Ikutaro Kakehashi
Glenn Dodson played bass for a band he started with his schoolmates called Purple Haze. The band was high class, right down to their purple shirts! It was a fun experience that provided an entry into the music industry when Glenn took a “real job” at CBS Musical Instruments to supplement his...
John Egan was working for Ford Motor Company when his old friend and former colleague, Peter Hayward called him. Peter had formed a music wholesale company, which was expanding by the late 1970s and John joined the company as it brought on several key product lines including Ernie Ball Strings,...
Palmi Snorrasen grew up in Iceland and was formally trained on the trombone, vibraphones, and accordion as a teenager. By his eighteenth birthday, Palmi was playing professionally and he later moved to Australia in 1961 and by the end of the decade was working in music retail. He purchased and...
Makoto Muroi's passion for music began in school when he played the French Horn. He studied computers in college and worked on microcomputer development. While working on drum machines at Roland, Mr. Kakehashi suggested to Makoto that he explore how video and music can better work together with...
George Kirkwood joined the Rodgers Instrument Corp. in the engineering department just five years after the company was formed by Rodgers Jenkins and Fred Tinker. Beyond his fourth year with the company, George became Product Engineer on a number of key innovations and product lines for the...
Erik Gramkow started his career in the music business with piano manufacturer Brødr Jørgensen. When Eric joined the company the focus was on importing music instruments to Scandinavia. Hammond organ kits were imported from the United States and assembled in Denmark, making it possible to export to...
Lynda Garcia is first and foremost a music teacher, which was not only her background but her life’s passion. As she taught, Lynda developed methods and materials that assisted individuals as well as groups learn and develop as musicians. Teaming with other educators, notably Brenda Dillon, she...
Leon Russell was the noted musician and songwriter who contributed greatly to popular and rock music during his long career. As a studio musician, Leon was active in the development of the Linn Drum Machine having provided Roger Linn with several ideas to create new sounds, such as the hand clap...
Brian Nunney was born in Cheltenham, England, and served in the Royal Air Force for four years before he was hired by the Littlewoods Department store. The company purchased a small music store and asked Brian to run it –as a result he found himself in the music industry. After working in music...
Michael Heuser recounted his early meetings with Mr. Ikutaro Kakehashi, the founder of Roland Corporation during his NAMM interview. The two men worked on product ideas as well as the goal of creating a branch of Roland in Switzerland. Michael headed the efforts as president of Roland Switzerland...