Oral History - all
Birth Date: March 15, 1940
Deceased Date: September 17, 2022
Marty Sheller was the award winning arranger and jazz trumpeter whose musical skills can be heard on hundreds of recordings. He worked with Mongo Santamaria for many years (yes, that is Marty taking the trumpet solo on “Watermelon Man”) beginning in 1961. Marty was also the house arranger for Fania... more
Sonny Landreth was born in Canton, Mississippi and grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana, grounding his musical foundation in the blues, jazz, zydeco and rock and roll. He played trumpet in school and switched to guitar in order to play in a rock band with fellow high school friends. One of his bands,... more
Jim Palenscar opened up his small shop, Steel Guitars of North County, in Oceanside, California back in 2000. While in college, Jim heard the steel guitar on Jackson Browne’s recording of “Redneck Friend” which soon led to a lifelong interest as a player and repairman of the instrument. When asthma... more
Nick Averwater is part of the fourth generation of the Averwater family to be working at Amro Music in Memphis, TN. Nick fondly remembers his time as a kid running around the store and working odd-jobs for extra money. After obtaining his MBA with a focus in finance and completing an internship... more
Paul Kirk has been the audio engineer for the Buccaneers football team in Florida since 1999 and credits his love of music and sound starting with organ lessons when he was 7 years old! His family encouraged his interest in music and when he was a teenager he switched to bass guitar and joined a... more
Robert Estrin grew up studying piano alongside his sister with their father who was a noted concert pianist and teacher. He was first exposed to the French horn while in school and learned that instrument as well - a challenge that improved his musical ability overall. He would go on to attend the... more
Clyde Fitch provided the help and support to his wife, Bonnie, which was greatly appreciated when opening her music retail store in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1981. Her passion for music and education brought them both to the decision that she could serve students and teachers alike with strong customer... more
Steve Propes has been a longtime supporter of the NAMM Oral History program and sat down with us to discuss his views on the development of R&B, doo wop and rock and roll. As a long time radio personality in Southern California and author, Steve has become a music historian with a focus on... more
Bill Hesterman has always been fascinated by the pipe organ. He studied piano and organ as a child, and with the good fortune that one of his teachers was an organist for the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, young Bill was exposed to extravagant organs at a young age. With his technical... more
Rick Vito not only grew up in a home filled with music, but with his parents owning a night club he also had a built in venue as a young musician! He started playing guitar for local doo-wop and rock bands in and around his home state of Pennsylvania. Admiring the blues and learning the slide... more
Lou Bradley served as a recording engineer in the famous Quonset Hut Studios in Nashville, TN which was operated by Owen Bradley (no relation). Among the thousands of recordings Lou played a part in are “Spooky” by the Classics IV, “Whistle Stop” by Roger Miller (later used by the Disney Company)... more
Pablo Ortega was interviewed during the Summer NAMM Show in 2021, just as Magma Strings was launching their American distribution branch. The show was both Pablo’s first as well as the first NAMM show in 18 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Being a longtime friend of Sebastian, the son of the... more
Randy Blevins studied engineering in college and soon after landed a three-year position at Audio Consulting Inc, which was an MCI dealer. Randy began installing the MCI consoles including the 500 series in recording studios such as Malaco Records in Jackson, Mississippi. When MCI decided to have... more
Jack Bruno was just 16 when his rock band, Apple Pie Motherhood Band, landed a record deal with Atlantic. The band was based in Boston and drove down to New York to record there, and even after the two albums were completed Jack decided to stay. He later moved to Los Angeles in the mid 1970s where... more
Jimmy Edwards grew up in a musical family. His father was a singer in a rock band and Jimmy began playing drums by the time he was five and later picked up the guitar. After serving in the United States Air Force, Jimmy was hired to work in the loading dock at Marshall Music in Lancing, Michigan.... more
Glenn Rieuf worked for a radio station repairing and building their equipment, which was the perfect foundation for his role as a recording engineer. He was hired by Chip Young, who had just purchased Monument Studios from Fred Foster and changed the name to Young’Un Studios. Glenn engineered... more
Barry Rudolph was always interested in electronics and music. During high school he played drums in a surf band and worked full time in the aerospace industry while putting himself through college. After graduating in 1970 he happened upon a job at a recording studio in Santa Ana, CA. The job... more
Terry West started playing in bands at an early age and continued throughout his twenties and thirties. He was always one to maintain a day job, and his many roles at an outdoor advertising company combined with his experience as a working musician turned out to be the perfect training path for his... more
Myno Jackson grew up surrounded by music. Her father was the jazz bassist Chubby Jackson who played with Woody Herman, had a hit children’s television program, and toured with Louie Armstrong. Her brother was the drummer Duffy Jackson who played with Sammy Davis Jr and Count Basie. She too had a... more
Eugene Moles grew up surrounded by music. His father was a studio musician who also had a guitar repair shop in Bakersfield, California (he was an expert on refinishing, he added the famous red, white and blue colors to Buck Owens’ instruments). Eugene developed his playing skills playing in clubs... more