Oral History - all
Byron Walls is a singer/songwriter who began his career during the folk music boom of the early 1960s. He sang in a number of groups during his career, including The Travellers, for which Byron was a founding member. The group opened for Phyllis Diller at the Purple Onion in San Francisco and later... more
Ervin Somogyi began his career as a instrument repairman, which is how he learned the important elements of a guitar. He studied what went wrong with guitars, their weaknesses, and what he could do in designing and building his own guitars that would make them unique and stronger. He developed his... more
George Edwards is the General Manager for Sound Image Productions, a division of Sound Image that is located in the San Francisco Bay Area. His career has included working every live sound position from FOH in small clubs to full production of large scale musical events with some of the biggest... more
Jerry Goldman's father, Harry, opened a wholesale piano business inside Marshall Field's Department store in Chicago with his brother back in 1947. Just over a decade later, Harry and his wife, Rita, moved out to California to open their own piano store while kept his roots from the department... more
Gordon McNelly is the Manager for Fields Piano in Santa Ana, California. Fields Piano is the local authorized Steinway dealer, which is a perfect home for Gordon who has been involved with Steinway for most of his professional career. After operating his own piano service/sales business in New... more
Howard Ungerleider spent over 40 years as Lighting designer/director as well as 25 years as Tour Manager for Rush! His focus has always been in creating a show for the audience and not just a band performance. As a result, Howard has become an innovator in pro lighting, laser, and immersive stage... more
Rodrigo Garcia recalls the day his father bought him his first bass. It changed his life. He later went on the road to play professionally and toured with Alexander Silver throughout Chile. Rodrigo can be seen and heard playing on the 2005 Alejandro Silva Live DVD, which was recorded on one of... more
Bill Sapsis has been rigging for theater and live events since the early 1970s. He was a welder and helped with set designs in both Philadelphia and New York and in 1981, he formed Sapsis Rigging to provide specialized support for opera and musical productions. He realized the need for safety... more
Tony Andrews is one of the world’s most influential loudspeaker designers as well as a founding figure of the modern pro audio industry. His childhood devotion to audio led to the creation of Turbosound, one of the world’s most successful touring sound brands. Having provided sound reinforcement... more
Kostas Prelorentzos, along with his brother, Joseph, were the first to be interviewed for the NAMM Oral History Program from Greece. It is an honor to include their story within our collection because their family-owned music store was opened in 1977. As a result, both brothers were able to cover... more
Joseph Prelorentzos sat next to his brother, Kostas, as they became the first people to be interviewed from Greece for the NAMM Oral History Program. The interview took place in Anaheim at the 2018 NAMM Show and covered the history of their music store, from its beginnings to today. Joseph pointed... more
Norman Whitfield Jr grew up surrounded by music. His father was the noted songwriter, Norman Whitfield, who penned such classic hits as “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”, “Just My Imagination”, “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone”, and the disco era hit “Car Wash”. Norman Whitfield Jr followed in his father... more
Don Menza is the noted jazz saxophonist who worked with some of the giants of jazz during his long and storied career. Don sat in the Maynard Ferguson’s Orchestra for a few years beginning in 1960 and performed with Stan Kenton and Buddy Rich. Over the years Don has been a regular at the NAMM Show... more
Kevin Brandon is the studio bass player known as "Brandino". While he was born in Southern California, his musical roots go back to New Orleans. When he was four, he met Louis Armstrong, which he feels changed the course of his life. Over the years, he toured with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and... more
Seah Kok Hwa was born in Malaysia and wanted to make music when he first heard the Beatles. His uncle gave young Seah a guitar and he learned to play some of his favorite songs. After working in the oil business for many years, he decided it was time to return to the roots of his passion. As a... more
Tim Paul may have been destined for a career in the piano business. Growing up, his mother was a piano teacher and his father a piano technician. One of his earliest jobs was as a ballpark organist for the Midwest League baseball teams, the Quad City Cubs and the Clinton Dodgers. After studying... more
Howard Paul is the president of Benedetto Guitars and has had a passion for the instrument since he was a kid. In fact, Howard was playing professionally when he was thirteen. Over the years, he befriended several key jazz guitarists who were mentors to him, including Chuck Wayne and Jimmy Bruno.... more
Anthony Resta is a gold and multi-platinum awarded producer-composer/multi-instrumentalist. His past clients include Duran Duran, Elton John, Collective Soul, Perry Ferrell, Guster, Needtobreathe, Shawn Mullins, and many others. Anthony has always had an eye for art and a love of music. From age ... more
Stephen Olsen grew up with a passion for business, so when he had an opportunity to join the family music store, he jumped! Blues Angel was established in 1997 by his step father Jim and mother Nan. The couple asked Stephen to join them in 2008 as the store was expanding. Stephen played a vital... more
Jun-Ichi Miki joined the Roland Corporation in 1977 right after graduating from university. After working in research of sound synthesis and analysis for electronic musical instruments, in 1994 he joined the Board of Directors. In 2013, Jun-ichi was named Roland’s new CEO and his background in... more