Led Kaapana grew up in a family of musicians in Kalapana, in the southernmost district of Hawaii Island. His teachers included his mother, Mama Tina Kaapana, from whom he learned to sing ...
George Kahumoku Jr. lives on Maui with his wife Nancy, maintaining their 3-acre farm, growing fruit and vegetables, dry-land taro (for his famous home-made poi) and tending goats, chicken...
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 ...
Sanjiro Kawamorita was drafted into the Japanese Army during World War II. He served under Shigeru Kawai who hired Kawamorita-San and other soldiers from his unit after the war. He remain...
Bill Kilpatrick radiates an unwavering commitment to both the craft of musical arrangement and the preservation of its storied heritage. From the tender age of nine, when he first cradled...
Ken King performed in several Country and Western bands in and around Los Angeles beginning in the 1940s. While playing his guitar as a guest on the Spade Cooley television show in late 1...
Debra Kolacny began playing the organ at the age of eight, not knowing a life of music was ahead of her. She joined her junior high school band as a percussionist and in high school focus...
Tevis Laukat and his wife Sheryl formed Cannonball Musical Instruments in 1996 in Sandy, Utah, located just south of Salt Lake City. The couple set out to address some of the issues they ...
Robb Lawrence loves playing the guitar as well as gathering the history of his instruments. He has written books and articles for magazines, including Guitar Player and has provided lectu...
Lenny LeBlanc and his friend Peter Carr formed a band together in 1975. LeBlanc & Carr, as they were known, had a big hit with the song “Falling” in 1977, which Lenny co-wrote with Ed...
Ketty Lester sang several ballads while in a recording studio in Los Angeles in 1963, under the assumption that the point of the session was an audition to explore her musical range and s...
Gary Leunberger opened a music store in San Francisco during the 1980s that soon specialized in electronic keyboards and synthesizers. Being a top seller of Yamaha instruments led the com...
David Lindley grew up close to the Folk Music Center in Claremont, California, where he was exposed to stringed instruments from around the world. He also worked for Berry Grassmuek Music...
Tony Lovello began playing accordion when he was five years old, thanks to the fact that his father was a professional musician. Tony performed on stage, television, radio and in the mov...
Chris Masterson is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and one-half of The Mastersons, a duo comprised of Chris and Eleanor Whitmore. When not touring with The Mastersons, Chris i...
Charlie McCoy is one of the noted musicians known as the A Team, in the Nashville studios of the 1950s, 60s and 70s! Charlie’s harmonica can be heard on several popular recordings –countl...
Claude McKnight formed an a cappella quartet on the campus of Oakwood College in 1980. The group signed with Warner Brothers Records seven years later and has since sold millions of reco...
Big Jay McNeely was there when the emotions of rhythm and blues gave birth to rock and roll. His honkin' sax style gave raw and bold tones to the feelings behind the R&B and Jump Swin...
Richard Meredith had a great admiration for Jack Goldman whose grandfather established the family retail and pawn business in Evansville, Indiana, in 1899. Richard is a local musician who...
Jerry Miller was a founding member of the innovative and influential ‘60s rock band Moby Grape. His roots in music go back to his grandfather, who was a famous violin maker in Sweden. Whe...
Deacon John Moore has been a noted studio musician in New Orleans for decades. His performance and recordings have not only represented the New Orleans Sound over the years, he has helpe...
Chris Mulkey is a well-respected actor who has appeared on hundreds of movies and television programs dating back to the mid-1970s. Chris is also a passionate music maker who has carried ...
Cary Nasatir grew up in Chicago, surrounded by rhythm and the beat of his father’s drums, often visiting the iconic Frank’s Drum Shop. It was inevitable that young Cary would develop a lo...
Tracy Newman Tracy Newman jumped into the Folk music scene in the early 1960s just as the genre was making its sweep across the country. She was among the early members of the New Christy...
Prescott Niles was the original bassist for the Knack. His driving licks can be heard on the classic recording of “My Sharona” and his strong rhythmic teaming with band drummer Bruce Gary...
Michael O’Dorn remembered the moment he met one of his musical heroes, Merle Travis. Mr. Travis flicked a thumb pick to young Michael, who soon developed an even greater appreciation for ...
Flip Oakes is the designer of the Wild Thing series of trumpets and cornets. Although Flip is a master of many musical instruments including the clarinet and saxophone (for which he was w...
Terry Oliver grew up in Southern California and remembers the day his father took him for guitar lessons at RC Allen’s guitar shop in 1964. The famous luthier had dozens of projects in th...
Gil Orr played a part in the era of popular music known as the Surf Sound. With the steady growth of instrumental hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Orr performed and recorded his gu...
Lee Oskar played the famed harmonica lick in the classic 1970s hit “Low Rider” as a member of the band WARS. The success of this song led to name recognition within the music industry tha...
Tim Paul may have been destined for a career in the piano business. Growing up, his mother was a piano teacher and his father a piano technician. One of his earliest jobs was as a ballpar...
Bogdan Pawlikowski grew up in a family of violin luthiers. His uncle John and father Walter both achieved notoriety for their handed crafted instruments as well as their well-respected re...
