Lee Paynter outlined the rich history of the JW Pepper Publishing Company during his NAMM Oral History interview. Lee covered the founding of the company in 1876 by James Welsh Pepper wh...
Curtis Pearson served proudly during World War II and, upon returning to the United States, was told of a sales job at the Poole Music Company. After several successful years and getting ...
Nick Peck’s entire face lights up whenever he talks about a great school music program! The son of a band director, the passion seems to be in his blood. After taking over the store his f...
Scott Peck is the President of Pecknel Music Company, the music store in Greenville, South Carolina that was formed by his grandfather. Scott grew up in the business, cleaning floors and...
Gordon Pfund spent his life in the music industry that he loved. At an early age he began working for Werlein For Music in Louisiana and became enamored with the piano and organ market. H...
Dave Phillips met his wife in a band he created in high school. They have been making music ever since and as of 1977 when they opened their retailing business, they have assisted countl...
Joyce Pinnell-Martin served as president of the famed print dealer Wingert-Jones Music in Kansas City. The store opened in 1960 and just two years later Joyce was hired as the book keeper...
Kevin Prosser took over the piano and organ store his parents established in the mid-1980s. His brother later came into the business, which had several locations throughout Washington Sta...
George Quinlan Jr. began working in the store his father established before he can remember, sweeping up on weekends and helping with band rental season in the fall. George worked in ever...
George Quinlan was proud of his store outside of Chicago, for which the walls are full of photographs of the children he rented or sold an instrument to, and the fact that he survived har...
Mark Ragin jumped from working at the retail level of a music store into wholesale when he realized there was a real need for a band instrument and accessory distributor geared toward the...
Ron Raup was among the first commercial members to serve on the NAMM Board. His long career in the industry has been highlighted by his incredible vision and marketing skills for the Make...
Don Ravitch pioneered many elements of keyboard retailing as president of Sherman Clay. With an engineering and financial background Don and his partners purchased the music store chain i...
Bill Reim is the Founder of Reim, Graham & Associates. He was also the CEO of Hoshino USA, based in Pennsylvania. He can remember watching the Beatles on TV when he was in the secon...
Richard Rejino has spent much of his career in print music. Along with Charles Ashley, he owned and operated the print music department within Brook Mays Music stores in and around the D...
Phil Rich remembers sitting on the couch with his mother, who was a nurse during the day and a songwriter in her spare time, as she wrote songs. His band directed the music at their chur...
Al Rich, the former president of Pearl River Pianos in the United States seems to have pianos in his blood. He grew up in DeKalb, IL, the home of the mighty Wurlitzer Corporation. Al’s fa...
John Riley grew up playing music and earned a business degree in Boston. He applied for a job at the Wurlitzer retail store and was hired by a man named Bob Fletcher. When Bob moved to ...
Al Rinaldi was the first person ever to receive the Steinway Lifetime Achievement Award, which was given to him in 2012. Al never worked for the piano manufacturer nor did he work for an...
Kevin Rindlisbacher is a passionate music maker who has enjoyed his role in music retail providing musical instruments to bring music into the lives of others. He was a kid when his fath...
Lloyd Robbins became executive vice-president of the Rodgers Instruments Corporation in 1997. Rodgers is part of the Roland Corporation and is dedicated to creating its unique and success...
Liane Rockley gained a degree in flute performance in New York before moving to Denver, where she taught music at a local music store. The storeowner, Bob Rockley, who would become her fa...
Alan Rosen sat down for his first interview for the NAMM Oral History program in January 2014. It was a special occasion as it was Alan’s 30th anniversary of his first show and his 30th ...
Gerson Rosenbloom grew up in the music industry! His father, Harry, formed Medley Music for which Gerson would later become president. Gerson took pride in being a member of the industry ...
Elliott Rubinson fell in love with the bass at the age of 12 and played it every waking moment as he grew up in Queens, New York, in the rock era of the 1960s. He toured with a number of ...
Dick Rumore has done it all in the music products industry. He has been a retailer for over 40 years, forming Paragon Music in Tampa, FL. He has been a wholesaler, inventor (he holds two ...
Jim Rupp has had a passion for drumming as far back as he can remember. As a percussionist for several traveling groups in the 1970s such as those led by Maynard Ferguson and Woody Herman...
Robert Saied took great inspiration from his father, James. Robert’s father formed the Saied Music Company in Tulsa, OK in 1946 after serving as a band director in various schools in the ...
James Saied, the founder of the Saied Music Store chain in Oklahoma loved the marches of John Phillip Sousa! In fact, he liked them so much that he teamed with then NAMM President Ziggy C...
Lowell Samuel was the quintessential music man! He devoted his life to creating school band programs in the small towns of Illinois before and after World War II. After serving as a band ...
Dean Samuel is the son of industry leader, Lowell Samuel, who not only formed the Samuel Music retail store in Effingham, IL but the pioneering music wholesale company, MIDCO, in 1964. Lo...
Bob Saunders began working in the accounting department for Kaman Corporation. He was asked by the company’s founder, Charlie, to work with his son Bill for the Kaman Music Corporation. ...
