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...
Prenta Ljucovic immigrated to the United States from Yugoslavia in 1973. A friend from back home suggested that she seek a job with Steinway & Sons, especially given her pervious trai...
Michael Mohr recalls Vladimir Horowitz coming to the house when he was a child, and he was just like a member of the family. The great maestro was a friend of Michael's father, who was tr...
Adam Ash likes to joke that he never attended sleep away camp during the summers from school as his summer months were spent in the store, and he wouldn't have had it any other way! Adam'...
David Ash recalls the story where his grandmother hocked her wedding ring to help fund the family's store, Sam Ash Music. David's parents and brothers have followed in growing the busines...
Judd Goldrich and his brother worked alongside their father, Henry, in the store his grandfather Manny opened in New York City. Manny's became the hub of musical retailing and Judd grew u...
Steve Prisco has been active in music since he was 14 years old playing trumpet for the school band program. He studied graphic design and worked on the early computer desk top publishing...
Derek Ash recalls that every family gathering always included talk of the music store. After all, Derek's great-grandfather was the founder of the family's business, Sam Ash Music. Thanks...
Jeff Saltzman has been involved with the violin since being introduced to the Suzuki Method when he was a child. His grandfather and father both worked as wholesalers in musical instrumen...
Larry Nitka grew up listening to the big bands as his father was a sideman during the great Swing Era. His father, Artie Nitka, became a well-regarded authority on the recorder, writing m...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Grady Tate was a prolific jazz drummer who laid the beat fo...
Clinton Muntean went back to school at Full Sail University at the age of 27 in order to get the foundational education to enter the recording engineering field. After graduating, Clinton...
Ken Dattmore is the Marketing Manager for Yamaha within the strings department, which has been his passion for his entire career. He started in the industry with the William Lewis & ...
