Jimmie Rodgers was a popular singer and songwriter who topped the charts in the 1950s and 60s with recordings such as "Kisses Sweeter than Wine," "Oh-Oh, I'm Falling in Love Again," "Are ...
Johnny Rivers had a series of top hits as a pop singer beginning in the 1960s with records such as "Seventh Son," "Poor Side of Town" and "Secret Agent Man.” Within the music products ind...
Bernard Purdie became a studio drummer in the early 1960s. In fact his first recording was when he provided the influential drum beat heard in the beginning of “Just One Look” with singer...
John Pisano was a celebrated jazz guitarist, featured on thousands of recordings. He collaborated with legends such as Frank Sinatra, Natalie Cole, Chico Hamilton, and Diana Krall. John’s...
Charles Phillips played trombone in his high-school band and continued through college. He studied music and business, and along the way played in an R&B band. He was hired at St. Lou...
Michael Pettersen is the official historian of Shure Incorporated. He can tell you everything you’d ever want to know about the long list of innovations and long-lasting microphone develo...
Erik Norlander is the perfect musician to have come into his own as a performer as the synthesizer and other electronic musical instruments were being developed in the 1980s. In addition ...
Terry Lewis has fulfilled many roles within the music products industry including Executive Vice President of Yamaha Corporation of America. Under his leadership, the company expanded its...
Hans Kuhner has followed long traditions in print music by engraving musical notes on lead plates to reproduce songs – hearkening to the days and the style in which Germany’s music publis...
Dave Koz is best known as the smooth jazz saxophonist who recorded hit albums beginning in the 1990s. However, his life in music began as a piano student before playing in the high school...
Gene Garb is the Vice President of NEMC, joining the company only a few years after it was established in the 1950s. NEMC is a school oriented music wholesaler located in Mountainside, Ne...
James Decker had been an active music maker ever since performing with his mother on radio broadcasts while he was a child. Over the years, he continued his pursuit of music study and eve...
Jimmy Cypher is a vanguard guitarist who is forging a career of guitar performance with live DJ's in their environment. Reversing the trend of incorporating DJ's into musical instrument e...
Tony Blair is the proud president of the Kay Musical Instrument Company, which has a long and important history in the music products industry. As Tony points out, many noted musicians to...
Dominique Agnew has been dedicated to the music industry, serving NAMM for over 25 years -- most notably as the Associate Director for Trade Show Sales. She bore witness to the growth of ...
R. Thomas Lockie’s grandfather started a small music store in downtown Los Angeles in the 1920s. The store was later owned and operated by Tom’s father who played “keep the store in busin...
Bob Sperzel’s grandfather and father were both mechanical engineers working in their own shops creating machine parts for several industries. As Bob learned from them he discovered on his...
Jerry Pellegrino wanted to own a business ever since he was a kid, so when the opportunity arose to start his own music store, he jumped at the chance. With a small loan and the help of s...
Barbara Paulsen is one of the joyous and passionate people our industry is lucky to have in great numbers. Barb entered the music industry as the director of national and global sales for...
Rob Palmer served as president of UMI (United Musical Instruments) in the final years of the company before the brands it manufactured were sold to other companies. UMI played an importan...
Jackie Mills as a drummer put down the beat for jazz and big band stars such as Tommy Dorsey, Charlie Barnet, Dizzy Gillespie and Billie Holiday. As a record producer, he played a critica...
Don Loeffler combined his love of music with his engineering skills to make several modifications to the percussion instruments he used throughout his career. He made his own vibraphones ...
Michael Kropp loved folk music for as far back as he could remember. As he grew up and played in various bands in the 1960s and 70s he also became involved with the music industry. After ...
Thilo Kramny is one of our industry’s creative minds that has established published material that has been innovative and resourceful for the music industry. He began as a musician who wa...
TK Keckler moved to Memphis at an early age and began playing with local bands, which is when he met Mike Ladd. Mike was a musician who opened a small guitar shop in town and would later ...
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...
Gabe Ireland joined the Coast Wholesale Company while in high school. After college he continued to work for the company as the rock and roll boom began and the entire industry began to c...
Paul Freehling was brought up in the music retail business as the son of Art Freehling, the legendary music man of Montgomery, Alabama. Art’s incredible knowledge of business and music no...
Maxine Eastman-Jackson met her future husband, Bud, in school when they were 14 years old. The year they married, 1953, they moved to Provo, UT, where Bud worked at Modern Music by day an...
Mervyn Davis began working full time as a guitar luthier in 1978. Located in South Africa, Mervyn had unique access to materials he used in making his instruments and because he was in an...
