Oral History - all
Greg Golden was in the vintage guitar business back in the days when such instruments were referred to as simply “used.” Along with a handful of key dealers across the United States, Greg played a vital role in developing the vintage market by not only offering top quality instruments and setting... more
Dave Wintz has always enjoyed designing musical gear, whether it be guitars or pickups. His passion lies with creating a product that will provide any musician with the opportunity to add to their own unique sound, like a painter adding a new color to his palette. In the early part of his career... more
Birth Date: May 14, 1934
Deceased Date: January 29, 2021
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... more
Rusty Brutsche and two friends formed the famous pro audio rental company Showco with the simple mission to produce good sounding concerts. The goal required the building and maintenance of cutting edge and often innovative gear such as boards, pre-amps and lights. Their Varilight system became a... more
Sherry Bird teamed with her future husband, Steve Bird, to open a Steinway dealership in Austin, Texas. Together they also opened a second location in San Antonio. With a strong business background, developed working for an oil and gas company in Texas, Sherry took over the books and business... more
Deena Bird began teaching piano while she was still a teenager. She later established her own music school, which for a while was located in the Steinway Gallery of her hometown of San Antonio, Texas. One day while walking in the hall she met Lyle Bird, the father of the store’s owner. Well, the... more
Walter Hutcherson began repairing guitars in the 1950s and in fact was one of the first repairmen to work on Fender Instruments. He opened Walters Music Exchange in Austin, Texas, and soon gained a reputation for reliable repair with special care and attention to detail (such as removing the cat... more
Steve Bird joined the piano industry right out of school and established a life-long career that he has thoroughly enjoyed. While working for Sherman Clay, Steve was asked to open up several locations, which became a niche for him. Understanding and embracing the business element as well as the... more
Birth Date: June 9, 1926
Deceased Date: October 27, 2018
Herb Remington was the steel guitarist for Bob Wills and the Texas Playboy who built his own line of guitars called Remington Steel. Among his fascinating history: being long time personal friends with Leo Fender. For a while, Fender made steel guitars and, in the beginning, Leo would often give... more
Bluegrass Music blends Irish Folk Music with Appalachia Mountain Music, resulting in a unique American roots style sound. Most historians point to 1948 and the Bill Monroe band as the beginning, however, our interviewee Curly Seckler was performing very similar music as early as 1938. Mr. Monroe... more
Jack Kanstul and his brother, Mark, joined forces with their father Ziggy in 1981 when Kanstul Musical Instruments was established in Anaheim, California. Like his father, Jack had worked for the F.E. Olds Company and developed a good idea of how to be a successful brass instrument manufacturer. ... more
Gloria Stone was the book-keeper and the office manager for the Record Plant. Her husband, Chris, and Gary Kellgren opened the recording studio in 1968 in New York City. The company expanded to a second location and then a third in California (Los Angeles and Sausalito, near San Francisco). All... more
Les McCann began his musical career playing the Sousaphone in school. He later played drums before discovering the piano, which became the vehicle that launched him into the jazz world. He recorded with the Fender-Rhodes electrical piano and even tried his hand at a variety of electronic... more
Women’s role in the music industry has progressively grown and developed over the years. When the NAMM Oral History program began, many of the women interviewed kept the books of their retail store. However, the role women have played in the industry grew to include more and more women in top... more
William Gard (1915-1987) served as the NAMM Executive President for over 35 years, beginning right after World War II. In fact it was Mr. Gard who helped re-open NAMM’s offices, which had closed its doors for two years during the war. Those were critical times for NAMM and his leadership guided... more
Having a very long history, the trumpet dates all the way back to at least 1500 BC. Trumpets were used in the early days as a way to signal battle or hunting. Today they are used in several different genres, ranging from classical to popular music. The most common trumpet used is the Bb trumpet;... more
Danny White is the owner of the famed Sound Techniques Recording Studio, located in the United Kingdom, which began in 1964. The studio had its own sound (based largely on the custom made mixing consoles) that enriched the recordings of Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, John Martyn and The Who! In the... more
Charles Mallett is the audio engineer for Jim Gamble and Associates in Lake Tahoe. Since working with Jim, Charles has worked on the DCX products and mixes Front Of House on a Gamble board at the Crystal Bay Casino. The casino, located on the north shore of Lake Tahoe, includes two performance... more
Sandy DeVito began teaching himself guitar when he was 11 years old. He developed and learned how to play by gigging in the New Jersey and New York metropolitan area. Sandy performed and recorded with individuals such as Tony Martin, Les Paul, Ray Charles, Vickie Carr, and Charlie Byrd, to name a... more
Peter Kowalczyk found an old Silver Tone Guitar in his attic as a kid that belonged to his father, who encouraged Peter to play. He surrounded himself with music and found a position years later in high school in the school play as a music tech. It was there that Peter first put his hands on a... more