Rock and Roll
Jon Anderson is best known as a founding member of the band Yes. His musicianship, arranging and songwriting helped catapult the band to international fame with hit records and sold out performances around the world. The band has had a remarkable ability to re-create itself over the years for a...
Vernon Reid was among the founding members of the cutting edge and influential rock band Living Colour. The band helped break the color line in hard rock music by showcasing an all-black band can perform heavy metal rock with the best of them. Vernon’s career has covered a wide range of musical...
Michael Bradford grew up in Detroit and found he had a deep passion for the electric bass. After playing for local bands before and after school, Michael met guitarist Earl Klugh and the two began playing jazz together. Michael later developed into a well-rounded musician having had the...
Grady Gaines jumped onto the piano during a gig with Little Richard and wailed on his saxophone back in the early 1950s. The photograph of that event has become iconic as it represents the rhythm and blues roots of rock and roll. Grady played his King saxophone with hundreds of artists over the...
Randy McCormick began playing piano as a child and while still a teenager began making money playing in and around the studios of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. He began working at Fame Studios and later for Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. Along the way he performed on hundreds of albums including those...
Steve Lukather lives to make and play music, epitomizing the passionate musician. Steve grew up knowing that one day he would be a rock star and was driven to see that happen. Growing up in Los Angeles surrounded by and playing music with friends such as Jeff and Steve Pocaro, Mike Landau, and...
Phil Upchurch was a teenager when he joined the solid studio musicians for Chess Records in Chicago. The old veterans took Phil under their wings and showed him the ropes and welcomed his own style to the studio’s noted sound. Phil later played on hundreds of recordings for the likes of Quincy...
David Gold created a special formula that became the key factor in the echo chamber of his Hollywood recording studio called Gold Star. The studio was filled with furniture and electronic machines that David built himself. All of the control boards and all modifications of the gear within the...
Lester Abrams is the songwriter who teamed up with Michael McDonald to pen the Doobie Brothers hit "Minute by Minute." As a teenager and playing drums, Lester's first band was the El Doradoe. He later switched to keyboard and after playing with a few other bands landed in the innovative band...
Steve Morse has been a regular attendee at the NAMM Shows for several decades thanks to the Ernie Ball Company. In fact, it was thanks to Sterling Ball that Steve was interviewed during the show in 2015. Steve’s long career in music, which began professionally in 1969, has included gigs with the...