The Gretsch Company was founded in 1883 by Friedrich Gretsch, a twenty-seven year old German immigrant recently arrived in the US. Friedrich Gretsch manufactured banjos, tambourines, and drums, until his death in 1895. His son, Fred, moved operations to Brooklyn, New York in 1916. Gretsch then became one of the most prominent manufacturers of American musical instruments.

Guitar production began in the late 1930s, and Gretsch guitars became highly sought after, most notably in the 1950s and 1960s. They lost favor with players during the 1970s and 1980s for various reasons, including a problematic relationship with the Baldwin Piano Company. Gretsch eventually slid into bankruptcy, but it was revived by Fred W. Gretsch in 1989. Gretsch, who is great-great-grandson to Friederich Gretsch, and is sometimes referred to as Fred Gretsch III, remains president of the company to this day.

Most modern-era Gretsch guitars are manufactured in the Far East, though US-made "Custom Shop" models remain available. In 2003 Gretsch entered into an agreement with Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC), under the terms of which Fred Gretsch III would continue to own the company, with FMIC handling most development, distribution and sales.

Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.

Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle Travis, Django Reinhardt, George Barnes and Les Paul, brought him admirers within and outside the country scene, both in the United States and internationally. Atkins produced records for The Browns, Porter Wagoner, Norma Jean, Dolly Parton, Dottie West, Perry Como, Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers, Eddy Arnold, Don Gibson, Jim Reeves, Jerry Reed, Skeeter Davis, Waylon Jennings and many others.

Among many honors, Atkins received 14 Grammy Awards as well as the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, nine Country Music Association Instrumentalist of the Year awards, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Joe Carducci (born Donald Joseph Carducci August 25, 1955) is an American writer, record producer, and former A&R executive, formerly most closely associated with the influential record label SST Records.

He was born in Merced, California, in 1955 but grew up in Naperville, Illinois. He also lived for a time in Chicago in the late 1970s where he ran an independent mail-order record retailer. From 1981 to 1986 he was an A&R man, record producer, and co-owner of SST Records, working with, among other bands, the Minutemen, Saint Vitus, the Meat Puppets, Black Flag and Saccharine Trust. He also ran his own record label, Thermidor Records, which released albums by The Birthday Party, the Minutemen, Oil Tasters, Flipper, Nig Heist, SPK and Al Jourgensen's pre-Ministry band Special Affect.

He wrote lyrics for the song "Jesus & Tequila" by the Minutemen (Double Nickels on the Dime, 1984) and "Chinese Firedrill" from Mike Watt's 1995 solo album Ball-Hog or Tugboat?. He now resides in Centennial, Wyoming, where he runs Redoubt Press and O&O Recordings.

Philip Xenidis, better known as Phil X (born 10 March 1966), is a Greek-born Canadian guitarist and co-founder of the Los Angeles-based turbo pop band Powder. He also has a second band, the Drills. He is best known as the guitarist who replaced Rik Emmett in the Canadian rock band Triumph, for the Edge of Excess album and tour and as the Guitar Reviewer of fretted americana on YouTube.

An early opportunity in Xenidis's career came when he was asked in 1990 to tour with Randy Coven, whom he met through Aldo Nova; in 1991, he toured the US with Aldo Nova.

Phil X is a prolific session guitarist, having played on albums by Tommy Lee, Methods of Mayhem, Avril Lavigne, Kelly Clarkson, Orianthi, Rob Zombie, Chris Daughtry, Alice Cooper, Thousand Foot Krutch and many others. He wrote the song "Tired" and also played guitar on Tommy Lee's Tommyland: The Ride album. He has appeared with Lee on Ellen and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Phil X was featured in the "making of" video for the movie Josie and the Pussycats. He, along with his Powder bandmates, taught the young actresses to appear as if they were actually playing their instruments.

Greg Koch (born June 14, 1955 in Bethesda, Maryland) is a former American football tackle and guard who played eleven seasons in the National Football League, mainly with the Green Bay Packers. In 2010, Koch was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame. Koch was also inducted into the University of Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor. He is a licensed attorney and a part time radio personality on SportsTalk 790 KBME in Houston, Texas

Koch was a four year letterman at the University of Arkansas. He was a starter for the Arkansas Razorbacks were he was part of the offensive line that blocked for the school record 3,523 rushing yards in 1975. That same season Koch was a First-team All-SWC. Koch played in the All-America Bowl in Tampa, Flida after the 1976 season. Koch was named the Razorback 1970s All-Decade team with offensive linemen R. C. Thielemann, Leotis Harris George Stewart and Greg Kolenda. No one is quite sure whether the urban legend that Koch and Thielemann rode with outlaw motorcycle clubs during the summer while attending Arkansas is in fact true. The two did however, own and operate a tattoo parlor long before it became fashionable.