Oral History - all
Crazy Pete Newport began working at Breedlove Guitars in 1999 with the goal to help promote and market the product line. Over the years he spent many hours working with and learning from Kim Breedlove, the founder. Kim’s unique luthier approach to guitar design helped usher in a new era of handmade... more
John Nady first began working on a wireless system for guitar in 1968 and debuted his Nasty Cordless product eight years later. Although it was not the first such product on the market, it had many unique features that helped establish the product as a standard in the industry. After top performers... more
Don Middleton taught music lessons around town before working for Billy Hill at Hill’s Music in 1967. A few months later Mr. Hill announced his retirement and asked Don if he wanted to buy the store. With a small loan, which Don paid off in just over a year, he purchased the store. By 1970, he had... more
David McAllister grew up in Eastern Canada as a child of the 60s and 70s and a big fan of the music of the era. He studied sales and marketing, getting a job in one of the country’s largest food companies before meeting Bob Zildjian in 1984. Bob had just formed SABIAN and was looking for a sales... more
John Mahlmann has been executive director of MENC: The National Association for Music Education since 1983. MENC is the world's largest association of professional music educators. Over the years, he has led MENC through a period of substantial membership growth -- to more than 130,000 members --... more
Brian Kehew played a big role in the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music’s 2009-2010 Waves of Inspiration: The Legacy of Bob Moog exhibit, which provided the NAMM Resource Center a chance to interview him for this Oral History program. Brian discussed his personal background in music and the... more
Jonathan Lipp formed a recording studio, which by 1977 turned into a pro audio distribution company he called Full Compass. In the early days of the company he focused on the radio broadcasting market and played a role in the growth of home recording market as equipment prices went down and the... more
Susan Lipp has a background in the theater, which she has used to great success in running the pro-audio distribution company Full Compass. The company was formed by her husband, Jonathan, in 1977, and has since become an industry leader in pro-audio, pro-lighting and home engineering equipment.... more
Leland Sklar may be among the top recorded bass players in history. As a studio and film score composer, Leland has recorded with countless performers and for top rated movies since his career began in the 1960s. His album work includes sessions with Reba McEntire, Bette Midler, Graham Nash,... more
Birth Date: March 8, 1941
Deceased Date: April 17, 2020
Paul Shelden was a Professor Emeritus in Music for Brooklyn College and both studied and taught music at Juilliard, beginning on clarinet and saxophone, but branching into electronic music on which he focused his doctorate. While teaching, Paul was introduced to the idea of improving on the sound... more
Ted Meyer teamed with his wife, Betty, to open a music store in the mid 1960s. It turned out to be a great idea! Their children were raised in the store and both Ted and Betty could serve their customer base in their own ways while working together to grow the business. Ted took care of calling on... more
Betty Meyer and her husband, Ted, decided that their teaching salaries were not enough to raise their family in the early 1960s so they decided to open a music store. It turned out to be a great idea! Their children were raised in the store and both Ted and Betty could serve their customer base in... more
Amy Mao teamed with Dr. Paul Shelden in 2004 to create a new line of band instruments. With the growing technology available in China, Amy and Paul set out to produce the finest musical instrument possible within the setting of a manufacturing factory. With an eye for detail, Amy produced the... more
Jim Lo Duca’s father and uncle were the original Lo Duca Brothers, who formed a small music store in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that opened for business on December 1, 1941. Seven days later America was attacked in Pearl Harbor and soon after that Jim’s uncle was drafted. Jim’s father, Tom, was too... more
Birth Date: September 4, 1927
Deceased Date: December 5, 2020
Stan Lindenbaum grew up in Brooklyn and developed many thoughts and ideas about selling. While working for several different industries during his career, Stan studied the idea of incentive marketing, a concept that worked out well for him in his years in the music industry. He worked for the... more
Lyndon Laney built his first amplifier in his father’s garden shed with little thought of turning his craft into a business. That was the case until his friends began requesting his amps. His creative side fueled his passion for manufacturing and the Laney Amplification Company was born. Since... more
Alberto Kreimerman opened Hermes Music Stores in the United States with branches in Mexico beginning in 1982. His goal was always to serve music makers with quality products and service and in the background he set aside some of his profit to serve underprivileged children in both the US and Mexico... more
Birth Date: August 7, 1932
Deceased Date: April 26, 2013
Wendal Jones began playing double reed instruments as a child in grade school. He switched to saxophone for a time to play in a number of dance bands in the Colorado area. After college, where he studied music, Wendal became a band director. While working in Arizona, he started to make his own... more
Yoshitada Hoshino is the president of Hoshino Gakki Company, a music company that has remained in his family since first opening in 1908 to sell sheet music in Japan. The distribution segment of the business began to grow throughout the next hundred years. Along the way the company developed the... more
Michael Harris began working in the music industry officially in 1967, however, since his father and uncle both worked in music retail in Chicago you can say Mike grew up in the business. After law school and serving in the National Guard, Mike returned home to partner with his brother purchasing... more