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...
Marsha Berman grew up in a home filled with music. Her mother sang and her father played, so she was encouraged to play piano. She took lessons until college, at which point she studied m...
Fred Bramante formed the music retail store Daddy’s Junky Music on the East Coast and went on to play a vital role on the NAMM Board during a dynamic period in the association’s history. ...
Terry Bingley was a leader in the Canadian Music Products Industry for several decades. He began his career when he formed a music retail store before working with Yamaha and, later, serv...
Frank Bilz applied his passion for music into the expansion of the Markneukirchen Germany music school programs entitled Musicon Valley. As Marketing Director of the school, which is loca...
Paolo Fazioli heard a special piano sound in his head and yet was unable to find an instrument that was capable of producing the sound, so he built his own pianos. Beginning in 1978, he d...
Lucien Wulsin’s grandfather was taught the piano business by D. W. Baldwin, the founder of the world-famous piano company. What he learned was passed down to his son, who, like his father...
BR Wexler was the president of Wexler Music Company, the leading manufacturer of symphonic batons. The company also produces a wide range of accessory products. Established by his father,...
Parham Werlein followed in the footsteps of his father, grandfather and great-grandfather as president of Werlein’s For Music in New Orleans, Louisiana. Like his predecessors, Parham also...
Donald Waxman is a noted composer who served as editor at Galaxy Music Publishing Corp., as well as several positions on the ASCAP and MPA Boards over the years. He is best known for his...
Bernie Vance played the saxophone in a number of big bands during the swing era. He was drafted and served during World War II, only to come home and find that musical tastes had changed....
Fred Theriault recalls the first time he set foot in Long & McQuade’s Music Store. He was still a teen and bought a snare drum from Jack McQuade; ironically Fred later was hired and h...
Eddy Shenker teamed up with Marty Golden in the mid 1970s to form JAM Industries. The distribution company has become one of the largest in Canada and introduced the market to a number of...
