Oral History - all
Marty Stuart grew up in the small town of Philadelphia, Mississippi surrounded by country music, which he taught himself to play on a family guitar when he was 12 years old. Marty soon learned the mandolin and began writing songs for local dances and school events. During his NAMM interview he... more
Brendan Murphy is the fourth generation of Murphys to hold an executive position with the M. Steinert & Sons Company, which follows three generations of Steinerts. For most of that time (back to 1869 in fact), they have proudly represented Steinway Pianos. Brendan played a critical role in the... more
Stephen Webber is a professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and helped create the Music Production/Engineering program. After working at Mid South Recording Studio in Nashville, Stephen learned firsthand the need for serious studies on the subject. While teaching at Berklee he developed... more
Chris Noyes began studying guitar at the age of 8, taking lessons at a Washington DC area music store. The bands he played in as a kid often included politicians, in fact one band played at Robert Kennedy's house! In 1972, he entered Berklee and remained until his retirement in 2018. Back in 1969,... more
David Mash studied guitar in much the same way his mother studied the piano. He was focused on the classical traditions and even took lessons from Andre Segovia. His mother was a student of a student of Chopin! His contributions to music education, which is vast in scope, began when David was 15... more
Neil Leonard began playing saxophone at a young age and it's no wonder, his father was a noted Jazz historian and author. After being greatly influenced by the Pink Floyd album "Dark Side of the Moon", Neil registered for classes at Berklee in Boston (1979). He fully embraced electronic... more
Billy Arnold played drums behind several Motown recordings including those with saxophonist, Junior Walker. While he often played a Gretsch kit, Billy never fussed about having to set up his kit in the recording studio and gained a reputation for using the drums that were already set-up. After... more
Don (DJ) Johnson joined the Ovation Guitar Company in 1968, just about the time Glen Campbell was introducing the unique round-back instrument on national television. DJ worked for the founder, Charlie Kaman, as well as his son Bill for many years and even after the company went through many... more
Peggy Falcetti and her husband, Sam, opened Falcetti Music in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1957. Since that time, Peggy and Sam have been very active in many community music programs. Peggy has served as the chairperson of the New England Music Festival since 1977. The festival is sponsored by the... more
David Frederick was working for ARP Synthesizers in the early 1970s when he had an idea to create a special musical experience for the trade show in Chicago. He called it the NAMM JAM and the event became somewhat legendary, mostly due to the fact that many retailers were hearing the ARP 2600 for... more
Hyman Peller, in 1975, left a corporate job in NJ and moved to upstate, NY. Once there he found employment in a music store, a job for which he says he was unqualified. The owner set about building speaker cabinets to sell wholesale and put Peller in charge of the project. After three years and... more
Joe Mullens has always had a strong passion for music, and made the decision one day to turn that passion into a career. He worked as a store manager for a local music shop chain until they closed their doors in the early 80s. After working as a landscaper for a few years to save up some money, Joe... more
Larry Dalton started playing drums at a young age after seeing The Beatles on TV. His love for music stayed with him, and he began playing in multiple bands and went on many tours in Europe, Canada, and the United States. Larry then went on to get heavily involved with drum machines, programming... more
Rick Nelson got into the music industry by parking cars at the famous Greater Boston jazz club, Lennie’s-on-the-Turnpike. This job allowed him to make great connections, and eventually got him on the road with the Buddy Rich Orchestra. After touring with Buddy Rich and doing a lot of playing on his... more
Don Puluse played clarinet as a young student and went on to play in the Marine Band. He soon began to study recording engineering and joined AES in 1958. Less than a decade later, Don found himself editing classical music for CBS Records. Don soon established a reputation and found that a large... more
Tony Santorella opened his own music publishing company just north of Boston after learning the trade from the iconic publisher Charles Hansen. Tony was an All State trumpet player who studied music at the University of Miami in Florida. His incredible abilities as a player translated nicely to... more
Emilio Lyons would often have his well-known customers such as Stan Getz and Benny Carter meet him at his home whenever they needed work done on their saxophone. Emilio was the manager for a music store in Boston while also repairing instruments whenever he could. Over the years he built a... more
Tom Gauger was a regular member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for over 40 years and taught percussion at Boston University for over 30 years. Over those decades, he developed several methods as well as designs for improving bass drum mallets. His friend in the symphony, Vic Firth, encouraged Tom... more
Michael Doucet has become an important link to the roots of Cajun music, not only because he has written and performed the musical style since he was 6 years old, but because of the months he spent conducting a geological survey in and around his hometown of Scott, Louisiana. He discovered how the... more
Bob Stroger found himself on stage at a blues club as a teenager not sure exactly what to do. He had an electric bass in his hand and laid down the bass parts he heard on his Jimmy Reed records. The club owner told Bob there was much more to playing the blues than copying a riff. As he felt the... more