Richard Webb’s grandfather opened a pawnshop in England and his father, Sydney, developed a small music division within the shop some 20 years later. Since the age of 12, Richard thought ...
Bill Wellborn was honored with the National Piano Traveler’s Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007 for his dedication to the industry. As a piano salesman, Bill has traveled the ...
Joey Welz was a member of Bill Haley’s Comets as well as Link Wray’s Wray Men. He played piano in the early days of Rockabilly for Bat Records with his own group as well as with The Jay R...
Parham Werlein followed in the footsteps of his father, grandfather and great-grandfather as president of Werlein’s For Music in New Orleans, Louisiana. Like his predecessors, Parham also...
Bitsie Werlein was the last president of the famed Werlein’s For Music in New Orleans. When its doors closed in 2003 it was the nation’s oldest operating music retailer. The company was e...
Rose Wernes Drake traveled with her husband, Ivor, when he became the second salesperson hired for the Winter Piano Company following World War II. He often said the company got two for t...
Jody Whyte recalls fondly sitting in the family store as a child watching her grandfather repair pianos and then he would make banana pancakes for her. Those memories took on extra meanin...
Henry Wickham knew the secret of a good sounding piano, the cast iron plates. For decades Henry was the president of the Wickham Piano Company in Ohio, where many of the plates for Steinw...
Gerald “Wig” Wiggins was a world renowned composer, arranger and jazz keyboardist. As an early pioneer in playing jazz on the Hammond B-3 organ, Wig had a strong interest in new and inven...
Christopher Willcox was once a classical actor on the British stage. He was a teacher and writer, but feels his favorite job is that of piano salesman. For well over 35 years, he has done...
Jason D Williams grew up with music all around him so it was no surprise that he devoted his life to playing. With a strong influence from boogie woogie and rockabilly, Jason D began per...
Roger Williams was known throughout the world for his countless albums and top ten hits as a solo pianist. He had a remarkable career in bridging rock and roll and in incorporating jazz a...
Bob Williamson was involved in the piano and organ business since he was a boy. His father sold Baldwin Pianos out of his barn in Southwest Nebraska. The Williamson Baldwin store never ha...
Hartmut Willms is the President of Piano Willms, a firm established by his grandfather and his two brothers back in 1912. Hartmut’s grandfather enjoyed building pianos and created the Wi...
Roger Willson takes great pride in his long association with the Bluthner Piano Company. The association extends to the Bluthner family who entrusted Roger with the position of Managing D...
Shelley Wilson and her husband, Greg Murdaugh, opened the Piano Craft store in 1999. The store, which is located in Springfield MO, has a family feel whenever you visit, which may be due ...
Jim Wilson incorporates his experiences as a gigging musician (he formed a duo in college and later played a Fender P-Bass in several rock bands) into the work he does as a piano technici...
Tom Wilson might have been among the most-suggested people to be included in the NAMM Oral History Program! Suggestions came from those who worked with him over the years who gained resp...
Johnnie Wilson has been involved with music in his church his entire life. He has performed at weddings and church services for many years. So, it seemed like a natural progression to ope...
Shenae Wilson loves providing a musical instrument in the lives of the young children who come into her store. She feels blessed that she and her husband work so closely with local church...
Gerald Wilson was among the great arrangers of jazz, beginning back in the swing era when he worked for the famed Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra. He established a distinctive style rich in me...
Paul Winther took over his parent’s music store in Boise, Idaho, which was opened in 1943. Paul enjoyed the selling side of the business, especially selling pianos and organs. Paul took...
Chip Wise served in the piano business for over fifty years and enjoyed the customers he met and the people of the music industry. During the early days of the NAMM Oral History program m...
Mel Wisniewski gave music lessons in a small music store in upstate Wisconsin and soon discovered he was interested in the idea of owning his own store. Not wanting to compete with his fr...
Sonny Wittkopp studied business in college and landed a job as a bookkeeper for a local music store in Washington state. This experience generated a great passion for the music industry w...
Mike Wofford has enjoyed a long and acclaimed career in music. As a jazz pianist, Mike has performed with many legends including Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Carter, Quincy Jones, Shelly Manne,...
Petra Woodfull-Harris recalls taking lessons on the recorder at the age of six, followed by the piano three years later. She enjoyed the idea of improving her skills and of expressing he...
Bernie Worrell began playing classical music as a small child and it soon led to his life-long passion for music! He met George Clinton, who at the time was leading a Doo-Wop group called...
John Wright Jr. grew up in the piano business. His father and his uncle, Dan Hall, formed the Hall Piano Company in 1958. The store is currently located right on David Drive in Metairie...
Lucien Wulsin’s grandfather was taught the piano business by D. W. Baldwin, the founder of the world-famous piano company. What he learned was passed down to his son, who, like his father...
Jack Wyatt is well known in the piano industry as the historian of the Piano Technicians Guild. In fact, when the PTG opened a museum in their home office in Kansas City, MO, Jack was the...
Bill Youse is proud of the fact that his grandfather, George, worked in the Steinway & Sons piano factory on Long Island as did his father before Bill joined the company in 1973. Bill...
