Virtual Interview
Susan Mazer and her husband, Dallas Smith, established the C.A.R.E. Channel, which serves over a thousand hospitals by providing peaceful and relaxing music 24 hours a day. Their goal was to reduce the noises of a healthcare setting and to help patients benefit from the healing power of music....
Darrell Leonard really enjoys his role of writing and arranging music. After touring with a band in the late 1960s, Darrell found himself arranging “Put A Little Love In Your Heart” for Kim Carnes to perform on the Joey Bishop television program. This opened up many opportunities for Darrell who...
Māhealani Uchiyama felt a passion for music and dance from a very young age and could see the importance of expressing yourself through the forms and how it often touches a part of your soul that speech can’t always reach. While attending a Mbira concert she experienced a profound moment during the...
Greg Martin was able to combine the many musical styles he admired growing up when he helped form the Kentucky Headhunters. The band made up of friends began playing together in 1968 and in 1986 officially changed their name from the Itchy Brother to the Kentucky Headhunters. They released their...
Trish Montgomery is the Accounts Manager for Amro Music, a 100-year-old music retail store in Memphis, Tennessee. She began working for Amro in 1990 when Chip Averwater, the grandson of the founder, hired her to do data entry as the company updated their computer programs. The position soon grew to...
Brady Massey was so inspired by his music teachers and band directors while in school that he decided to follow in their footsteps. After receiving his bachelors in music education and his masters in composition, Brady’s first teaching job was in Turman, Arkansas. From the very first day in music...
Barry Trobaugh gives great credit to his childhood music teachers and band directors for the passion and love he has for being a music educator. After receiving his bachelors degree from Memphis State University, he returned to earn his masters in school administration as he felt the latter would...
Marty Sheller was the award winning arranger and jazz trumpeter whose musical skills can be heard on hundreds of recordings. He worked with Mongo Santamaria for many years (yes, that is Marty taking the trumpet solo on “Watermelon Man”) beginning in 1961. Marty was also the house arranger for Fania...
Randy Dorman joined Kenny Rogers' road band in 1977 and worked with the legendary country singer until his last tour in 2017. Along the way Randy performed with each one of Kenny’s guest artists (including Willie Nelson, George Burns, Dolly Parton and Ray Charles) and also appeared on Kenny’s many...
Sonny Landreth was born in Canton, Mississippi and grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana, grounding his musical foundation in the blues, jazz, zydeco and rock and roll. He played trumpet in school and switched to guitar in order to play in a rock band with fellow high school friends. One of his bands,...