher who sang with his siblings as the Hart Brothers. Sam grew up surrounded by music and was encouraged to join the school band in the sixth grade. In 1975, a...
Marshall B. Hawkins was the first African American to lead a US Navy band. He was also the first African American to serve not once, but four times, as president of the Piano Technician’s...
April Hebert is an educational sales representative dedicated to supporting school music programs and band directors. Growing up in a musical family, April was immersed in music from a yo...
Shane Henker has always been drawn to musical instruments, first as a player and later as a repair technician. While serving in the US Marine Corps, Shane played in the Army Reserve Band ...
Mike Henry was born in Los Angeles, CA and studied drums with Mel Zelnick at Mel's store, The Music Stop. When he was older, Mike toured all over the US, Canada, and Japan, eventually set...
Bill Hesterman has always been fascinated by the pipe organ. He studied piano and organ as a child, and with the good fortune that one of his teachers was an organist for the Mormon Taber...
Patrick Hiatt was among the leaders of band instrument repairmen in the industry. His work spanned several decades and was vital in the formation of NAPBIRT, the National Association of P...
Don Hilsberg fell in love with the harp when he was in the third grade and was taken to the symphony. His parents could not afford a harp, so young Don began taking organ and piano lesson...
David Hosler had a friend in school whose father had a wood-working shop. It was in that small shop where David built his first guitar and where his passion for making instruments began. ...
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...
