Irwin Berg has a million great stories, like the one when Glenn Miller ensured that his father not serve in the infantry during World War II, but instead, design and manufacture all the m...
Gerhilde Benker served as president of Hofner Music, a firm founded by her grandfather Karl Hofner in 1864 in Eger, Germany. Her father, Walter, was the inventor of the Hofner bass, which...
Christian Benker has been an influential leader in the German musical instrument manufacturing industry. With fresh ideas and marketing skills he helped Hofner reinvent itself during the ...
Scott Baxendale is a noted guitar luthier who has crafted a unique career based on his own style of guitar building that echoes several of his favorite luthiers. While working for Mossman...
Winfried Baumbach came to represent the German musical instrument industry beginning in the 1980s. As the managing director of the European Music Industries Association, he has played a ...
Dave Bartholomew was a noted bandleader, trumpeter, and songwriter who captured a pioneering sound known as the “big beat” of rock and roll. His uncanny ability to provide the perfect mus...
Kyle Barker's journey in the piano retail industry began in 1969, when the esteemed Sherman & Clay Piano Company in Northern California welcomed him aboard. Steeped in a rich musical ...
Tom Baker began his career in the industry at Menchey Music outside of York, Pennsylvania, where he developed and managed the sheet music department. After 30 years, Tom is right where he...
Emile Baran began a music retail business that led to the opportunity for expanding into the music wholesale business. Emile formed DeKalb Music Supply, a music retail store in Decatur, G...
Rosemary Bailey was ten years old when Hammond hired her as a concert artist. Over the years, she took part in the growth of the organ market in the 1970s and had first-hand experiences b...
Dennis Awe is passionate about the organ! As a recording artist he has performed on many products, endorsing the Lowrey Organ for many decades. As a keen salesman, Dennis has written book...
Robert Averwater’s father, M. J. Averwater taught music, wrote a method book and opened up Amro Music in Memphis, TN, with a fellow music teacher. Robert recalled some of the challenges o...
Billy Ashbaugh remembers with a smile his first drum kit as a kid and the desire to play professionally almost from the very beginning. He learned the ropes as a sub drummer and studio pl...
Tim Angell grew up interested in the craft of woodworking. As a teenager he became interested in stringed instruments. With little woodworking opportunities in New Jersey, Tom and his wif...
Hans-Jorg Andre’s great great grandfather formed Musikhaus Andre Musikverlag Johann Andre in 1774. The company was the first to bring lithograph processes to the production of printed mus...
Whispering Bill Anderson began his music career as a songwriter penning the 1958 hit “City Lights” for Ray Price. Within a few years Bill was encouraged to sing some of his songs in his l...
Muriel Anderson sure puts her heart and soul into her music as both a performer and songwriter. Over the years the music products industry has been lucky to be closely associated with Mur...
Kurt Anderson, along with his sister and brother, took over the music publishing company formed by their parents and more importantly kept the flame of their father’s extraordinary music ...
Ian Anderson grew up in England during the 1960s and had a long list of guitar heroes who inspired him to play music. However, he found the power of people like Eric Clapton to be disconc...
Philipp Alexander is proud of his musical past. His family formed Musik-Alexander in Mainz, Germany in 1782. They began as brass instrument makers and later opened a music store while con...
Rufus Reid spoke eloquently of his musical mentor and friend, Eddie Harris. He recalled the passion for musical innovation that was so much apart of Eddie’s life. Rufus himself is constan...
George Fullerton befriended Leo Fender back in the days before Leo quit the radio repair business and started in the guitar making business. George worked for the Fender Guitar Company fr...
Jerry Weimer clearly enjoys talking about music! As a vital part of the business side of Bill Gather’s career, Jerry assisted in the expansion of Gather’s music and his publishing compan...
Denis Wick was only 25 years old when he became the principal trombonist for the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO). Over the next 30 years, he played with the LSO and other world class orch...
Marilea Zajec and her husband Victor became the historians for the Midwest Band Clinic and over the years collected and wrote of the importance of the annual events impact on music educat...
John Rajcic, a former educator joined the Kawai Company, becoming Vice President/General Manager of the world famous piano maker. John played a role in establishing Kawai Dealers across t...
Martin Szpiro's mother was the office manger and one of the first employees of JAM Industries, a Canadian wholesaler started by Marty Golden and Eddy Shenker in the early 70's. As the com...
Don Randall met Leo Fender before World War II when both men worked in radio repairs. After the war they decided to form a business together that would allow Leo to focus on developing a ...
Willi Zildjian has made many lasting contributions to the SABIAN Cymbal Company, which she formed along with her husband Bob back in 1981. However, her most noted is the naming of the com...
