Kim Koch has fond memories of driving to the family’s music store with her father, Bob Saied, and learning from him about the business side of the company. That inspiration stayed with he...
Roxie Hyatt was married to one of Leo Fender’s early sales representatives, Harold Hyatt. Harold first worked for his brother, Dale, who Leo hired in the late 1940s. After working for Dal...
Bob Brumley was the owner of Albert E. Brumley & Sons, a music publishing company established by his father in 1944. Albert E. Brumley was a gifted songwriter who often penned religio...
Dan Hein joined the rock band, The Flippers, in the early 1960s just as the group was starting out. With a strong influence from jump blues and soul bands, they added a horn section and c...
Randy Goodrum became well known in Nashville as a studio piano player. He has played on many albums for a wide range of performers while developing his skills as a songwriter. In 1977, Ra...
Al Bell was in the Stax recording studio in Memphis at the very moment Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed just a few blocks away. Ironically, the recording Al was produci...
Zach Phillips lives and breathes the music products industry, and this has led him into a role that appears to have been tailored specifically for him as the Director of Professional Deve...
Stuart Robertson is the Creative Director at NAMM with over 20 years of experience with the organization. With a passion for music and a talent in creating marketing and communications ma...
Eric Ebel is a Senior Project Manager for the Public Affairs and Government Relations department at NAMM. Working throughout the industry before taking a job at NAMM prepared Eric for a m...
Michael Mullens grew up in his father’s New England music store. He caught the music bug early and to the surprise of even his father, Michael also became a knowledgeable salesman while h...
Pete Johnston was a Video Director for NAMM when he raised his hand to volunteer to help with the production of the TEC Awards. The TEC Awards were new to the NAMM Show and the need to c...
Rick Marotta taught himself to play drums at the age of 19. Since then, he has made a name for himself in the music world. Rick has played with artists such as John Lennon, Paul Simon and...
Akira Jimbo, a drummer out of Japan, has been playing drums since he was 17. Akira has released over 10 solo albums throughout his career and has demonstrated a passion for education thro...
Deke Dickerson began his musical career when he started playing the saxophone, but quickly realized he was much more adept at playing the guitar. As a part of the affectionately named “68...
Russ Miller, drummer on more than 400 albums including Tina Turner, Hilary Duff, and Andrea Bocelli, has always had a passion for music. During his 2008 interview for the Oral History Pro...
Dafnis Prieto grew up in a musical neighborhood in Cuba where he quickly fell in love with the drums. During his 2008 NAMM Oral History Interview, Dafnis discussed some of his musical inf...
Rick DePiro fell in love with music when he first decided to play the organ at the young age of 10, getting his first official gig just a few years later playing the electric piano in his...
Daniel Keller is the founder of Get It In Writing and a strong advocate for promotion and marketing within and for the music industry. He has played bass since he was a teenager and built...
Allee Willis wrote a number of successful songs that have become part of the fabric of pop music. Allee either wrote or co-wrote songs such as “September” by Earth Wind & Fire, the th...
Phil Ranelin stood in line at school to pick an instrument for band. He really wanted the saxophone but when he got to the head of the line all the saxophones were gone and he was given a...
Les Brazil’s first retail job was in Manchester, United Kingdom in 1966 when he was just 15, at a shop called Reno’s. Reno was a famous violin player that worked with the likes of Stephan...
jj Babbitt Co. Inc. was established in 1919 by Jesse James Babbitt and as of 2019, as the family owned and operated company embarks on their 100th year in business, they are preparing for...
Sonny Wittkopp studied business in college and landed a job as a bookkeeper for a local music store in Washington state. This experience generated a great passion for the music industry w...
Don Wilson was a founding member of the instrumental rock band, The Ventures! He formed the band with his friend Bob Bogle. Shortly after their first hit, “Walk Don’t Run,” Nokie Edwards,...
Ken Hyams was a key franchise owner of Altec Lansing in the early days of consumer electronics. He worked for a Los Angeles retailer for audio, consumer-electronic, products in the late 1...
Normalu Cooper was inspired by her piano teachers as a young girl so she eventually began providing lessons in her father’s piano store when she was a teenager. Like her father, Normalu w...
Morris Diamond sat down with us for his NAMM Oral History interview at the age of 97 and recalled his career in music which started when he was 15 years old. He was hired to be the “band ...
Betty Bennett was inspired to pursue a career in music when she was brought along to gigs by her mother and was allowed to sing with her. After Betty’s first paying gig, making 50 cents f...
Bonnie Guitar produced a series of hit recordings for her label, Dolton, in the 1950s and 60s. Among the labels most popular acts were the Fleetwoods and the Ventures. Bonnie even recorde...
