This is the full length NAMM Oral History interview with Tsutomu Katoh, which was captured on October 16, 2006. For his biography and web clip, please follow the link: https://ww1.namm.or...
Abel Sanchez is the noted restoration expert for such piano brands as Steinway and Chickering. Abel was born and raised in northern Mexico on the cattle ranch along with seven brothers. B...
Dave Shadoan is the president of Sound Image, one of the largest Live Sound companies in the world. His longtime partner and good friend, Ross Ritto, formed Silverfish Audio with Joel Sil...
Jody Stephens, along with three of his friends, formed the influential rock band Big Star and went on to recording several albums with the band. The band cut their early demos and all of ...
Jerry Masters grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he heard his mother playing piano in church as far back as he could remember. After serving in the US Army, Jerry formed his own rock...
Larry Byrom recalls hearing Louis Armstrong as a young kid and wanting to play the trumpet, so he did for a few years. Then, he saw Chet Atkins on television and by 14 years old began pla...
Kevin Lamb distinctly remembers sitting in a music class when the subject of music publishing came up and thinking, "I never want to do that." After some forty years in the music publishi...
Donna Jean Godchaux was the only female singer with the Grateful Dead (on stage and on recordings) from 1971 until 1979. In fact, she was the first female singer with the group and was on...
Gary Baker watched the Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan Show along with his brother. The two became so engrossed by music that his brother bought Gary a Silver Tone Guitar from Sears. T...
Spooner Oldham was a studio musician down in Muscle Shoals, Alabama before becoming a noted songwriter. Spooner's keyboard skills can be heard on such classic records as "You'd Better Mov...
Alan Schulman was a freelance recording engineer who worked in many of the top studios in Muscle Shoals and Nashville. Bassist Norbert Putnam called Alan, "Mr. Golden Ears" for his skillf...
Steve Marcantonio began working as an assistant engineer in the New York Record Plant in 1978. He worked on the Blues Brothers project as well as with John Lennon and Yoko. Sadly, Steve w...
John McBride purchased the Creative Recording Studio in Nashville in 2002 and changed the name to Blackbird Studios. The now famous studio has recorded an amazing number of top performers...
Manuel Delgado is proudly following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather as a luthier of musical instruments. His grandfather began making classical guitars in 1928 and since th...
Wayne Moss is the Nashville studio musician who, in 1961, built the Cinderella Recording Studios. Since that time several top recordings were captured in the studio including those by art...
Marty Lanham first moved to Nashville in the early 1970s from San Francisco and soon set up his first workshop. He worked for Gruhn Guitars as a repairman for eight years while fine-turni...
Glenn Treibitz purchased Hollywood Piano from the original owners which was established in 1928. As the “go to” piano store for movies and television, Hollywood Piano has provided pianos ...
Rick Santos enjoyed music from a very young age, played guitar, and after college he went into the banking world where a chance encounter with a local music retailer led him to buy a musi...
Kevin Becka started playing guitar at 11 years old and aspired to become a famous guitar player. Eventually realized he had a passion for engineering while working on construction crews b...
Billy Cox played bass alongside Jimi Hendrix as a member of Band of Gypsies. Besides his work with Hendrix, Billy recorded alongside the likes of Sam Cooke, Charlie Daniels, Little Richar...
Bobby Bare Sr. began writing songs as a teenager and landed a hit record with the talking blues song "All American Boy" in 1958 when Bobby was just 18 years old. He followed that recordin...
Paul Decker found his passion for music while learning to play the drums as a child and growing up in his dad’s music store, which he eventually purchased from him. The current location w...
Michael Spriggs is a session guitarist who got his start at the age of 14 when he joined “The Rogues”. In 1971 Michael moved to Nashville where he played with Eddie Rabbitt. With over 35 ...
Charley Pride was born one of 11 children in Sledge, Mississippi. Although he enjoyed music as child and learned to pick out songs on guitar by ear, Charley had a desire to be a professio...
John Logan became hooked on the Folk music craze and picked up the banjo as a result of the inspiration he felt from the genre. While attending the University of Tennessee, he formed a fo...
Ernie Cefalu started his career in advertising and quickly found a niche as an artist, creative director, and graphic designer. He is the force behind much of the iconic album art, workin...
Chuck Perl and his childhood friend, Steven Bender, formed Ambico Incorporated in 1967 to supply music stores with a line of products and accessories. Their first big success came with gu...
John Monteleone grew up on Long Island, New York - the perfect spot for absorbing the rich history of the arch-top guitar. He studied the instrument and became a well-respected and sought...
Bill Youse is proud of the fact that his grandfather, George, worked in the Steinway & Sons piano factory on Long Island as did his father before Bill joined the company in 1973. Bill...
Wally Boot spent 52 years working in the Steinway & Sons piano factory on Long Island New York! As it turns out, Wally was born on Steinway Street, just down the road from the factory...
