Jacinta Brunkala grew up taking piano lessons, without even owning a piano. She would use a friend’s piano when she could, but would often pretend with a set of keys she made out of cardb...
John Tedeschi started playing music again when his son took up the saxophone in the school band and needed someone to practice improvisation with. John had been playing the guitar since h...
Françoise Dahod was born and raised in France, and remembers classical music often being played around the house. In her 20s, she came to the United States and was first introduced to new...
Marilyn Shepard taught music in public schools for thirty-five years. Ever since she was young, she was involved in making music, along with her twin sister, as well as collecting instrum...
Trish Gapik has been volunteering at the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music for quite some time now, and could not have wished for anything better. Her aunt was a singer during WWII...
Joyce Schmauder says that her favorite part about volunteering at the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music is the people. From the young kids to the seniors, Joyce enjoys interacting ...
Elliot Easton often visited Grayson's Music in Long Island, New York as a kid. He ordered his first custom left handed electric guitar from Mr. Grayson, who always treated Elliot with kin...
Ray van Straten began his love of music when his parents bought him a kids piano when he was four years old. He went on to study classical piano performance, as well as jazz arranging wit...
Gina Bergmann was introduced to music at a young age, and attended a music school while growing up in Chicago, Illinois. When a Sam Ash music store opened up in her neighborhood, Gina got...
Adriana Flores proudly represents the third generation in her family to run Alamo Music in San Antonio, Texas. The store was established by her grandfather Alfredo Flores Sr. (1908-2014) ...
John Carpanini worked side by side with Robert Wilson at Sound Technology for just over 18 years. Perhaps considered a baptism of fire? The job was John’s introduction to the industry and...
Ron Losby was classically trained on the piano and began his love of the music industry by providing free lessons at Sherman Clay’s retail chain. He later worked within the Wurlitzer musi...
Karl Winkler began playing the viola in the fourth grade and got accepted into the local youth orchestra two years later. His first job in the music industry was working for Howard Beaver...
Ralph-Joerg Wezorke became active in the pro lighting industry in 1975. He is the founder of pro-lighting company Lightpower. The company was formed in 1978 in Paderborn, Germany and soon...
Jim Washburn took on a writing assignment as a journalist for a newspaper about the electric guitar, which led to a series of books and articles that has documented a significant chapter ...
Tommy Morgan played a significant role in elevating the importance and reputation of the harmonica in television, recordings, and motion pictures. Over his 63 year career, Tommy contribut...
Kevin Mitchell wrote the MMR cover story in 2009 dedicated to the NAMM Oral History program and has been a strong advocate and supporter ever since! His background in music (he played the...
Billy J. Kramer took part in the British Invasion, coming to America and performing a number of his hit songs on the Ed Sullivan Show, just like four of his friends from Liverpool did a f...
Daniel Ho happily participated in the ukulele boom of the early 2000s. He grew up playing Hawaiian music and studied composition at the Grove School of Music. When given the change to hel...
Barry "Foz" Fasman wrote over 30 songs for the NBC television series FAME, which resulted in the sale of over 4 million records and opened the doors to several other successful projects. ...
Santa Davis began playing drums as a child in Kingston, where he witnessed the growth and development of Reggae in Jamaica playing alongside Bob Marley. His playing career began when Ska ...
Juan Croucier toured the world as a rock and roll star as an original member of Ratt! He began performing bass in Hollywood in 1973, which lead to friendships that would later become the ...
Steve Churchyard grew up reading the liner notes of album covers and studying the names of the engineers and studios, which somehow fascinated him just as much as the recording artist. Wi...
Eric Burdon participated in the British Invasion of the 1960s as an original member of The Animals. It was an exciting time in music that brought popularity to rock bands from England to ...
Bruce Botnick was the recording engineer for The Doors’ last album with Jim Morrison, LA Woman, which followed earlier studio works with Arthur Lee and Love as well as The Ventures. In 19...
Kenny Aronoff gained a worldwide fan base as the drummer for John Cougar Mellencamp from 1980 until 1996. He conducted countless clinics in music stores from coast to coast and enjoyed lo...
Robbie Robertson was a member of the rock group The Band, which backed Bob Dylan and went on to record a string of hit songs, many of which Robbie wrote. During his NAMM Oral History inte...
Phyllis Webb and her husband, Dale, formed The Magic Fluke Company in 1999. The company began making ukuleles in the basement of their home in New Hartford, Connecticut. They were inspir...
Dale Webb wanted to create a new design for the ukulele with the hope that it would inspire more people to play a musical instrument. His Fluke did exactly that! The instrument was intr...
Mitzi Meyer-Phelan grew up in the music store her parents formed. She realized as a teen that the music industry was in her blood and she recalls, with a smile, working with customers to ...
