Mr. Laurie Westell was just 21 years old when he began working in the music products industry. He was hired by Hohner to deliver harmonicas around London. He enjoyed the job, rising in th...
Bill Tregoe drove over 1,300,000 miles over the 35 years that he was a sales rep for CG Conn and later King Musical Instruments. Along the way he made life long friends with many of the d...
Toots Thielemans enjoyed an incredible career as both a jazz guitarist and a jazz harmonica player. In fact, it is Toots who is credited for bringing the harmonica to jazz. He has perform...
Vijay Talwar’s father sold wood in India, and when Vijay began working for his father as a teenager they noticed an increase in the amount of wood being sold to make musical instruments. ...
Van Schipper is a guitar luthier who has enjoyed embracing the roots of his craft. As a student of guitar building, he sought the advice of others with a mind to paying tribute to his gre...
Dick Rumore has done it all in the music products industry. He has been a retailer for over 40 years, forming Paragon Music in Tampa, FL. He has been a wholesaler, inventor (he holds two ...
Kathy Peck spent her youth laying down the bass lines for some of the most innovative punk music in the San Francisco Bay Area during the 1970s and 80s. She rocked and rolled with the bes...
Gus Pearson began his long and successful career as a sales rep for Wurlitzer back in 1966. He remained with the company until 1981 and has often related his feelings that working for the...
Victor Pavona’s family worked in the steel mills of Ohio, beginning with his grandfather who immigrated to the United States from Italy. Victor was the first person in his family to atten...
Carole Ozanian has been surrounded by music her entire life. As a four-year-old child she took piano lessons and played up to her college years, when she studied to be a choir director. ...
Kline Locher was a seasoned piano salesman who crisscrossed the highways of America long before the era of two-lane interstates. His journey began as a teenage trumpeter, performing with ...
Richard Loberg worked for the Schmitt Music store for nearly his entire working career. The company was formed in 1896 in Minneapolis, largely as a piano store. Over the years the company...
Larry Leberte was proud of his family’s history in music retail. Larry’s grandfather opened a small music retail shop just after the Great Depression hit the United States in the early 19...
Albrecht Kretzschmann was the vice president of sales for JA Musik in Germany and played an important role in the company’s expansion into the global market. His vast understanding of the...
Jerry Kovarsky was the product/brand manager at KORG for over 15 years. Working with Jack Hotop they were part of the team that created a long line of innovative synthesizer products for ...
Alberto Kniepkamp engineered many of the electronic organs produced by the Lowrey Organ Company in the 1970s and 80s. Alberto took an active role in the development of the MX1 Lowrey Orga...
Bernie Kalban was one of the great veterans of the music publishing industry. Having worked in the era right after Tin Pan Alley, in the Brill Building and with many of the top firms, Ber...
Brian Justice had been a salesman in many industries in Europe and gained a well-respected name in the music industry for his import/export business between England and Germany, about a d...
Robert Johnson served as a sales manager for Chicago Musical Instruments (CMI) when the company first acquired the noted violinmakers William Lewis & Son. As a salesman, he worked clo...
Paul Johnson formed one of the early surf bands in Southern California during the golden era of instrumental music. As a guitarist and songwriter, Paul performed and recorded in the days ...
Merle Johnson was a past president of the famous EK Blessing Company in Elkhart, Indiana. Emil Karl Blessing opened a small brasswind valve company in 1906 and soon expanded his products ...
Gary Ingle is the CEO of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA). As a music educator, Gary sought to bring teachers together in ways that could benefit the profession as well as t...
Jack Hotop was among the innovative engineers at KORG during the early synthesizer craze, creating the first MIDI workstation, the KORG M1. During his long career at KORG, Jack has teamed...
Paul Hagen grew up in England playing a number of musical instruments including the bassoon, piano and flute. He was part of the National Youth Band and, although he studied engineering i...
Gary Grimes played a very vital role in the early part of his career, working in the music education department at Wurlitzer. Gary wrote many of the training programs for Wurlitzer as wel...
Gene Gray was a sales rep for the mighty Wurlitzer Company from 1965 until 1988. During his NAMM interview, Gene spoke first hand of the great family feelings many had while working for t...
Günter Graulich is the founder of the German music publisher, Carus. The company was established in 1972 with the mission to publish sacred choral music. Since it’s founding, the focus of...
Betty Gore, along with her husband, established Pender’s Music Company in Texas. The retail store is only one part of the company, as her husband Harold sought to find and publish every m...
Elmer Gibson has served the music products industry for over 38 years as the insurance rep for the NAMM membership. Elmer has worked closely with the NAMM management and members to provi...
Larry Garris is the founder of Corner Music in Nashville, Tennessee. Located in the heart of the country music region, Corner Music has become the place to purchase the latest gear and to...
