Banjo
Gary Morse points out that playing a pedal steel guitar can be complicated. The pedal steel guitar has a series of levers and pulleys that when used often, such as in country music, require maintenance and tuning. Gary ought to know as he is one of the top studio musicians in Nashville, often...
Bob Smakula built his first dulcimer when he was 14 years old. Having grown up all around the roots music of West Virginia, Bob loved all aspects of musical instruments. Along with playing and building, he developed great skills at repairing all stringed instruments and took great joy in playing...
Daniel Puccio grew up in the music store his mom and dad ran in Corning, New York. As you might guess, the passion for music was passed along to Daniel at a young age. He played and later taught guitar in the store along with other instruments along the way. While earning his doctorate in music...
Otis Taylor can remember saving long and hard to purchase his first banjo from a small store in Denver, Colorado as a child. The instrument led him on a career path of playing blues and roots music that has supported him most of his life. He picked up the guitar and harmonica and toured the...
Bob Shane was among the most influential performers of the folk music boom of the late 1950s and 60s. As an original member of the Kingston Trio, Bob was at the cornerstone of the American folk explosion that helped define a generation and inspired millions to make music by picking up a guitar or...
Bob Riskin started working for McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica just a few years after it opened in 1958. Before long the shop was abuzz with the folk music boom and later played an equally important role in the folk-rock craze that expanded the shop to include electric guitars for the first...
Ralph Stanley was best known for his featured songs in the movie "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou," although his career began in the 1930s. He sang in church with his family and later hit the road with a small group to bring their unique style of country music to the world. He appeared on radio and...
Mac Yasuda played country music at an early age and fell in love with the style. He organized a band in Japan dedicated to country music. As his audiences grew, Mac was being asked more and more about where they too could get the type of guitars he was playing. He soon began dealing in musical...
Pete Seeger was the American folk icon who made it a personal goal to bring peace to the world by getting people to sing! His role in the folk music movement, beginning in the 1930's, forever changed the role music played in protest, celebration and sorrow. Within the music products industry,...
Richard Keldsen is the president of Saga Music in San Francisco, California. His first musical inspiration was hearing Earl Scruggs playing Bluegrass banjo for the first time. After two years in the Peace Corps, Richard had the opportunity to open a music store called the Fifth String in San...