This video vignette was created to serve as a tribute to Jazz guitarist Joe Beck (1945-2008). Joe was helpful in the early days of the NAMM Oral History Program but due to his health was ...
Vernon Porter can be heard playing bass on many Kenny Loggins recordings from 1981-1984, which is one of many crowning achievements of his career. It started when young Vernon was in the ...
Cindy Singer met her future husband, Danny, when they were young kids. They began dating in their late teens and were married soon after. Inspired by their love of dancing and music, they...
Karyadi Sutedja has a passion for playing music that began when he was eight years old, but he found greater satisfaction playing a behind-the-scenes role in music. He studied music produ...
John Waite was born in Lancaster, England and began playing ukulele at the age of four. In school he studied art and always felt that his music incorporated art at some level in addition ...
Doc Bochenek provided some interesting background on a number of important companies and instruments during his 2020 NAMM Oral History interview. Having worked with Moog Music, Doc was th...
Alan Barclay entered the music industry as a salesman, which is where his love of the industry developed. In 2003 he opened Absolute Music, an instrument retail store in England that inco...
Lloyd Baggs began his journey in music in forth grade as a cellist. After playing in youth symphonies he landed in the UCLA symphony while still in high school. Lloyd graduated from colle...
Roger Smith began playing the piano and singing in church at an early age, quickly falling in love with the way people reacted to the music he performed. He was introduced to the Hammond ...
Karrie Keyes grew up with a deep appreciation and understanding of art. She played in both band and orchestra at school. As a teenager in Los Angeles in the early days of the punk rock mo...
Mark Spring was presented the 2020 Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Award for his dedication and contribution to lighting design. His incredible career began on tour with Def Leppard and con...
Willem Van Dijk started his career with Gibson Guitars as a sales rep for their European branch in 2005. With a focus on his sales and technology background, Willem helped expand the comp...
Jim Fitzpatrick’s passion as an award-winning sound mixer can be traced back to fourth grade when he began playing trumpet and later trombone in the school band. During those early years ...
Oliver C. Brown was a member of KC and the Sunshine Band when they recorded their big disco hits that helped define an era of popular music. Oliver’s percussion instruments can be heard o...
Fred Armisen is an award-winning comedian and writer who was a cast member of Saturday Night Live from 2002-2013. Playing drums since he was a kid, Fred was heavily involved with punk roc...
Stefano Trabucchi’s father loved music and encouraged his son to play the violin when he was eight. Stefano was fascinated by the instrument and by thirteen wanted to build his own. The f...
Michael Strickland was paid $25.00 for lighting his first rock concert in 1968 at the age of twelve. He knew The Grass Roots were in town to perform so he borrowed the overhead projectors...
Donez McNeely sang in choir during her school days, following in the footsteps of her older sister who was a lead singer in a band. In 1980, Donez (whose name is derived by combining her ...
Paulo Nogueira is the co-owner of Americo Nogueira LDA along with his brother José. Their store in Portugal originally opened in 1860 and in 1947 their father began working at the store. ...
Drew Schlesinger started playing organ after seeing The Doors on The Ed Sullivan Show. While in college, Drew purchased his first Moog synthesizer and attended the Boston School of Electr...
Charles Wright had a desire to form a solid soul band that would take the drive of R&B and push it to the limits. With an amazing cast of musicians, Charles formed the Watts 103rd Str...
Hans Dörner grew up in the music town of Schönbach/Luby surrounded by musical instrument makers - including his grandfather the violin maker and tonewood dealer Joseph Trasny and his uncl...
Harald Lorenz is the fourth generation of peg turners originating from a traditional farming community named Ursprung/ Počátky in the Czech Republic. The family looks back on 125 years of...
Thomas Schreiber, grandson of Wenzel Schreiber, today runs his own repair shop and takes care of the woodwind instruments of several music schools in the region of Frankfurt. After an app...
Dr. Susanne Schnitzer shares her memories growing up in the Kirschnek family. Grandfather Franz Krischnek, founder of Kirschnek String Instruments, was a businessman with worldwide connec...
Roland Wilfer is a fourth generation master luthier of the Emanuel Wilfer Double Bass Master Workshop. The workshop was founded 1905 and is specialized in crafting fine double basses for ...
Rudolf Neudörfer, bow maker, grew up in the Czech Republic after 1945 and went to the Violin Making School in Luby, learning the craft of violin making from his teacher Bohumil Pechar and...
Bastian Teller is a bridge maker in the 5th generation. Since he was a child, Bastian wanted to step into his father Manfred’s footsteps. After receiving his state certified diploma for m...
Hagen Weise was born in Dresden. He shares his experience of his apprenticeship at Musima in a state run production in East Germany before 1989. Per day, four-hundred classical guitars we...
Norman Treitl’s grandfather was Otto Josef Klier, who established the Klira company to be the third largest music instrument production during Bubenreuth’s boom years. Norman Treitl can t...
