OH Taxonomy
David Briggs is a great example that not everyone in the music products industry enters into it because of their passion for music. David’s passion is business, and he has developed one of the strongest retail chains in the UK, Dawson’s Music. Mr. Briggs noted, “Looking for ways to improve what we...
Andrew Kemble’s grandfather established the Kemble Piano Company and started a family tradition that Andrew carries on today. The pianos became an important product within the European market and the company was respected for conveying family values not only in their interviews but in their...
David Seville loved the music industry because he loved music! He was born in Birmingham UK and became a well-known opera singer both in recordings and such live performances as Wells Cathedral. During our interview, he recalls his transition from singing to a long and enjoyable career with Selmer...
Bo Diddley was the pioneering rhythm and blues performer who taught the industry one main point in the early days of the electric guitar era. With his square cigar box guitar, patented by Gretsch, Bo demonstrated that, if it’s electronic, it could be any shape and size. Soon after he played the...
Ron Carter’s name is listed in every jazz encyclopedia as a major influence on the bass. He recorded and performed with many of the greatest players in modern jazz and spoke with great detail about the instruments he uses and the style he has developed. At the end of the interview he listed what...
Wilbur Fuller took to woodwork at a young age. When he was 16, from the instructions in a magazine, he made a desk which still stands in the corner of his small farmhouse in western Michigan. In 1954, his cousin Walter, who engineered the Gibson amplifier in nearby Kalamazoo, told Wilbur of an...
Marvin Lamb was looking for a job in 1958 and found an opening at the Gibson
Guitar Company in Kalamazoo. “This was right at the time of the boom in the
industry and it was a great time to get started.” A year later he met
James Deurloo and along with J. P. Moats, they stayed with Gibson until...
Byron Autrey loved to tell you everything you needed to know about how a trumpet works, and I mean everything! Byron studied the craft of trumpet design for decades, having been a player all of his life. The mathematical approach he took in understanding the flow of air and the vibration of the...
James Deurloo walked through the old Gibson workshop, which is now the home of his company, the Heritage Guitar Company. Pointing proudly to a workstation in the middle of the old building, “that was my first workbench. I learned every skill on the line and had wonderful teachers. The old men on...
Rufus Reid spoke eloquently of his musical mentor and friend, Eddie Harris. He recalled the passion for musical innovation that was so much apart of Eddie’s life. Rufus himself is constantly trying to reach out musically to gain something new, just as his role model did. Rufus was a bit modest...