Oral History - all
Keith Mulholland is a rock bass player from Liverpool, England who played with the signed band, Nutz. He also played the Reading Festival twice as well as toured with Queen and Status Quo during the 1970s. Keith also played in a band with Ian Gillan of Deep Purple. His chosen bass has always been... more
Birth Date: June 9, 1945
Deceased Date: September 12, 2021
Melvin Dunlap played bass on several classic soul and R&B recordings beginning in the early 1970s. When he was a kid, he was sick and stuck in bed for an extended period of time and started playing an old Fender bass his parents purchased from a pawnshop in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio.... more
Alan Peters is a trumpeter and guitarist who was brought up on blues and R&B and formed the group Almost Blues in the 1960s. Alan backed many artists in the famous club, the Cavern, including Junior Walker, Lee Dorsey and Stevie Wonder. While playing on a session with Frank Zappa and the... more
Lou Rosenthal started playing drums at an early age, eventually playing in bands in Southport Merseyside. Later, after purchasing a Ludwig drum kit, he moved into a more serious group and landed the job as the drummer with the rock band Export after winning the ‘Battle of the Bands’. While with the... more
Cathy MacLaughlin started learning to play guitar when she was only 8 years old, taking lessons from her brother on his Hofner guitar which was purchased from Rushworth's on the Wirral across the Mersey river made famous by Gerry and the Pacemakers in the movie Ferry Across the Mersey. When she was... more
Will Woo started playing in rock groups at an early age as did his brother, Allan. Allan and Will played in the band, Hamster Farm and in 1980, Will joined the UK chart topping synth band, A Flock of Seagulls. He went on to get a dream job in a local music store, Frets, where he set up guitars as... more
Ozzie Yue started a group with school friends who later went on to be known as the band, The Hideaways. The Liverpool based band played in the Cavern more times than the Beatles – in fact they played the Cavern five times in one day! Besides playing for the Hideaways, Ozzie also performed in the... more
Albie Donnelly started playing saxophone at an early age and played with Merseybeat groups in Liverpool, England. He was then signed to Virgin Records with his group, Supercharge, which he formed in 1974 with drummer, Dave Irving. Their first album, released on the Stag label, was titled Between... more
Billy Butler started in the early 1960s singing with the Merseybeats group, The Tuxedos, having also sang with The Merseybeats and even performed on the same stage as The Beatles. He soon became a celebrity in Liverpool, becoming the resident DJ at the Cavern and working with Bob Wooler. He went on... more
Ryan Hewitt grew up following his father, David, on musical adventures that took them around the world. David Hewitt is the award-winning mobile recording engineer who passed down his passion for music and audio to Ryan. Ryan’s career focuses on recording engineering in the studio and mixing. He... more
Robert Hobbs is very proud of his father’s role in music. His father, Revis Hobbs, was a radio engineer for station WSM and later created the r/f switch for radio frequency stability. In 1962, Glenn Snoddy asked Revis to provide the circuit board and box for the Fuzz Tone, an idea Glenn had to... more
Arthur Sloatman was working at Valley Sound in Los Angeles when he was called to the Record Plant to repair a synthesizer that required attention during a session with Frank Zappa. Later when Frank had a question while learning the Linn Drum Machine and other synths, he called on Art to help. With... more
David Kramny proudly joined his father in business to help run PPV Media. His father, Thilo, formed the company in 1984, which has grown to include 27 magazines. The magazines range from music and lighting to aviation; all of which are passions of Thilo. The company also created an online sheet... more
Paul Leim established himself as one of the top studio drummers in both Los Angeles and Nashville. Paul has recorded with the likes of Randy Travis, Dolly Parton, Brian Setzer and Lionel Richie (along with many others). He has also played for several television shows and movies including Star Wars... more
David Prater has produced a series of successful albums for the bands Firehouse, Dream Theater and Night Ranger (among others). He recalls that he always loved music but pinpoints the birth of his true passion for music when he saw Frank Zappa live in 1973. David played drums, which landed him gigs... more
Birth Date: July 6, 1944
Deceased Date: July 10, 2021
Byron Berline established the Double Stop Fiddle Shop in Oklahoma back in 1995. The store became a major hub for musicians which bought and sold a great number of both vintage and new instruments. The store followed Byron’s amazing career as a professional musician, which included recordings with... more
Vic Russelavage was hired by Chuck Levin as a repairman while Vic was playing his trumpet professionally. Chuck became a mentor and encouraged Vic to focus on the details and to take as much time with each customer as needed. As a result, Vic was inspired to open his own repair shop, which became a... more
Helen Meyer, Co-Founder of Meyer Sound in Berkeley California, remembers attending a rock concert while still dating John Meyer (whom she later married). John turned to Helen and told her he thought he could make a better system. It wasn’t long before the company was formed and like John, Helen... more
Tim Shaw is the Chief Engineer-Guitars for Fender Musical Instruments, helping the company create guitars, pickups and other products. Tim’s career began when Charlie Wicks hired him to repair guitars for his retail store. He found his way to R&D at Gibson in Kalamazoo in 1978 and worked with... more
Aaron Friedman was composing in his New York City apartment when he was distracted by the constant sound of car alarms. He took action and helped create a city ordinance, which led to his involvement in the city’s government. After visiting France and taking part in the country’s Make Music day... more