Ted Krumwiede was a veteran of the piano industry working for Kimball and Story & Clark in the important re-birth of the piano business following World War II. Ted had training and a ...
Ann Jones was interviewed alongside Dick Dolan, the president of QRS, a company known around the world for their piano rolls. As CFO, Ann has been with QRS since the 1980s. She has played...
Mickey Jent opened a small music store in Lubbock, Texas after World War II with her husband, Ray, after his return from military service. The store became a hub for local musicians inclu...
Hal Harrower designed his first double neck instrument in 1987, a 6-string guitar and a 4-string bass. Using the Steinberger system, that first instrument built by Hal not only looked dif...
Dr. John Chowning is known throughout the world for his discovery of FM sound synthesis, which, when used in the context of electronic musical instruments, provided an alternative to the ...
AV (Bam) Bamford was a colorful country music producer originally from Cuba. During the mid-1930s, he owned and operated a string of radio stations, mostly in the southern United States. ...
Robert and Willi Zildjian were interviewed together at the NAMM show in Anaheim on January 18, 2006, the year which marked the 25th anniversary of their cymbal company. SABIAN, whose name...
Johnny Wright was among the most popular of the traveling country bandleaders during the big band era. Blending his country music roots with a slight bluegrass feel, Johnny’s band was the...
John Worthington began as an engineer in the early days of the Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI), and, in fact, helped program the MIDI time code. John also worked at Apple Comp...
Gerald Wilson was among the great arrangers of jazz, beginning back in the swing era when he worked for the famed Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra. He established a distinctive style rich in me...
Roger Williams was known throughout the world for his countless albums and top ten hits as a solo pianist. He had a remarkable career in bridging rock and roll and in incorporating jazz a...
Joe Wilder endorsed many musical products during his long career as a trumpeter. In the later part of his life he was very satisfied with the Buescher horns, but had a collection of other...
Gerald “Wig” Wiggins was a world renowned composer, arranger and jazz keyboardist. As an early pioneer in playing jazz on the Hammond B-3 organ, Wig had a strong interest in new and inven...
George Westjohn was hired by Lowell Samuel to oversee the expansion of Mr. Samuel’s interests in the wholesale music business. Mr. Samuel, a former band director, started a music store in...
Jack Westheimer was among the first industry leaders interviewed for the NAMM archives back in July 2002. Four years later we had the unique opportunity to complete a second interview wit...
Eleanor West and her husband Pearl established a music store in Iowa City just a year after getting married in 1940. Eleanor was the bookkeeper in the early years of West Music Company an...
Paul Wertico grew up in Chicago with a passion for music making. At the age of 15 he landed his first professional gig as a drummer and never set the sticks down. As an award winning musi...
Paul Werkheiser often says he would never trade his memories of the years he worked for the C.F. Martin & Company. He expressed the family-like relationships he had and the pleasure i...
Billy Wennlund and his brother Don made up one of the most iconic sales teams in the music products industry. Don was the salesman, the guy with the pitch and Billy knew the products insi...
Kitty Wells has been crowned the First Lady of Country Music for her pioneering style and impressive string of hit recordings beginning in the 1940s and continuing into the mid 1960s. For...
Richard Webb’s grandfather opened a pawnshop in England and his father, Sydney, developed a small music division within the shop some 20 years later. Since the age of 12, Richard thought ...
Claude Watson was a precise and revered luthier who perfected the fine art of handcrafted instrument building. He was known for his clever design and complex inlay work in country-style ...
Allan Ward has enjoyed nearly 40 years in the print music industry. He has become one of the leaders in promotion and education regarding sheet music purchasing and retail selling. Allan ...
John B. Walker was a well-recognizable character of the music products industry having been a piano mover most of his career. He enjoyed success and friendship but is perhaps most proud o...
Dan Vedda grew up playing music. As an arranger and trumpeter he gained a respected reputation in the Westlake area of Ohio. After working for a music retailer in town he was encouraged b...
Johnny Thompson had the distinction of being the very first music student of a young steel guitar player named Ernie ball. Back in the early 1950s, before he established a string company,...
Vinny Testa was the founder of Testa Communications, which he established in 1984 to provide the music products industry with such trade magazines as The Music & Sound Retailer and DJ...
Millie Swanson was known as “The Sweetheart of Wurlitzer.” She joined the company in 1931 as an office clerk while still in high school. Over the years, as Wurlitzer grew into the largest...
Murray Sunshine was a legend in the New York music retailing business. As an employee of Manny’s Music, hired by Manny himself, Murray witnessed first hand the growth of 48th Street as a ...
Henry Z. Steinway was quite articulate when speaking about the incredible history of the Steinway and Sons Piano Company. One could say that he lived all elements of being a Steinway as t...
