Jerry Carp has volunteered as a docent for the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music and helped spread the history of the music products industry to many museum visitors since its ope...
Alex Carozza has designed his own reed system for the accordion. The idea came to Alex after years of performing on the instruments and repairing them in his shop, Alex Music, on 48th St....
Brendan Callinan likes to say that everything he owns he obtained because of music. As a rock performer in the highly successful Australian group the Radiators, Brendan played and wrote s...
Mark Cabaniss always wanted to be in the music business. As a music student graduate and composer he was given that chance while teaching college, when Brentwood Music had an opening. The...
Richard Burke worked for the Rickenbacker Guitar Company in Southern California nearly his entire career before retiring in 2004. Over the years he worked in nearly all of the factory pos...
John Booth has played an enormous role in the development and growth of Roland within the United Kingdom. As President of Roland UK, he has witnessed the expansion of the market in Englan...
Joseph Boonin formed two successful music-publishing companies, which have played an important part in the music products industry. The first of his companies was Joseph Boonin Inc and th...
Don Mitchell is a veteran road rep! Having been in the music business most of his working life, Don has called on more dealers than just about any other salesman in the industry. His know...
Grace Marquette didn't care much for vacations or trips because it took her away from what she loved, her music store. Grace and her late husband, Robert, purchased the Loser’s Music Stor...
Joey Lyons's life always revolved around music, with his first career taking him to Broadway as a dancer. He toured extensively and performed on television, showcasing his talent and pass...
Russell Lindquist joined his uncle’s piano store in Iowa in his early 20s, and soon discovered his love of the business. He especially loved selling. Russell opened a Hammond Organ dealer...
Kimberly Lewis grew up in the industry, first with her father’s ShoBud retail store in Nashville and later with his cable and accessories business known the world over as George L’s. Kimb...
Jim Leonard was first and foremost a band director. It was the job he always dreamed of as a child and the job for which he gained the love and respect from tens of thousands of students....
Jean Larrivee fell in love with the guitar as a young boy growing up in Canada during the folk craze of the 1960s. He imagined a unique sound for an acoustic guitar and set out to create ...
Dick Knaub served as president of the Rico Reed Corp. during the 1970s. He oversaw the reed manufacturer’s expansion into magazine advertisements and the company’s return to industry even...
Jim Kidder had already worked in music retail for several years when he was given the chance to take over the band instrument division and form his own business. Since then, Kidder Music ...
Ziggy Kanstul knew more about brass instruments than most people. As an important part of the manufacturing end of the FE Olds Company, Ziggy became an expert on model designs, the specif...
Nancy Higgins and her husband opened a small music shop in 1965. It was a very good year to start. The Beatles had invaded the United States and nearly every child you met wanted to play ...
Bill Higgins enjoyed the country and hillbilly music he heard growing up. He surrounded himself with music his entire life. In 1965, Bill and his wife Nancy, opened Bill Higgins Music jus...
Carl Henderson opened his first piano store in Covington, KY in 1963, after nearly 20 years in the finance business. In the early days he struggled to increase his inventory but ensured t...
Bob Hale had a long and successful career as an engineer and was able to devote his retirement time to his passion for music as a docent at the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music in...
Harold Gore was a proud “march nut” as he often proclaimed. A former band director with a passion for the music of John Phillip Sousa and of other composers, Harold was well known through...
Pete Gamber, the president of Alta Loma Music in Southern California, has been one of the leaders in educating music retailers to provide successful and profitable lesson programs in thei...
Don Freeman’s father established the Freeman Decorating Company in 1927. By the 1960s, when Don became president, there were several other service companies under the title of Freeman, so...
Richard Floyd, whose school bands have performed all over the country including at the Midwest Band Clinic, is among the best known Texas bandmasters. He has developed programs and materi...
Robert Fletcher served as the chairman of the NAMM Board of Directors the first time the position title was changed from president to chairman. As an industry leader Bob developed the Fle...
Phyllis Fender was married to Leo Fender, the great pioneer of the solid body electric guitar. After reading several publications on his life’s work, it was a refreshing treat to hear abo...
Joan Ellman and her husband, Gil, established Ellman’s Music Center in 1958. Five years later the store moved to Naperville, Illinois, where it is located today. Joan kept the books and i...
Gil Ellman grew up in the big band era, loving the sounds of large orchestras. He was motivated to create as many opportunities for students to make music as possible. He studied band ins...
Sidney Davis took over the Musical Merchandise Review (MMR) trade magazine in the 1980s. Originally the magazine began reporting on the industry in the 1880s and became an important resou...
