Composer/Songwriter
Jane Traum and her husband Happy, are the founders of Homespun Music, which for decades has offered a growing collection of musical instrument training classes. Happy began with a new classical guitar program, which at the time was released on cassette tape. Today the expanded programs are offered...
Dave Brubeck played Baldwin Pianos for most of his long career. As a classically trained performer, he added poly-rhythmic concepts to jazz. Among his most celebrated recordings is the world famous “Take Five.” While he never caught the teaching bug, he was greatly influential on countless...
Terence James Thompson played the clarinet just as his father and grandfather did. Terence played clarinet in the British Army after World War II and in 1948 attended the Birmingham School of Music. He began to teach in a Birmingham area high school in 1950. He quickly discovered that he was unable...
Dennis Lord gained fame in the country music field as the co-writer of Travis Tritt’s breakthrough hit “I’m a Member of the Country Club (Country Music is what I love).” After years of refining the craft of songwriting, he had finally gained the success he wanted and yet he realized a life as a...
Donald Waxman is a noted composer who served as editor at Galaxy Music Publishing Corp., as well as several positions on the ASCAP and MPA Boards over the years. He is best known for his contributions to piano pedagogy and educational method books for first time piano students. He was the...
Michael Lloyd is among the most prolific recording producers of the 1970s and 80s. His long list of successes include the Dirty Dancing movie soundtrack and Debbie Boone’s 70s mega hit “You Light Up My Life.” Michael has been equally innovative in the use in his recordings of electronic musical...
Steve Porcaro vividly recalls watching the Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan television program in February 1964 and having the sense that his life would never be the same. After forming several bands with his now famous brothers, Steve became a member of the band Toto, playing keyboards and...
Gershon Kingsley composed several hit recordings using the Moog synthesizer in the very early days of electronic music. His mega hit “Popcorn” in 1969 led to a series of pioneering electronic recordings by Gershon, including “God is a Moog” and “Belly Buttons,” which featured a Fairlight...
Bert Turetzky likes telling stories in his playing. He likes to make his listeners think about new ideas and in doing so he often creates a way for people to feel something they may not have felt without his music. When Burt plays his bass your soul needs to listen. As a teacher and educator, Burt...
Midge Ure was on stage for the two largest musical events in the World! As co-founder of Live Aid in 1985 and Live 8 in 2005, Midge created the venue to raise millions of dollars to feed the hungry all over the planet. In 1984, he wrote what became the anthem to this cause, “Feed the World, Do They...