Music Retail
Lynn Fuston was a junior in high school when he started recording the school choir. He had been singing his whole life but recognized the need to make better recordings. Following his passion, he journeyed to Nashville and started working in recording studios such as Sound Stage and the legendary...
Jeff Radke followed in the footsteps of his father, who was a saxophonist in the big bands. Jeff played sax in school and studied music and business in college. He attended his first NAMM Show in 1984, the year MIDI was introduced, which is a lasting memory for Jeff. While working at West LA Music...
Nick Bowcott is a founding member of the British heavy metal band, Grim Reaper. Nick put the band together in 1979 and by 1985 had gained commercial success namely due to Nick’s guitar skills and the band’s lead vocals by Steve Grimmett. While still with the band, Nick began writing about the gear...
Daniel Fisher has a long and interesting history in music, which began as a child when his parents discovered that he could play by ear at age 5. His education continued on a Hammond B3 organ when nuns taught Daniel in their convent and he began playing synthesizers starting in the mid-1970s. In...
David Stewart remembers making a choice to go from playing music professionally to the technological side of touring and working as a sound engineer. He toured during the 1980s, working live sound for a company that worked with several performers such as The Coasters and Chubby Checker, among...
Bob Bailey has a big gig to oversee each year, the annual Sweetwater Sound Gearfest! This is no small task as anyone of his friends on the NAMM staff can tell you, but Bob heads a strong team who are all dedicated to creating a fresh and exciting event for their customers each year. Back in the...
Vern Crews grew up surrounded by music. His uncle, Pee Wee Marquette, who was the master of ceremonies for the famed Birdland jazz club, gave young Vern a Hammond Organ when he was a kid. That organ inspired him to learn all he could about electronic musical instruments. During the MIDI boom of the...
Jerry Hauer grew up in a very musical home. His father was a big band leader with a noted radio show, Michael Hauer and His Band of the Hour! When Michael was off the road with his band, he provided music lessons in the Dayton, Ohio area, where he established Hauer Music in 1937. Jerry joined the...
Jim Hauer has many fond memories of his grandfather, Michael Hauer, a noted big band leader who opened their family’s music store in 1937. Jim recalls his grandfather providing music lessons when he was in his 90s and enjoying every minute of it. Those same feelings and passion for music were...
Jim Kincaid has fond memories of his father singing and playing his guitar. Jim’s father was the folk singer and publisher, Bradley Kincaid, who helped pioneer folk music on the radio in the 1920s and 30s, throughout the Midwest and the New England area. His father retired from his music career at...