Music Historians
Brad Boynton is the founder of Rhythm Traders Drum Shop in Portland, Oregon. He saw his passion for the drums develop as early as four years old and it has always been a source of true happiness. While studying anthropology in college, Brad traveled to Africa and lived with drum makers, which...
Yale Strom started on the violin when he was eight years old. He took lessons at school, and played in the school orchestra first in his hometown of Detroit, MI, but later on in San Diego, CA as well. He went on to be an acclaimed violinist, composer, filmmaker, writer, photographer, and playwright...
Douglas Woodfull-Harris started his career as a studio musician in San Francisco. During his studies of classical composition and musicology in Los Angeles he met his wife Petra. They both moved to Germany and soon after Douglas started working at Bärenreiter as editor. His first work included...
Michael Simmons is a co-founder of the Fretboard Journal and the author of several articles and books about vintage guitars and other fretted instruments. He began his career at Gryphon Guitars in Palo Alto, where he caught the bug for the history of the instruments. Over the years he has...
John Tumpak is the author and music historian who has focused most of his writings on the golden age of swing during the Big Band Era of the 1930-40s. As a result, John has interviewed and written about many of the big names during that time as well as documenting some of the lesser known...
Martin Marris and his wife run Note Craft, a music engraving company that has played a vital role in the access of musical works of every type. Working for publishing companies, Note Craft takes original transcripts and even outdated computer files to bring the music to an accessible format. ...
Tom Van Hoose has become an expert on the Gibson 400 Series guitars and in fact even wrote the book on the subject. As a collector, Tom found himself surrounded by used guitars and decided in 1991 to open his own shop, Van Hoose Vintage in Carrollton, Texas. The business grew from attending the...
Johnny Eberle was passionate about sound recordings ever since he was a small child. Developing a love of audio engineering and it’s rich history, John became an expert and a well known mastering engineer. He worked for Nashville Record Productions for over 30 years before establishing his own...
Kazuhiko Shima is the director of the Hamamatsu Musical Instrument Museum, which opened to the public in 1995. He was hired the year before to help assemble the instruments and create the displays. He is proud of the programs they have developed over the years to engage visitors of all ages. The...
Brad Smith is the Senior Sales and Marketing Manager for Hal Leonard. During his career as a writer and industry historian, he worked for MIX Magazine before joining the Hal Leonard team. Among his many tasks is overseeing the publication of books dedicated to the history of musical products such...