Stuart Spector’s creation of the Spector Bass is recognized around the world. As Stuart explained, little has changed in the design of the Spector guitar since it was first created in 19...
Gotthold Meyer became a very successful German wholesaler when he and his wife formed the 'Gotthold Meyer' company, which later on became 'Musik-Meyer'. His visionary thinking led to str...
Bob Moore’s bass can be heard on countless recordings made in Nashville during the 1950s through the 1980s. As a member of studio musicians known as the A Team, Bob played on recordings ...
Joseph Rashid studied the art of violin-making like few others. His goal was not to mass produce the instrument or even to sell them, but rather to hand-make the instruments based on sci...
Zeb Billings opened Billings Pianos in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1956 beginning a long and celebrated career in the music industry. With great success as a retailer, Zeb branched out into ...
Ernesto Gittli was born in Uruguay and moved to the U.S. as a small boy before he began taking piano lessons. He met his wife, who also taught music, and together they envisioned a music ...
Shep Shepherd co-wrote the now classic instrumental “Honky Tonk Part 2” while playing in the Bill Doggett band. The recording became a hit in the late 1950s and helped build a stronger ...
George Quinlan was proud of his store outside of Chicago, for which the walls are full of photographs of the children he rented or sold an instrument to, and the fact that he survived har...
Dick Richardson was working with the Lyons Band Instrument Company in Chicago in the early 1960s when he was given the chance to run the Musser vibraphone division of the company. Dick b...
Billy Shaw and his wife Donna opened Desert Piano in Palm Springs after working in a series of piano sales jobs, including one at Colton Piano where the couple met. Billy is well known ...
Charles McPherson has thoroughly enjoyed his life as a music maker. The jazz saxophonist was strongly influenced by the players of the big band era, such as Johnny Hodges who played in t...
Harry Benson became the president of William Lewis & Son when the company was under the ownership of Chicago Musical Instrument (CMI). Harry’s guiding principles resulted in the expan...
Lee O’Connor was a noted trombone player in the golden era of the big bands. His experience on the radio, traveling from town to town for name and territory bands, reflected the struggles...
Bob Seidman was born a salesman! Bob knew he loved selling before he was a teenager. One of his early jobs was selling women’s undergarments, but soon his attention turned to musical inst...
Gottfried Möckel recounted the effects World War II had on the German music publishing industry during his NAMM interview. Even after the war, products made by German companies were not s...
Louie Bellson was one of the World's premier drummers and listed in every jazz encyclopedia. Even with great success, he remained humble and was one of the true gentlemen of American popu...
Jacob Malta was an innovator in designing handbells and hand chimes. His approach to product development and engineering led to several important advancements in the tonal quality and man...
Bill Magee began playing electric blues guitar before it was popularized in the 1950s and 1960s. When he first began playing professionally Bill used a Fender Jazz Master and later playe...
Bob Luly built the first sound system for the Rolling Stones that they used in the United States. The system was created for the Orange Show in the 1960s and led Bill to build systems for...
George Lukas recalled, in great detail, when he was aboard a navy ship at the end of World War II and sitting down to play a blue-painted Steinway upright piano (also known as the Steinwa...
Elizabeth Ludwig-Fennell was always surrounded by music. As a child, she played piano. As a young adult, she helped develop the Ludwig Music Publishing Company. She later married the foun...
William F. Ludwig II was proud of the company his father started, largely based on the 1909 patented bass drum pedal, which allowed the drummer to sit down for the first time. Bill follow...
Geoffrey Lorenz is a passionate music publisher who is rather proud of his family's history in the print business. And he should be! The Lorenz family ushered many firsts in the world of ...
Dennis Lord gained fame in the country music field as the co-writer of Travis Tritt’s breakthrough hit “I’m a Member of the Country Club (Country Music is what I love).” After years of re...
Trini Lopez became an early Latin-American pop singer with a string of recordings in the late 1950s and 60s including "If I Had a Hammer" and "Lemon Tree." Frank Sinatra took him under hi...
Don Lombardi is the founder of Drum Workshop, who formed the company at the age of 26 with the goal of providing teaching facilities for young drummers in Santa Monica. Don had the opport...
William Locke worked for the Canadian division of the C.F. Martin & Company going back to the early 1970s. During that same time period, several suppliers came together to form the Mu...
Michael Lloyd is among the most prolific recording producers of the 1970s and 80s. His long list of successes include the Dirty Dancing movie soundtrack and Debbie Boone’s 70s mega hit “Y...
Arthur Linter had many stories to share, like the one about his real birthday. “My mother told me, ‘Your birthday is March 14, 1913, but it says April 5 on your birth certificate because ...
