Mary Henkin was well known in the band and orchestra business as the hostess with the mostest. Along with her husband, Danny, they put on extravagant parties that were still talked about ...
Nat Clark worked for the York Band Instrument Company for over 40 years! He was hired in New York in 1957 because his older brother was working for Carl Fischer, which owned York at the ...
Ace Cannon grew up in Mississippi singing with his father on street corners and in church, and he knew even as a small child that he wanted to have a life in music. When he was ten his f...
DW Caffey was very young when he found himself enamored with the piano. In 1940, when he was just fifteen years old, DW taught himself how to tune pianos. He read a book and asked an ol...
John Allegrezza began working in the piano business in 1957 and soon discovered he had a real passion for the business and the people. In 1981 he opened his store, Allegrezza Pianos, in R...
Kenny Loggins has enjoyed a long and prolific career in music as a performer and a songwriter! In addition to his celebrated musical career is his dedication to music education and the m...
Howard Rumsey may have played the first electric bass to be recorded on a jazz recording. While performing with Stan Kenton’s first orchestra in the early fall of 1941, Howard was asked ...
Milton Kyser was raised in a small, poor farming family in East, Texas. He grew up during the Great Depression and in fact as a boy told himself if he ever had a business of his own he w...
Jeff Eckroth grew up surrounded by music retail, having been raised in the family business founded by his parents, Bill and Mary Ann Eckroth, in 1972. From an early age, Jeff was immersed...
Mike Greene is the president of Greene Music in San Diego, California, a store he started with his father in 1974. Mike grew up in the business and recalls dressing up like a circus bark...
Jon Gold grew up playing in area bands and hanging out in local stores. He soon was able to answer customer's questions about guitars hanging on the walls and found he was offered a job....
Fred Decker formed the retail store Music Villa in Boseman, Montana, which is now run by his son. Fred's passion for the music business became an inspiration for several members of the m...
Jim Crockett was the first official editor of Guitar Player Magazine as he was hired by the founder, Bud Eastman, four years after the magazine began. Bud and Maxine Eastman owned Guitar...
Ernie Borr was a band director from Mandan, North Dakota who was an early supporter of the Eckroth Music store. Ernie was on hand for the Eckroth Music Center's 40th anniversary party in...
Sharman Beasley-Vesecky grew up in the music business as her grandfather, William Howard Beasley, served as the president of the NAMM Board of Directors from 1939-1940. Sharman has becom...
Dean Zelinsky wanted to bring cool guitars to the market place and when he set out to do just that he was still in high school! The year after graduating, he opened Dean Guitars and atte...
Art Wiggs has always admired the Gretsch brand of guitars. He grew up in a musical family, as his parents played in church and on the radio together. As a kid he played the guitar with ...
Sam Wangler ran a music store in Bismarck, North Dakoda for 35 years before his retirement. He taught himself guitar after hearing "Walk Don't Run" by the Ventures as a kid. He later pl...
Ren Wall proudly followed his father's footsteps and worked in the Gibson Guitar Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He began working for the company in 1960 and continued until 1982. A few...
Robert Walker worked for the retail stores of the Baldwin Piano Company. He was located in the San Francisco store but later traveled the western states repairing and adjusting organs as...
Mike Stoll has had a passion for electronics and music since before he can remember. He pursued an education in electronics and began working with the famed Crown International in Elkhar...
Joyce Shelven was a factory worker for the Gibson Guitar Company when it was located in Kalamazoon, Michigan. She was hired in 1947 just after the war and began working in the sanding de...
Ron Sfarzo may be the only interviewee within the NAMM Oral History collection who served as a police officer in California! Ron has been involved with music his entire life, with both h...
William Reynolds made his career designing signs and even a few monuments in and around Bismarck, North Dakota. In 1977 he was hired by Bill and Mary Ann Eckroth to design their now famo...
David Angress has spent his career in the technology and specialty products markets, holding several senior executive positions in retail, manufacturing and installation segments at compa...
Bill Larson served as a band director for over 35 years in Montana. When he needed the support from a music store to service his bands, he called on Eckroth Music in Bismarck, ND. Bill ...
Larry Miletich along with his father and brother began playing music together as a group when they moved to Kalispell, Montana. As they continued to play gigs in and around town, they ke...
George Miletich Jr. and his brother run Music One Workshop in Kalispell, Montana. As they continued to play gigs in and around town, they also provided repairs for their bandmates as wel...
Sherry Linnerooth took music lessons from Bill Eckroth, who would later open a music store in Mandan, North Dakoda. When she later taught music in Bozeman, Montana, she called on Bill to...
John Kuziel was a long time factory worker for the Gibson Guitar Company when it was located in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He worked as a final inspector for the guitar line and later was in t...
