The NAMM Oral History Program celebrated a milestone this week: the release of the program’s 5,000th interview. In this special edition, the program features Kevin McGinty, famed audio engineer, and Front of House for the Grand Ole Opry. The Opry presents the best in country music live every week from Nashville, Tennessee.
In the interview, McGinty shares stories, wit, and wisdom working in live sound. He covers his early history, which began with mixing live sound in high school, later attending Belmont University and Middle Tennessee State University for a degree in Music Business. From there, he worked as front of house at Nashville’s famed Exit/In and installed many audio systems in the city’s clubs and concert halls. In 2003, McGinty joined the Grand Ole Opry as an audio engineer and has never looked back.
View the interview here: namm.org/library/oral-history/kevin-mcginty
Notable Milestones of the Oral History Program:
- The 500th interview featured the late Danny Rocks, past Vice President of Alfred Publishing.
- The 1,000th interview featured Dennis Houlihan, past NAMM Chairman and past President/CEO of Roland.
- The 2,000th interview featured Tom Schmitt, past NAMM Chairman and CEO of Schmitt Music.
- The 3,000th interview featured jazz legend, Chick Corea.
- The 4,000th interview featured Helen Meyer, Co-Founder of Meyer Sound Laboratories.
- Oral History participants have come from 84 different countries and all U.S. states and were born in the years between 1903 and 2001.
- The oldest living interviewee is former piano industry executive, Kline Locher, who was 84 when he was interviewed in 2004. He is now just days away from turning 103.
