As a guitarist, Chet was inspired by Django Reinhardt, Merle Travis, George Barnes and Les Paul. Chet started out on the ukulele and fiddle and got his first guitar at age 9. As a result of hearing Merle Travis on the radio, Chet soon developed his own style of finger picking that became, unmistakably, Chet’s [...]

Charlie started his career as a session musician in Nashville., working for Producer Bob Johnston. Bob booked Charlie as a session guitarist on three of the four albums Bob Dylan recorded in Nashville. Dylan was so impressed with Charlie’s musicianship that he later included Charlie in recording sessions with Beatles guitarist George Harrison. In the [...]

Victor Feldman was a musical prodigy at age 7. Born in Edgware, Middlesex, England in 1934, Victor came from a very musical family. At age 10, he was featured playing drums in a concert with Glen Miller’s AAF Band. He also became an accomplished player on the vibes, but it was his talent as a [...]

As a Producer, Fred’s career would be legendary for his work with Roy Orbison alone. Foster produced such standards as, “Only the Lonely,” “Crying,” “Blue Bayou,” “It’s Over” and “Oh, Pretty Woman”. Fred also played a huge role in the careers of Dolly Parton, Ray Stevens, Boots Randolph, Al Hirt, Charlie McCoy, Tony Joe White, [...]

After seeing a Dick Dale show, Leo Fender, founder of Fender Musical Instruments Company, designed an amplifier named the “Showman.” Leo increased the power output, and he had new speakers designed to handle the extra wattage that Dick needed. The volume and energy radiating from Dick’s performances led to him being called the “Father of [...]

Billy knew greatness the first time he ever heard Jimi Hendrix play guitar. Billy introduced himself to Jimi when they were both in the 101st Airborne, stationed in Fort Campbell, KY. This was the start of a lifelong friendship. After leaving the Army, Billy and Jimi moved to Nashville where they started their band, The [...]

Toto, consisting of some of LA’s finest studio musicians, has sold over 30 million albums to date. The original line-up consisted of Jeff and Steve Porcaro, David Paich, Steve Lukather and David Hungate. Mike Porcaro took over the position of bass guitarist for David Hungate in 1980. The Porcaros and David Paich came from musical [...]

Paul’s amazing career as an arranger started with work as a session trombonist at Motown, but it wasn’t long before he became one of the top arrangers in the history of American popular music. As it is with so many talented people behind the scenes, you may not recognize his name, but you will certainly [...]