Jimmy Gibbs opened the very first crate containing a Hammond B-3 in the United Kingdom in the 1950s. Several years later, at the height of the Cold War, Jimmy brought the famous organ to ...
Matteo Galanti and his family have been instrumental in the growth and development of the accordion and organ industry, both inside and outside the United States. Beginning in the 1950s, ...
Wilbur Fuller took to woodwork at a young age. When he was 16, from the instructions in a magazine, he made a desk, which still stands in the corner of his small farmhouse in western Mic...
Peter Frampton is known around the world as a musician and singer who took the charts by storm in the 1970s. To the music products industry Peter is best known as a friend and promoter of...
Nokie Edwards was an original member of the Ventures, a rock group of the 1960’s that helped popularize instrumental recordings. The band enjoyed several hit records including “Walk Don’t...
Jim Dunlop started the Dunlop Manufacturing company in 1965 in Benicia, California, and followed his dream to provide quality products for fellow musicians. Along the way he created the D...
Lennie DiMuzio was told for years that he ought to write a book about his career and his many stories, so he did! Lennie was the artist relations director for Zildjian Cymbal Company for ...
Buddy DeFranco’s clarinet style helped to legitimize the instrument in the post-swing era as a modern jazz instrument and his techniques have been a major influence on performers ever sin...
Edith De Forest was associated with the Pratt-Read Company for over 70 years! She began working for the piano keys and action manufacturer in the early 1930s. Even after her retirement in...
Dick Dale was the King of the Surf Guitar whose driving style redefined instrumental music in the early 1960s. His music conjures the mood of the era so successfully that many of his tune...
Jim Coffin was instantly recognized at any given trade show or industry meeting as the energetic advocate for music and music making. Jim’s career as a music director and educator includ...
George Clinton is the funk mastermind behind some of the now landmark recordings of Parliament and Funkadelic beginning in the 1970s, including the largely successful hit “Flashlight.” Ge...
Ron Carter’s name is listed in every jazz encyclopedia as a major influence on the bass. He recorded and performed with many of the greatest players in modern jazz and spoke with great d...
Robert Campbell began his career in the music industry working for Conn Organ in 1947, the year the company gave a unit to President Harry S. Truman. Bob later worked with Don Leslie, th...
Peter Bartkus grew up in Rockford, Illinois and was proud to establish a music shop there in the early 1950s. Tru Tone Music became a hub for musicians and was known throughout the area f...
Steve Cohen is the president of Jason’s Music Center in Pasadena, MD. As a creative thinker, Steve has pioneered a new approach to college piano sales by bringing the concept into the pub...
Tish Ciravolo played bass in rock and punk bands in the 1970s and 80s but felt there was always a disconnect between female performers and the instruments. With an idea stemming from her ...
Deborah Zildjian proudly recalled stories of her father and her grandfather, two of the most successful leaders of her family’s 380 plus years as cymbal makers. Deborah has a compelling w...
Craigie Zildjian has accomplished what no other woman has done in her company’s over 380-year history; she has become president of the Zildjian Cymbal Company. She has also been a pioneer...
Franz Mohr was the chief concert technician for Steinway and Sons for many decades. During his long and colorful career, Franz worked on the pianos of many of the great pianists of his ti...
Skip Maggiora has revolutionized retailing within the music products industry. With his Weekend Warriors program a whole new segment of the population was being targeted to become music m...
Vic Firth was a classically trained timpanist, playing with a number of highly regarded symphonies around the world. Over the years he developed a few ideas that improved on the way malle...
Joe Calato was the inventor of the nylon-tipped drumstick, who turned the small idea of preserving his favorite sticks into an industry success story. He formed Regal Tip to produce his u...
Sonny Burgess was known as the wild man of rock and roll who brought a driving guitar style to early Sun recordings (the label that launched Elvis Presley). Among those recordings were “W...
Wayne Burdick’s pedal steel guitar made by Paul Bigsby graced the cover of the luthier’s first catalog. Wayne befriended Mr. Bigsby in the 1950s while Wayne was a member of the Tex Willia...
Jeanne Bundy-Morrow was only married to Frank Bundy a few months when her father-in-law, the pioneering instrument designer George Bundy, passed away. Because Jeanne had known George for ...
Gene Brown joined the Ovation Guitar Company within the first year of the company’s establishment in 1966. After serving in the United States Army during Vietnam, Gene was immediately off...
Junior Brown is a performer/inventor who dreamed of a sound to offset his rockabilly and blues styles. He designed a slide guitar and an electric guitar into one unit that did not require...
Maury Brochstein recalls growing up in the drum business. His father, Herb, established Pro-Mark drumsticks in 1957 and involved Maury at a young age. Maury saw the need to expand the pro...
Geoff Brash was an iconic music retailer in Australia who became known around the world for his passion and his brilliant business knowledge. As the managing director of Brash Music, Geof...
