Oral History - all
Dave Weiderman was raised in a family with a great love of music. Dave’s father owned a music store in Chicago, where Dave was able to meet some of the great musicians of the time. His early years as a player were influenced by watching Buddy Rich live and wanting to make music of his own. His... more
Andy Powers began working with wood as a kid and soon realized he had a strong interest in building. With the guidance of his father and the use of his tools, Andy built a guitar and loved it! He studied the art of guitar building and soon designed his own style of guitar. With each completed... more
Tim Luranc grew up in San Diego with his father, an educator, playing music in the house all of the time. His dad wanted to play a guitar with some of the popular music of the day, such as folk music. His dad didn't play the guitar as much as he had hoped but young Tim took a liking to the... more
Gene Joly is a well respected leader within the industry who has mentored many young employees who have developed within their own careers as well as helping grow the industry! After performing on the road for several years, Gene was offered a job in the music store he often hung out at, EU... more
David Hosler had a friend in school whose father had a wood-working shop. It was in that small shop where David built his first guitar and where his passion for making instruments began. He opened a shop in Florida and later established The Guitar Workshop in South Carolina where he sold guitars... more
Mary Ann Eckroth quietly sat behind the desk working on the books while her husband Bill traveled to the local schools to help the band directors. She took care of the customers and cleaned the store when he would travel for industry meetings, and she taught herself many of the business practices... more
Bill Eckroth enjoyed being a band director in his home town of Mandan, North Dakota, just across the Missouri River from Bismarck. He started out teaching junior high school students, many of whom he would meet later in his life after he decided, in 1972, to open a music store. Along with his... more
Don Bindrim is the owner of Tooters Music store in Cleveland, Tennessee. The store focuses on band and orchestra instruments with a strong focus on the local school band programs. Don’s background is as a music educator and band director with a focus on retaining students between grades,... more
Birth Date: June 16, 1941
Deceased Date: August 8, 2022
Lamont Dozier was one of the most successful songwriters in popular music history. From 1962-1967 he teamed with Brian and Eddy Holland to write a string of impressive hit records for Motown Records, 25 of which hit number one on the Billboard Record Charts! Their list of hits includes “Baby Love... more
Brooks Arthur began singing as an early age, and in fact began taking lessons to sing in his temple before he was a teenager. While working in the mail room of a record company, Brooks heard his first live recording and fell in love! He soon was hired to engineer some products, which lead to a... more
Allan Clark began taking training classes as a volunteer docent right when the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music was opened to the public in 2000. Since that time Allan has provided countless tours of the museum as well as volunteered at many museum events such as the annual fund raisers. ... more
Eddie Kramer is perhaps best known as the recording engineer for Jimi Hendrix, but he also worked for the Beatles and countless other performers during his long career. Eddie is also a clever innovator who has designed products and tools that have solved problems for recording engineers over the... more
WT Warmoth is currently an Industrial Design major at Savannah College of Art & Design and has dreams of becoming a guitar luthier. As the son of William and Ellen Warmoth, the founders of Artisan Guitars outside of Nashville, WT has learned the art and craftsmanship of guitar builders from... more
William Warmoth and his wife Ellen opened a small guitar shop in Franklin, Tennessee, with the dream of providing acoustic guitars to music makers of all ages. Their small shop has grown over the years in size and reputation; in fact it is a hang out for country and rock artists alike. William... more
Ellen Warmoth and her husband, William, created a true “Mom and Pop” music store when they opened Artisan Guitars in Franklin, Tennessee, not far from Nashville. The store has a wonderful family feeling in both the layout and their attention to details, which may explain why so many Nashville... more
Dave Miller was just 14 years old when he cut grass for a summer to pay off a neighbor for their old guitar. He and his friends would hang out at the local music store, which was Western Hills Music Mart in Cincinnati, Ohio. The owner was Jack Shallat who later hired Dave to work in the music... more
Chris White is the president of White House of Music, with multiple locations in Wisconsin. The full line store has a very strong band and orchestra element as they call on many local schools as well as provide music lessons within the store. Their combo department has been developed over the... more
Toni Wine can be heard singing the line “I can make your life so sweet” as one of the Archies on the 1969 hit record “Sugar, Sugar.” As a songwriter she wrote her first song when she was 14 years old and went on to be hired by music publishers to write hit songs such as “A Groovy Kind of Love,” “... more
Dr. Carlton Young has had a most interesting career as an editor and arranger of church music for hymnals and for music publishers such as Hope Music. His passion for church music began in his childhood and continued to grow and develop after college. He served as editor for two editions of the... more
Ted Wade was raised in a house full of music! His father played trumpet with several big bands such as Clyde McCoy during the swing era. When Ted was four years old he was playing drums along with his father and brother, both on trumpet. As he grew up in the Catskills, Ted was cutting his teeth... more