Music Historians
Frank Alkyer has asked a lot of questions. As a writer and editor of Music Inc. he has interviewed music retailers and suppliers alike. As a writer and editor for Down Beat Magazine, Frank has interviewed countless jazz and big band performers. With this background you can imagine how meaningful it...
Dan Levenson wrote the book on banjo playing, in fact six books. His love of old time music and his great talents as a musician have made him a well known and respected player, teacher and historian. For decades he has traveled the country with banjo and fiddle in hand to present the rich history...
Lou Curtiss was a long time supporter of American folk music and in fact, he helped coin the phrase “roots music.” For over 30 years he created, arranged and promoted the annual folk music festival in San Diego beginning in 1967. Lou also hosted a jazz radio program as well as running his rare...
Daniel Glass is the noted drummer for the Royal Crown Review, which helped renew popularity for swing music beginning in the 1990s. Daniel has studied the art form of drumming in all forms of American popular music and has become an expert, author and teacher on the subject with a focus on jazz...
Cynthia Hoover has devoted her career to the history of musical instrument making in America as curator at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. Her love of the subject has resulted in many important exhibits and publications on musical instruments since her arrival at the Smithsonian in...
Brian Kehew played a big role in the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music’s 2009-2010 Waves of Inspiration: The Legacy of Bob Moog exhibit, which provided the NAMM Resource Center a chance to interview him for this Oral History program. Brian discussed his personal background in music and the...
Lynn Wheelwright has always been fascinated with the guitar, especially the craft of building the instrument. After performing as a teenager, he developed many of his luthier skills from repairing guitars in his own shop. After befriending Alvino Rey in the 1980s and repairing several of Mr. Rey’...
Q David Bowers contributed greatly to the archiving of the music products industry. As an author, he researched and published several books on the early era of mechanical instruments. His 1972 publication, The Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments, has become the definitive reference source...
Christian Hoyer wrote the book on the history of the Framus Guitar Company and became the director of the museum for the famed guitar company in Germany. His research brought to light many forgotten elements of the guitar maker's history, the key innovators and the product line that has been known...
Paul Bierley was a leading expert and author on the life and music of John Philip Sousa. A passionate fan of band music, Paul noticed several elements of Sousa’s career that were not documented. With his own publishing company, he penned several books on the March King’s life, including unearthed...