Virtual Interview
Dave Pearlman grew up listening to his father play horn and his mother playing acoustic guitar. His father actually had a recording studio in Plainview, TX! Dave started his musical journey playing the violin, but switched to the guitar after hearing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. In...
Mike Vaccaro is a true piano salesman veteran! Having worked in the piano business for over 40 years, selling for several retail stores and running his own dealership for over 20 years, Mike has sold his share of instruments! He played guitar in the US Navy Band during the Vietnam War era and among...
Daniel Haver was heavily influenced by the music he heard at home as a kid and wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and become an entrepreneur. He combined his love of music with his business skills and began working at Native Instruments right from the start. Daniel recalled in his 2021 NAMM...
John Maier had parents that were both singers and would often hang out at the theater where his parents would perform. He used to get in trouble for tapping his pencil during tests and would have to take his test outside of the classroom – early signs of a promising drummer! After developing a love...
Tony Newton was nicknamed “Baby Funk Brother” by the original studio musicians at Motown Records where he began working in 1964. His first session with the Funk Brothers was the song “Baby Love” by the Supremes, which was released on the album Where Did Our Love Go. Tony’s long career in music took...
Bob Baca teaches trumpet and is the Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, where he approaches his teaching from not only the standpoint of a musician but from the prospective of a student himself wanting to learn. Bob has much to offer his students that he learned from...
Les Deutsch is a Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) scientist in the aerospace industry who holds several patents for electronic musical instruments. His father, Ralph Deutsch, invited the sound generator technology for the first digital organ. That instrument, produced by Allen Organ and first shown...
Sylvester Rivers has applied his musical talents to thousands of hit recordings over the years as well as music for television and motion pictures. His list of credits includes several categories as pianist, arranger, and musical director. The list of iconic performers he has worked with is just as...
Peggy Dahl-Bartunek grew up with four siblings who all took piano lessons – they even had two pianos in their house! Since the fifth grade, Peggy knew that she wanted to be a teacher and more specifically, a music teacher. She ultimately became a high school and middle school music teacher,...
Dave Hill was always playing with electronics as a kid and also had a great love for music. He played drums in bands throughout high school but was always more interested in the science behind the sound. Towards the end of high school, Dave started working at a local music store doing repairs on...