Radio
George Shuffler was the country and bluegrass guitar player who is credited for a three figure cross-picking playing style (down two strings, up one) that he created out of necessity. While playing for a small country band on the radio in the 1940s, George needed to add fills to several slow paced...
Hubert Friar was hired by the Gibson Guitar Company in Kalamazoo in 1959. Hubert worked for the company over 25 years. He worked at the end of the line, doing fret work. Hubert grew up playing guitar and knew Ren Wall and his father as a kid. When he was older he was recommended by Ren's father...
Ren Wall proudly followed his father's footsteps and worked in the Gibson Guitar Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He began working for the company in 1960 and continued until 1982. A few years later he returned to the very same factory to work for Heritage Guitar Company, which was formed by...
Jack Simpson worked for RCA for nearly 40 years beginning at the time when the electronics and recording company was a regular exhibitor at the NAMM Trade Shows. Jack also became a jazz broadcaster in Florida, where he took to the airwaves in 1967. His show and his reputation expanded over the...
Curly Seckler was a pioneer in the development of Bluegrass music. He began performing professionally in 1935, on a daily radio program on WSTP in Salisbury, NC. After the breakup of the Monroe Brothers act, Curly was the first tenor singer selected by Charlie Monroe for his Kentucky Pardners band...
Big George Webley was a beloved voice over the BBC for many years who often included many of his own incredible musical experiences in his late night radio program. As a session bassist, George played for recordings, television and the movies. As a composer, he wrote for many BBC broadcasts in...
John Kozar is the founder of Piano Productions Press in Philadelphia. This music publishing company was formed to release the works of the First Piano Quartet, which began broadcasting a 20-minute radio program in the 1940s that ran for 12 years. The amazing output of the quartet were mostly based...
Russ Turner opened his own organ repair company in the early 1960s in the early days of the home organ boom. He worked with all of the organ dealers in and around the San Francisco Bay Area for nearly four decades. During this time he also repaired other electronic products with a focus on radios,...
Bunny Kacher began volunteering at the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music in 2002 as part of the second docent training class (the museum opened in 2000). Her love of music is easy to detect when taking one of her tours at the museum and, in fact, that love of music goes back to her days as a...
Alan Dale, as a lover of swing music, found himself as a radio station host in the San Francisco Bay Area. He graced the airwaves over several stations and along the way began approaching traveling artists for interviews to be played during his radio program. These interviews served as a strong...