OH Taxonomy
Rusty Richards would like to point out the distinction between Singing Cowboys and Cowboys that sing. He is very much a cowboy, having roped, rode in the rodeo and having worked as a ranch hand most of his life. He also is a singer, having crooned with the famous Sons of The Pioneers and other...
John McLaren Jr. grew up in the music business as his father, John McLaren Sr., served as a strong leader for CBS Musical Instruments, which owned such brands as Steinway pianos and Fender guitars. His father was also the Senior Vice President for Yamaha Corporation. John Sr.'s involvement in...
DJ Grandmaster Flash combined his love of music with his passion for electronics to become one of the pioneers of Hip Hop music. His innovative style of mixing records and blending beats provided the foundation for a generation of DJs and MCs, as well as set the stage of EDM and other forms of...
Phil Ealy is an award-winning lighting designer who established West Coast Concert Lighting in the late 70’s. Having designed the lighting rigs for several large rock tours, Phil became known for his attention to every detail with focus on smooth eloquent color transitions and flash and bang...
Ken King performed in several Country and Western bands in and around Los Angeles beginning in the 1940s. While playing his guitar as a guest on the Spade Cooley television show in late 1949, two fellow musicians in the band (Jimmy Wyble and Cameron Hill) showed Ken the new solid body Fender guitar...
Terry Oliver grew up in Southern California and remembers the day his father took him for guitar lessons at RC Allen’s guitar shop in 1964. The famous luthier had dozens of projects in the works including building a hollow body guitar and a banjo. In 1967, Terry’s father requested that Mr. Allen...
Cesar Rosas was born in Hermosillo, Mexico, in the state of Sonora, and was greatly influenced by the music he heard as a child growing up. He was exposed to traditional Mexican music and instruments, and continued to play the music of his heritage even after moving to East Los Angeles as a...
James Harman was a Blues harmonica player who shared the staged with some of the biggest names in music history. James was just a young man performing at clubs and bars in the 1960s and 70s when many of the old time Blues musicians were still performing. As a result, he was able to gig with the...
Fred Bernardo was repairing and teaching guitar in his local music store when the idea came to him to open his own shop. In 1972, with one guitar and a set of strings he was given as a promotion, Fred opened for business. The store grew, and within a year, Fred began hiring a staff and sought to...
Ricky Peterson is a lifelong Minnesotan musician whose family is deeply rooted in a characteristically “Minneapolis” sound. Ricky is best known for his 20 year association with saxophone legend David Sanborn, and for having produced, written and played keyboards for Prince. Peterson has also...