Hal Blaine was perhaps the most recorded drummer from the California recording studios of the 1950s-'70s. His influential style can be heard on more than 170 number one hit songs and 450...
Bill Xavier was introduced into the music products industry while working with Hartley Peavey. Peavey became a strong mentor to Bill and was like a second father to him. Bill has often sa...
Bert Turetzky likes telling stories in his playing. He likes to make his listeners think about new ideas and in doing so he often creates a way for people to feel something they may not h...
Peggy Sexton and her husband, Bob, formed Tactus Press to publish books on early percussion. Peggy’s passion for research and the social history surrounding the development of musical ins...
Carol Kaye can be heard on such landmark recordings as “La Bamba,” the Mission Impossible theme, and scores of hits produced by Phil Spector. She started playing jazz guitar in a big band...
Chubby Jackson was the 1947 Down Beat magazine’s reader poll winner for the best bassist of the year. When the Kay Music Company of Chicago told Chubby that they would be presenting him w...
Charlie Gorby was a true visionary for the music products industry and the founder of Gorby Music in West Virginia. As a lone store retailer, Charlie was a regular attendee at the NAMM sh...
Gary Burton, the renowned vibraphonist, provided wonderful and detailed insight into the Musser Company that he has been linked with for most of his life. He traced the company’s history ...
Bob Bull held many positions throughout the music products industry over his long career. However, he is perhaps best known as the president of the Steinway & Sons piano company durin...
Herb Brochstein had a million stories about his long and successful career in the industry. One of these stories was about how he developed a new drumstick and formed ProMark, one of the ...
David Briggs is a great example that not all those in the music products industry enters into it because of their passion for music. David’s passion is business and he has developed one o...
Q David Bowers contributed greatly to the archiving of the music products industry. As an author, he researched and published several books on the early era of mechanical instruments. His...
Carl Bosse played an important role in the uncovering of our industry’s history when he sat down for our interview to discuss the Artley Flute Company. Since Mr. Artley had passed away in...
Lee Berk’s father had a unique approach to teaching music, bringing the passion and fun of music making into the classroom. The Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, was founded with th...
John Beltrandi served as a road rep for Kaman Music on the east coast for over 40 years. He traveled mostly in Massachusetts and Connecticut and helped pioneer the Ovation guitar, which w...
Dick Bell was surprised by the impact he had on the music industry, a fact that became clear to him at the NAMM Show 2009, when the Roland Corp gave him a retirement party and NAMM reques...
Ruby Beeston was a piano teacher when she suggested that a local piano store carry sheet music. The store offered her space to sell the materials, which led to her opening a small chain o...
Tom Beckmen opened a music store with his band director while still in college in 1958. The relationships he created in the store lead to a road salesman job with C. Bruno. He traveled th...
John H. Beck has an amazing talent for explaining the art of music making, not just teaching music, but providing meaning to the student in ways that fuel their passion. As the principal...
Larry Bearce formed Reston Music in northern Virginia in the 1960s and later opened several locations in the area. One key to the store’s success was the man himself. He was a dedicated m...
Robert Beals was just a young man when he first met Chick Evans. The two worked to perfect and promote Mr. Evan’s idea of a synthetic drumhead in the 1950s. Up until that time, drumheads ...
Susan Beacock walked into a shopping mall with her music director husband in 1978 and noticed a small empty shop. He suggested they open a music store with a focus on teaching studios. Su...
Dale Beacock grew up with a love of band music. After college he was hired as a band director and he felt as if his dreams had come true. He worked hard to design methods of teaching that...
William Bay grew up in the music business and like his father, contributed to the field of music method publications. Mel Bay was a pioneer in guitar method books, which he designed for ...
Abe Wollam was a close associate of Bud Reglein. Beginning in the 1940s, Abe worked with Bud at the jj Babbitt Mouthpiece Company out of Elkhart, IN. Abe developed strong engineering skil...
Greg Winther’s grandfather opened the Winther Music Company in downtown Boise, Idaho, just before World War II. The near-by streets would soon be covered with competitors, a fact Greg, wh...
Harold Winkler was raised in the music publishing industry. His father, Max Winkler, worked his way up from stock boy at Carl Fischer to be president of famed Belwin Music Publishing Com...
Don Wilson always enjoyed being around music, as a player, teacher, retailer, and as an award-winning baton twirler. He opened his music store in 1956 with the dream of running his busine...
Greg Way has had a long and successful career in the Canadian music retail industry and has been a strong advocate for music and music making throughout his career. As an owner of St. Jo...
Art Van Damme became one of the biggest stars of the 1950s with a 15-minute radio and TV program, a noted role in the NBC orchestra, and many miscellaneous recordings, all-centering on hi...
