OH Taxonomy
William Cordier remembered piling in the family car for a road trip to their favorite lake northwest of their home in Ohio. Each and every trip included a detour into Elkhart, Indiana where his father would pull over and show off the large sign announcing the "World's Biggest Musical Instrument...
Jorma Kaukonen played guitar in two classic rock bands of the 1960s and 70s, Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna! His passion for the blues helped create his style, which was in such demand by up and coming players that Jorma started a fantasy guitar camp to teach his style. The Fur Peace Ranch:...
Lou Witt grew up on a small farm in Iowa and one day asked his band director in school for an instrument. He was given a trombone and has played the instrument ever since. He enjoyed playing music and soon developed an interest in working within the music industry. Lou worked for Schmitt Music in...
David Magagna had an incredible career selling guitars for some of the biggest names in the industry. He worked for the government out of high school and attended college in Georgetown before coming into the music industry by way of the C.F. Martin & Company. The year was 1962. David became...
Joseph Gomes is a partner with his brother in the music company their father purchased in 1953. BX Furtado & Son opened in 1865 in India, having a small part of their store dedicated to musical instruments. That focus expanded over time, and by 1953 the store was well known for service and...
Larry Fishman had an idea to create an electronic pick up for the upright string bass. The task was not an easy one. In fact, others had tried and failed to produce the correct balance of electronic tones within the range of the strings. However, Fishman was able to do just that. The success of the...
John Anning is the Executive Director of the Alliance of Independent Music Merchants (AIMM). He began his career as a sales rep for the pro audio industry after growing up as a musician and falling in love with music. His career as a rep expanded over the years and he came to understand the inner...
Jesus "Jet" Fernando opened a small music retail store with his wife, Elizabeth, in their native Philippines. Elizabeth grew up in her parents store across town and knew the business side of the store while Jet offered the technical knowhow that was needed in providing customer service such as...
Leo Saleh was the very first person from Indonesia to be included in the NAMM Oral History program, which was an honor for us! His father enjoyed playing piano and Leo recalls music all around him as he grew up. Leo’s sister began teaching piano and had more than 80 students when their father...
Wes Dooley is the founder of Audio Engineering Associates (AEA) and the inventor of the company’s product line of ribbon microphones. As product engineer, Wes brought his experiences in radio and as a recording engineer to focus on the needs of the market as well as what microphones work and what...