OH Taxonomy
Paul Hostetter’s career as a luthier dates back to 1963, although his passion for music may have been born when he was. He started by giving guitar lessons before he began building instruments. Paul played on recording sessions for Motown, including on hits with his personal friend, Marvin Gaye....
Jerry Harrison recalled several memories of visiting local music stores as a young teenager, just as his musical career began. Growing up in Milwaukee, Jerry had access to several music stores, where he went to check out and purchase musical instruments and gear, all in the foreshadowing of his...
Charles Hodges and his brothers were regular session players in Memphis. Charles was among the early keyboardist for Willie Mitchell's band, which was the cornerstone for the Hi Records rhythm section. Charles can be heard on an amazing 26 gold records in a row, beginning with Al Green in the...
Martin Shore began playing drums at the age of six and always found great comfort in music. When the idea of a documentary about Memphis music came up, Martin ran with the idea, which has become the award winning film Take Me To The River. The film was shown at the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of...
William Bell began singing in doo-wop groups before signing for Stax Records in Memphis, which is where his first hit was recorded. In fact that song, "You Don't Miss Your Water" was also the first big hit for the newly formed record label that would go on to redefine soul music. William wrote...
Stanley Clarke was influenced heavily by music teachers he had as a young student and felt blessed that there was a neighborhood music store that he could explore. Stanley’s amazing career has covered many styles of music and he has witnessed the changes in acoustic and electric basses along with...
Stephen Schmidt is a lover of music. His background in engineering, experiences with technology, and customer service lead him to his position as Vice President of Casio’s Electronic Musical Instrument Division. He, along with his team at Casio, have spent a lot of time working with organizations...
Guy Charbonneau, founder of the legendary Le Mobile Remote Recording Studio, has been recording music live for more than 40 years. A pioneer in the field, he was the first to create a mobile recording studio that soon helped set the gold standard for capturing great musical performances. A...
Will Glover was among the first wave of surf rock guitarists when he formed a band with several friends from high school in 1961. The Pyramids, the Long Beach, California based rock group had a big instrumental hit with “Penetration” in 1963. The songs success led to several important...
Chick Corea loved being a music maker! Nominated over 60 times for a Grammy, Chick was among the most high profile musicians we have been blessed to interview for the NAMM Oral History program, and yet he was also one of the most down to earth men we have ever met. Around the time of his two NAMM...