Milton Thomas has had a long and well-respected career in the music products industry. Milt served as National Sales Manager/Director of Marketing for the Lowrey Organ Company before beco...
Robert Street grew up in the piano business. In 1914, Robert’s grandfather, Claude P. Street, opened his first music store in Nashville, Tennessee. Claude was certain that a successful bu...
Dan Strait moved his family to Austin, TX,from Houston to open a Baldwin piano franchise back in 1963. The company was called Strait Piano and Organ and Dan’s motto was “Where customers b...
Jim Slutz served as the Professor of Music Business at Indiana State University before his retirement in 2004. Former NAMM President Mr. F.D. "Bud" Streep from Orlando was the first perso...
Denny Senseney is a passionate music retailer who began his career as a band director. When he formed Senseney Music in 1984, he sought to provide the service to band directors that he fe...
Webb Phillips formed the Allied Piano Company outside of Philadelphia with the goal of filling a need. As a piano technician it was hard to find reliable products that you can trust, so W...
John Page is the founder of a guitar company in Sunny Valley, Oregon, which produces hand made instruments. John Page Guitars, formed in 2006 by John and his wife Dana, is just one of the...
Walt Johnston was best known throughout the industry for his role in introducing the Pearl Drum Company to the United States. After a gig selling band instruments, Walt was hired by CMI t...
Ron Marquez formed Aquarian Accessories with jazz drummer Roy Burns back in 1980. Together they developed several successful products including a series of popular drumheads. Ron establis...
John Stowell has been a strong supporter of the music industry as a jazz guitarist and has performed at the NAMM show over the years as well as at the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making ...
Karl Pucholt and Lars Seifert have helped bring C. A. Seydel Sohne back to the forefront of the industry once again. The historic harmonica manufacturer, located in Klingenthal, Germany, ...
Ago (Alan) Koerv joined the Wurlitzer Company in 1960 as Chief Financial Officer after working as a consultant for the instrument maker’s annual reports. Located in the DeKalb headquarter...
Laurence Juber, like so many kids in the 1960s, began playing guitar soon after hearing the Beatles for the first time. He couldn’t dream that one day his talents as a guitarist would all...
Leita Jolly was celebrating her 100th birthday the week she was interviewed in 2003. On the occasion, she played the piano for her friends with her ragtime flare. In 1917, while World War...
Dr. Mable John played many roles for a wide variety of people. She was a singer, songwriter, arranger, producer, author, educator, leader, minister, mentor, and friend. Her career as a ba...
Ray Jent sought to bring service to the Lubbock, Texas, community when he opened a music retail store just after serving in World War II. Ray worked closely with the school band directors...
Art Jenson was known throughout the music industry for establishing Jenson Publishing in 1977. The company became one of the nation’s largest educational music publishers with a focus on ...
Stanley Jay always admired rare and special fretted musical instruments, so it came as no surprise when he and his friend, Haf Kuffner, opened a guitar shop on Staten Island in New York. ...
Dennis James recalls with a smile the day he visited Colton Piano as a teenager. He later worked for Colton founder, Vern Schaffer, getting the experience and training for the career he h...
Grover Jackson grew up outside of Nashville, TN and developed a strong and lasting passion for music, not just playing it in noted bands, but in designing instruments to achieve creative ...
Dale Hyatt was hired by Leo Fender while the iconic guitar builder was still a radio repairman in Fullerton, CA. The year was 1948. Dale recalled all of the major landmarks that helped es...
Joe Hume was a veteran school band director before he opened Hume Music located in Kansas. His love of school bands continued as a retailer and as such he established new bands and expand...
Richard Myrland was a wizard, just as his name suggested! As a product designer for Wurlitzer, Dick created the famed 1050 juke box. With his devotion to the “Wurlitzer Way” credo, he, as...
Scotty Moore set a date and time on July 4, 1954, to get together with a young singer who wanted to record with Sam Philips at Sun Records in Memphis. Sam asked Scotty, who had recorded w...
Tommy Moore was introduced to the music industry by his father, Woods Moore, who operated Ault’s Music store in Fort Worth, TX. After earning a degree in finance, Tommy returned to the st...
Ruth Ann Melk recalled the days when her husband’s father would design specialized tools for the repair of musical instruments, which her husband, Phil Jr, soon developed into a full time...
Owen McPeek always wanted to play music, so he found several day jobs that allowed him to play music at night. He ran Rush’s Music on Alcoa Highway in Knoxville, Tennessee, for over a dec...
William McNamara reported to Mr. Alfred LaMotte, a true legend in the music products industry when Bill was first hired by Thearle’s Music stores in San Diego in the 1930s. Mr. LaMotte wa...
H. C. McMurtry sure knew a lot about the Wurlitzer Company! Not only did he work for the company for nearly 20 years, he traveled throughout the country, selling the company’s product l...
John McLaren Sr. served as the president of BBE Sound, which develops pro audio gear. The company purchased G&L Guitars and has been dedicated to keeping the spirit of the founders an...
