Interview Performance
David Lindley grew up close to the Folk Music Center in Claremont, California, where he was exposed to stringed instruments from around the world. He also worked for Berry Grassmuek Music in Pasadena, CA, which had a large selection of world music recordings that he would take into their listening...
Ellen Harper Verdries grew up in a music store! Her parents, Dorothy and Charles Chase, formed their first store in Massachusetts before moving to Southern California in 1958. The Folk Music Center of Claremont has served the community for over 50 years providing an amazing variety of unique and...
Ketty Lester sang several ballads while in a recording studio in Los Angeles in 1963, under the assumption that the point of the session was an audition to explore her musical range and style. In fact, that session was recorded to tape and at the very end when the producer asked for one more song...
Derek Brown is best known for playing the style of music known as Beatbox Sax. This way of playing the saxophone incorporates percussive playing techniques that were developed by Derek. He grew up in southwest Michigan and graduated from Hope College with a degree in jazz and classical performance...
Benjamin Scheuer is a musician and songwriter who specializes in combining his passions for all style of music and musical theater to express himself. He began songwriting at a young age and realized early on that it was what he wanted to do with his life. In 2014, Benjamin wrote and performed The...
Doc Bochenek provided some interesting background on a number of important companies and instruments during his 2020 NAMM Oral History interview. Having worked with Moog Music, Doc was the one to sell the synthesizers that Disney used to create the music for the Main Street Electrical Parade. Doc...
Michael O’Dorn still remembers the moment he met one of his musical heroes, Merle Travis. Mr. Travis flicked a thumb pick to young Michael, who soon developed an even greater appreciation for the man and his music. The two became friends and Michael worked long and hard to understand and later...
Jerry White and his brothers all played musical instruments growing up on their family farm in Wisconsin. Their father was a professional musician who played in popular dance bands. Jerry and his wife, Ellen, both became schoolteachers and Jerry continued to play on the side. When he had an...
Rusty Richards would like to point out the distinction between Singing Cowboys and Cowboys that sing. He is very much a cowboy, having roped, rode in the rodeo and having worked as a ranch hand most of his life. He also is a singer, having crooned with the famous Sons of The Pioneers and other...
Ken King performed in several Country and Western bands in and around Los Angeles beginning in the 1940s. While playing his guitar as a guest on the Spade Cooley television show in late 1949, two fellow musicians in the band (Jimmy Wyble and Cameron Hill) showed Ken the new solid body Fender guitar...