Alan Kay has always had a love for music and in fact often found himself thinking in terms of a musician when he was designing computers and computer code. Alan is a computer science pio...
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 ...
Arlene Keenan, the CEO of Strad-Pad, boasts a rich tapestry of experience woven from her early artistic inclinations and tenure as an elementary educator. With a keen eye honed from child...
Jochen Keilwerth’s grandfather founded the Julius Keilwerth Saxophones company in 1925 in Grasnitz. Once one of the largest saxophone producers in Europe, Keilwerth also produced trumpet...
Gerhard Keilwerth grew up loving the saxophone and dreaming of building his own line, which of course he did do to international success. The Keilwerth name has been synonymous with innov...
Chris Kelly has always thought outside the box, which has proven to be a perfect element for marketing guitars to rock bands. While working for Robin Guitars in Houston, Texas, Chris brou...
Andrew Kemble’s grandfather established the Kemble Piano Company and started a family tradition that Andrew carries on today. The pianos became an important product within the European ma...
Christoph Kemper blended his love of music with his love of computer programming as early as 1986 when he put his Commodore 64 to use coding for musical sounds. Kemper formed Access Music...
Ernie Kenaga was hired by Charlie Bickel at the Selmer Company following the end of his military service during World War II. At the time, 1946, Selmer had 80 employees including factory ...
William Kent, along with his brother Ed, formed the Kent Drum Company in 1947 with a focus to create student-level kits to encourage music making at all economic levels. The company offe...
Thanh Kha has worked for Remo since 1981. He came to this country from Vietnam not knowing any English or Spanish, which was the primary language within the factory. Thanh was determined...
Carson Kielsel discussed the entire history of Carvin Guitars during his interview. As the son of the founder and long time president, Carson provided insight as to the growth and develop...
Lowell Kiesel, as the founder of the southern California guitar company Carvin, joined the ranks with Leo Fender, Paul A. Bigsby, and the Rickenbacker Company, in establishing the new era...
Mark Kiesel is the President of Kiesel Guitars in Escondido, California and the son of Lowell Kiesel, the founder of Carvin Guitars. When his father began making guitars in the 1930s, it ...
Gary Kilday took a chance on an old piano bench maker in 1988 that had fallen on hard times. Since that time the company, renamed GRK, has kept the tradition of customer service and quali...
Eileen Kilday and her husband worked hard to re-build an old piano bench making company, which they renamed GRK. This project for the Kilday’s began in 1988 with the purchase of the old c...
Bob Kilpatrick wrote his first song in the fourth grade and went on to pen one of the most popular worship songs in the last fifty years. In his early twenties, Bob and his wife performed...
John King is among the most noted cymbal testers in the business. Working alongside Armand Zildjian in the factory in Massachusetts. John learned the fine skills of a tester and worked wi...
Cornelia Kinzelmann is CEO of ESM which produces mouthpieces for clarinets and saxophones. Cornelia remembers her grandfather, Wenzel Schreiber, from the time when she was a child. Wenzel...
David Kirby, originally from England, started out as a professional musician touring in Germany in the mid 70’s. Playing bass, he also took charge of fixing and upgrading the equipment as...
Lorna Kirchner has worked for Selmer, now Conn-Selmer, in Elkhart for over 40 years. She recalls the days before the CNC machines came into the factory, when all of the work was done by ...
Don Kirkendall was hired by Electro Voice founder Al Kahn to serve as the company’s advertisement manager in 1954. Don’s creative approach to the company’s line of speakers and microphone...
George Kirkwood joined the Rodgers Instrument Corp. in the engineering department just five years after the company was formed by Rodgers Jenkins and Fred Tinker. Beyond his fourth year ...
Linda Kitchen is the daughter of Bill May, the founder of Maton Guitars. Bill established the guitar company in 1946, which has since become an important producer of acoustic and electric...
Neville Kitchen was a school teacher when he married Linda May in 1969. Her father, Bill May, the founder of Maton Guitars, soon asked for some assistance. Neville joined the company to h...
Bill Klein began his career at Harman on September 17, 1987 and has played a key role in the creation and logistics of the company’s distribution centers around the world. Bill started of...
Steve Klein is a guitar luthier’s luthier! As a pioneer and innovator in the methods and tools of guitar building and designer, Steve has maintained focus on the elements of his craft whi...
Gerhard Klier’s grandfather, Anton Schrötter, owned a violin shop and workshop in Cheb/Eger. In the 1920s several of Gerhard’s relatives moved to the United States. His uncle, Roman Klier...
Francois Kloc earned a degree in oboe and bassoon performance at the Beauvais Music Conservatory, which became a foundation for his deep and passionate exploration of these musical instru...
Dick Knaub served as president of the Rico Reed Corp. during the 1970s. He oversaw the reed manufacturer’s expansion into magazine advertisements and the company’s return to industry even...
Susan Kniepkamp fondly recalls the job opportunity she eagerly pursued at Chicago Musical Instruments (CMI), perhaps mostly because it eventually led to meeting her future husband, Albert...
Bob Knight came into the music industry right after World War II and watched instruments slowly make their way back into the music stores. He was hired by CG Conn and enrolled in their b...
