David “Ranger” Adams was playing drums in his high school marching band when he realized they had a need for better lighting. With peach cans he created a system that worked so well he wa...
Dennis Anderson always had a great deal of respect for his uncle, Joe Shaffner. Joe pioneered several processes and policies used today in Live Sound touring. Covering several Motown acts...
Roy Bickel joined the circus as a teenager and at one point held the record for traveling the longest distance after being shot out of a cannon. One day he was asked if he wanted to make...
Marshall Bissett found his way into the music industry by way of the British theater scene. With the dream of working backstage in theater, Marshall transformed that dream into a successf...
Jim Bornhorst was hired by Rusty Brutsche, the founder of Showco, to assist with the development of sound systems. In just a short time, Jim proved he was able to design systems as well ...
Ernie Briefel played a tremendous role in the wholesaling of musical instruments in New York City, beginning in the 1950s. His understanding of the business and close partnerships resulte...
Rusty Brutsche and two friends formed the famous pro audio rental company Showco with the simple mission to produce good sounding concerts. The goal required the building and maintenance...
Steve Castro has toured backline for over 25 years and loves it. Steve is a roadie’s roadie who has witnessed firsthand many of the major changes in technology that have affected live pe...
Harold Cohen's name can be heard spoken by Chip Monck during the Woodstock film. After the Sha Na Na performance on Sunday evening and just before Jimi Hendrix appears on stage, Chip says...
Sylvia Cunliffe was working for the City of Los Angeles when she created and produced a series of large public events that brought music to millions over the years. The Los Angeles Stree...
Joshua Curlett was enlisted as a stage hand for his church when he was a kid. That experience led him to pay close attention to the inner workings of stages and live performances. While i...
Dana Daniel played drums for his father’s big band when he was young. Being exposed to not just the musical side of performances from a young age, Dana became interested in the production...
Chuck Davies is the founder of American DJ, which provides a long list of innovative products, many of which Chuck designed and engineered. He opened his own audio store in 1979 selling H...
DJ Ken Heath grew up in a very musical family and was always encouraged to follow his passion for music. His mother and uncles performed on the radio over the years and Ken dreamed of per...
Tana Douglas wrote a book about her life in Live Sound, released in 2022, entitled LOUD: A life in rock n’ roll by the world’s first female roadie. The title leaves out the fact that she ...
Dan Dugan is a pro lighting and pro audio engineer who invented an automixer that he first presented at AES in 1974. With a rich background in theater, both in lighting and sound, Dan cre...
Phil Ealy is an award-winning lighting designer who established West Coast Concert Lighting in the late 70’s. Having designed the lighting rigs for several large rock tours, Phil became k...
Tom Field is the founder of TFA (Tom Field Associates) whose team provided lighting for a host of iconic live events such as Woodstock and the Newport Jazz Festival. In addition to the ma...
Imero Fiorentino was considered by many the father of pro-lighting! He began his career just as television was coming into its own in the early 1950s. He worked on live broadcast with new...
Randy "Baja" Fletcher was a well respected production manager of live events who won the 2010 Parnelli Life Time Achievement Award for his dedication to the industry. His long and passio...
Gary Gand grew up playing music and developed a passion for musical instruments. In 1971, he parlayed this passion into a successful career in music retail. Gand Music and Sound, located ...
Paul Garcia along with his brother Fred and sister Lucy formed a group called The Garcia’s. Since they all sang and played from an early age, and were always encouraged by their father, i...
David Garretson is a special representative for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which represents motion picture technicians, artists and allied crafts of the Uni...
Sarah Glew began her career in the music industry by selling records in a small store just south of San Francisco in Pacifica, California. Over time she added musical instruments and fou...
John Goldsmith is the owner of Kosmic Music, a retail store in the western Australian city of Perth. He began repairing amps and loud speakers, which led to his involvement with backline ...
William Groener has had an extensive career in lighting and theater design. He started out as a theater major at UC Santa Barbara and returned to the university as a professor before beco...
Les Harrison is the president of Hollywood Sound Systems in Hollywood, California. The company provides sound system and designs both to purchase and to rent and has been an innovator in...
James “Peaches” Hergen has always known that he would have a career in lighting. He remembers at a young age going to roller rinks with his family and would get lost in admiring the light...
Keith Holzman cut his teeth as a theater director and lighting designer in New York. In 1964 he joined Elektra Records, which his brother Jac formed back in 1950. Keith coordinated produc...
Bruce Howze is the founder of Community Professional Loudspeakers, which he established in 1968 after being asked to provide sound for such venues as the Electric Factory in Philadelphia....
Greg Jones grew up in Los Angeles and sang for a number of rock bands, which gave him the opportunity to write music. His songs can be heard on the television show "Smallville." Greg’s ...
Charles Kitch formed Sound Productions, Inc. in Irving, Texas in 1973. With the slogan, the "the Soundman's Connection," Charles has helped pioneer the pro audio industry from the early ...
