Oral History - all
Birth Date: April 10, 1932
Deceased Date: September 23, 2015
DeWitt Scott knew about as much as a person can know about steel guitars! As a retailer he sold them, as a performer he played them, as a composer and author he wrote about them and as a fan he promoted them everyplace he went. As the founder of the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame, Dewitt (known as... more
Birth Date: December 15, 1917
Deceased Date: October 29, 2016
Stanley Schireson’s father opened up a small music store in 1902 that would eventually branch out into manufacturing and distribution of musical instruments. The company began making ukuleles and acoustic guitars under the Hollywood brand name before developing the Volutone name. Stanley took to... more
Leo Scala was born in Belgrade Serbia and moved to Moscow to attend college. He studied chemical engineering, but soon realized this was not his true passion. Having played guitar since he was a teenager, Leo discovered what he really wanted to study was the craft of making guitars. After several... more
Luis Ruvina grew up in the music industry! His family established the Daniel Ruvina Music Company back in 1917. Over the years Luis continued in the tradition of the company and the industry by working hard to build the industry and creating ways to make more people active music makers. Luis has... more
Birth Date: May 14, 1954
Deceased Date: February 6, 2017
Elliott Rubinson fell in love with the bass at the age of 12 and played it every waking moment as he grew up in Queens, New York, in the rock era of the 1960s. He toured with a number of bands and eventually decided to start his own music store in Florida so he could spend his days immersed in... more
Floyd Rose began his career as a machinist working on jewel inlays, all the while playing guitar on the side in local bands and in clubs. Over the years he became frustrated with the lack of control he had in using the tremolo bar, so he sought to make his own. The resulting invention was the Floyd... more
Birth Date: September 18, 1933
Deceased Date: January 18, 2021
Jimmie Rodgers was a popular singer and songwriter who topped the charts in the 1950s and 60s with recordings such as "Kisses Sweeter than Wine," "Oh-Oh, I'm Falling in Love Again," "Are You Really Mine" and his 1957 hit “Honeycomb.” Jimmy was taught music by his mother, learning to play the guitar... more
Johnny Rivers had a series of top hits as a pop singer beginning in the 1960s with records such as "Seventh Son," "Poor Side of Town" and "Secret Agent Man.” Within the music products industry Johnny is well known for his guitar style and composing. Johnny recorded several influential albums in the... more
Bernard Purdie became a studio drummer in the early 1960s. In fact his first recording was when he provided the influential drum beat heard in the beginning of “Just One Look” with singer Doris Troy. Since that time he has played important roles on several landmark recordings and partnered with... more
John Pisano is the jazz guitarist heard on thousands of recordings, covering artists from Frank Sinatra and Natalie Cole to Chico Hamilton and Diana Krall. His lush sound and rhythmic ideas have been a great influence to millions of young guitar players over the decades. John has been a regular at... more
Charles Phillips played trombone in his high-school band and continued through college. He studied music and business, and along the way played in an R&B band. He was hired at St. Louis Music in 1974 to fill orders and work in the warehouse. Over the years, he grew into other positions... more
Michael Pettersen is the unofficial historian of Shure. He can tell you everything you’d ever want to know about the long list of innovations and long-lasting microphone developments so much a part of the 80-year old company. Michael has also served in several roles in his 28-year career at Shure... more
Erik Norlander is the perfect musician to have come into his own as a performer as the synthesizer and other electronic musical instruments were being developed in the 1980s. In addition to touring and recording, Erik also worked within the industry at Alesis Electronics where he was the... more
Terry Lewis has fulfilled many roles within the music products industry including Executive Vice President of Yamaha Corporation of America. Under his leadership, the company expanded its educational and foundation programs while playing a vital role in many key industry originations such as MENC,... more
Hans Kuhner has followed long traditions in print music by engraving musical notes on lead plates to reproduce songs – hearkening to the days and the style in which Germany’s music publishing industry was formed some 500 years ago. In this clip from his NAMM Oral History interview, Hans... more
Dave Koz is best known as the smooth jazz saxophonist who recorded hit albums beginning in the 1990s. However, his life in music began as a piano student before playing in the high school jazz band in southern California. After attending UCLA, Dave became a studio session player, which led to... more
Gene Garb is the Vice President of NEMC, joining the company only a few years after it was established in the 1950s. NEMC is a school oriented music wholesaler located in Mountainside, New Jersey. The company’s focus has been to work closely with schools to create rental programs that best support... more
Birth Date: November 23, 1921
Deceased Date: September 10, 2013
James Decker had been an active music maker ever since performing with his mother on radio broadcasts while he was a child. Over the years, he continued his pursuit of music study and eventually developed into one of the most sought-after symphonic hornists in the country. Jim later worked in... more
Jimmy Cypher is a vanguard guitarist who is forging a career of guitar performance with live DJ's in their environment. Reversing the trend of incorporating DJ's into musical instrument ensemble performances, a la Incubus and Sugar Ray, Jimmy is turning this concept a full 180 and being the... more
Tony Blair is the proud president of the Kay Musical Instrument Company, which has a long and important history in the music products industry. As Tony points out, many noted musicians today got their first start playing a Kay guitar. Over the years Tony added his passion for distribution and... more