Oral History - all
Greg Howren is the past president of his family's music store in Charlotte, North Carolina. Greg followed in his father's footsteps and continued to build the music store, which focuses on school band programs as well as the combo business. After his father was president of the company, his older... more
Donald Hodges is a music educator who has taken on the research role to map the brain's responses to music. His research has shown that music is not just a nice, but unnecessary element of the human life, but rather something that is necessary and very much a core part of the human experience. As... more
Birth Date: August 25, 1930
Deceased Date: July 11, 2014
Calvin Grafton was very interested in the radio business as a youngster. His early jobs included radio repair but he knew he needed more for a solid business, so he opened his own music store in Pennsylvania in 1963. Grafton Music soon gained a respected reputation in and around the state and the... more
Lynn Clapp opened a small guitar shop in the back of a piano store in 1967. He later moved into his own building in Knoxville and called the place Lynn's Guitars. The store was a hot spot for musicians and for those dreaming of being the next big star. Lynn focused on lessons and over time... more
Fred Buch has always been interested in combining electronic technology with pipe organs. When he entered the pipe organ business in the 1957, electronic organs were not sufficiently advanced to provide a high quality pipe sound. Fred added pianos and home organs in 1960 resulting in a three... more
Mark Amentt was brought into the music products industry to help direct the then, newly established AIMM group, to better serve its members. The group soon grew as did its noted annual meetings, which take place the day before the Anaheim and Summer NAMM Shows begin. In recent years, Mark joined... more
Kerry King has become a regular artist that NAMM member retailers could meet during the trade shows. His career as a guitarist led to a number of product endorsements and several opportunities to provide feedback and design ideas for amps, guitars and accessories over the years. In 1981, Kerry and... more
Mac Yasuda played country music at an early age and fell in love with the style. He organized a band in Japan dedicated to country music. As his audiences grew, Mac was being asked more and more about where they too could get the type of guitars he was playing. He soon began dealing in musical... more
Tom White is the President of the MIDI Manufacturing Association. The organization was created following the 1983 introduction of MIDI at the NAMM Show. Since that time Tom has created a strong mission along with strategies to grow the association. The mission includes insuring interoperability... more
Lars Wern is the Vice President of Em Nordic AB in Stockholm, Sweden, working alongside the company’s founder, Benny Englund. In fact, during the 2013 NAMM Show in Anaheim, Lars and Benny were interviewed together and shared their love for the industry and spoke about some of the changes they... more
Thomas Weilbier is the President of No. 1 Guitar Center GmbH, which is located in the musical hub of Hamburg, Germany. Thomas related some of the strong rock and roll history of the city and how his guitar shop was placed at the perfect location to grow over the decades as vintage instruments grew... more
Rob Wallis and Paul Siegel formed DCI Publishing based on videos they recorded at their Drummers Collective School in New York. DCI soon became a pioneer in the field of video education and creatively expanded from drums and percussion to guitar and other popular musical instruments by some of the... more
Robin Walenta attended the University of Northern Iowa and Middle Tennessee State University before joining West Music in 1982. She was named president/CEO of the company in 2007. She was appointed to the NAMM ExCom and has also served as a board member for the National Association of School Music... more
Clemens Von Arnim is the CEO of Louis Renner & Co., producer of the Renner Action and Hammerheads for pianos, the company his great-grandfather was involved with from the very beginning. Over the generations, Clemens family was always a part of the company and worked hard to expand the company... more
Siwei Zou is the founder and president of sE Electronics International Inc. He was born in Shanghai, China and began playing at an early age. Siwei was focused on western classical music and composed both classical and popular music during the early part of his career. He played at the famed... more
Birth Date: December 30, 1929
Deceased Date: September 3, 2018
Jerry Trestman grew up in a musical home, in fact his older brother played saxophone for several of the big bands during the swing era. Jerry served in the Korean War and was stationed in Japan where he conducted several Japanese bands and played in small groups. Jerry continued to play... more
Jim Tremayne is the editor of DJ Times magazine, a gig he landed just over two years after the publication began. DJ Times is the brainchild of industry publisher Vinny Testa, who was looking to reach out to the growing and unique DJ market when the magazine began in 1988. Jim has played a vital... more
Pete Surowski is the founder of Pete’s Music store in Anaheim, California. He often uses the tag line that his store is the closest music retailer to the Winter NAMM Show. While performing as a professional musician, Pete was teaching lessons and decided to open his own store with a teaching... more
Chuck Surack is the founder and president of Sweetwater Sound, one of the landmark companies within the music products industry. He formed the company in 1979 and worked hard to gather the brands his customers wanted and to provide the care and service he himself would want. Chuck has supported... more
Paul Siegel grew up in New York and was fascinated by the impressive record collection of his father, who turned Paul on to music. Paul later began playing drums, got a kit and played in area bands. His passion for music led him to attend the Drummers Collective school, which is where he met Rob... more