Javier Batiz was very proud of the role he played in bringing American Blues music to Mexico! His own playing in bands and as a solo artist brought a great awareness to the Blues south of...
Fred Catero was the "go to" engineer at Columbia Studios in New York before teaming with Bill Graham to form Fillmore Studios in San Francisco. Over the years, Fred engineered or mastered...
Ndugu Chancler cut his teeth as a jazz drummer but later expanded his scope to include the blues, pop, soul, and funk. As a jazz drummer, he worked with an incredible line up of artists o...
Larry Cragg is sometimes called the guitar repairman to the stars! He established a repair shop in Marin County, California, to offer an extensive selection of rare and vintage equipment...
Alphonso Johnson, an internationally renowned bassist and Chapman Stick virtuoso, epitomizes the epitome of musical mastery and innovation. With a career spanning decades, Alphonso has ca...
Gez Kahan, on a whim, offered to be the musical director for his college’s production of Tommy. The experience lit a fire under him and soon he was exploring all of the latest gear, espec...
Steve Lukather lives to make and play music, epitomizing the passionate musician. Steve grew up knowing that one day he would be a rock star and was driven to see that happen. Growing up ...
Orianthi is an Australian born guitarist who, as a young teen, experienced what most aspiring musicians can only dream of. She had opened for her hero Steve Vai, traded solos with a guita...
George Pajon Jr. is a founding member of the Black Eyed Peas and the musical producer and director for Fergie, Carlos Santana and Los Lonely, among others. His music career began as a gu...
Starr Parodi, has actively made beautiful music for the masses in all sorts of venues. As a pianist, synthesist, composer, producer, arranger, and conductor Starr has worked on a bevy of ...
David Prater has produced a series of successful albums for the bands Firehouse, Dream Theater and Night Ranger (among others). He recalls that he always loved music but pinpoints the bir...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Tito Puente helped revolutionize Latin music, in particular...
Paul Reed Smith began playing guitar as a teenager. He soon designed his own style of guitar, which he built. At first he did not think about selling the instruments he was designing, but...
Andy Vargas’ father was the leader of a mariachi band, which became a large influence on young Andy growing up. He witnessed what the power of music could do, not only on the audiences, ...
Ron Vaughn began his career in the music industry as a drummer who was always looking for new gizmos that could produce the sound he sought. After creating a long list of clever products ...
Greg Walker was inspired by musical masters and song stylists such as Nat "King" Cole, Johnny Hartman, Sarah Vaughn, and Sam Cooke, and started singing at the age of nine. These legendary...
Bobby Watson grew up in Lawrence, Kansas and remembers dreaming of buying a new saxophone at the local music store. An early gig with drummer Art Blakey began Bobby on his career as a no...
