Marty Stuart grew up in the small town of Philadelphia, Mississippi surrounded by country music, which he taught himself to play on a family guitar when he was 12 years old. Marty soon le...
Brendan Murphy is the fourth generation of Murphys to hold an executive position with the M. Steinert & Sons Company, which follows three generations of Steinerts. For most of that ti...
Stephen Webber is a professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and helped create the Music Production/Engineering program. After working at Mid South Recording Studio in Nashvill...
Chris Noyes began studying guitar at the age of 8, taking lessons at a Washington DC area music store. The bands he played in as a kid often included politicians, in fact one band played ...
David Mash studied guitar in much the same way his mother studied the piano. He was focused on the classical traditions and even took lessons from Andre Segovia. His mother was a student ...
Neil Leonard began playing saxophone at a young age and it's no wonder, his father was a noted Jazz historian and author. After being greatly influenced by the Pink Floyd album "Dark Side...
Billy Arnold played drums behind several Motown recordings including those with saxophonist, Junior Walker. While he often played a Gretsch kit, Billy never fussed about having to set up ...
Don (DJ) Johnson joined the Ovation Guitar Company in 1968, just about the time Glen Campbell was introducing the unique round-back instrument on national television. DJ worked for the fo...
Peggy Falcetti and her husband, Sam, opened Falcetti Music in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1957. Since that time, Peggy and Sam have been very active in many community music programs. Pe...
David Frederick was working for ARP Synthesizers in the early 1970s when he had an idea to create a special musical experience for the trade show in Chicago. He called it the NAMM JAM and...
Hyman Peller, in 1975, left a corporate job in NJ and moved to upstate, NY. Once there he found employment in a music store, a job for which he says he was unqualified. The owner set abou...
Joe Mullens has always had a strong passion for music, and made the decision one day to turn that passion into a career. He worked as a store manager for a local music shop chain until th...
Larry Dalton started playing drums at a young age after seeing The Beatles on TV. His love for music stayed with him, and he began playing in multiple bands and went on many tours in Euro...
Rick Nelson got into the music industry by parking cars at the famous Greater Boston jazz club, Lennie’s-on-the-Turnpike. This job allowed him to make great connections, and eventually go...
Don Puluse played clarinet as a young student and went on to play in the Marine Band. He soon began to study recording engineering and joined AES in 1958. Less than a decade later, Don fo...
Tony Santorella opened his own music publishing company just north of Boston after learning the trade from the iconic publisher Charles Hansen. Tony was an All State trumpet player who st...
Emilio Lyons would often have his well-known customers such as Stan Getz and Benny Carter meet him at his home whenever they needed work done on their saxophone. Emilio was the manager fo...
Tom Gauger was a regular member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for over 40 years and taught percussion at Boston University for over 30 years. Over those decades, he developed several m...
Michael Doucet has become an important link to the roots of Cajun music, not only because he has written and performed the musical style since he was 6 years old, but because of the month...
Bob Stroger found himself on stage at a blues club as a teenager not sure exactly what to do. He had an electric bass in his hand and laid down the bass parts he heard on his Jimmy Reed r...
Ramsey Lewis had a monster hit record with his jazz version of "The In Crowd." The song, which is considered to be the quintessential instrumental jazz hit of the 60s, led to a series of ...
Paul Hamer has a fascinating background that includes giving guitar lessons to Bob Gand back in the late 1960s. Being surrounded by fellow guitarists and having design ideas to improve th...
Rich Covas owned Modern Music store's three locations for thirteen years beginning in 1966. The locations covered band and orchestra instruments as well as guitar, keyboards, and drums. T...
Bob Koester was the founder of the Delmark label who began recording blues and jazz in 1953 in St. Louis. He later moved to Chicago where he helped define the music scene by recording art...
Rick Nielsen is among the very few rock stars who grew up in a music store! His story and background is perfect for the NAMM Oral History program as it ties together a professional career...
Shane Fontayne grew up in England and came to the United States for the first time in 1976. He has recorded and performed with a long list of musical greats including Joe Cocker, Van Zant...
Ivor Davis was working as the foreign correspondent for the London Daily Express when he was assigned to travel with the Beatles. He joined the Fab Four during the summer of 1964 in San F...
Betty Wright was three years old when she was placed on a pile of phone books in a studio in order to reach the microphone when her family recorded gospel music. She began writing songs v...
Fred Rubin ran one of the most active and successful music stores in Miami. His father opened Ace Music in 1955 and Fred grew up in the store. When he took over the business, Fred continu...
Rob Roy was playing in a band and recording some of their songs when he met Tony Bongiovi who offered to help Rob. Tony had just moved from New York to Florida and was looking for a proje...
