Thomas Lee was a member of the United States Marine Band for 24 years. As the pianist for "The President's Own" Marine Band, he worked closely with six presidents, providing musical support several times weekly for state dinners, receptions and other official occasions.

At the same time, Mr. Lee was interested in the acceptance of military musicians into the union. He lobbied the AFM to change the union policy which kept military musicians from membership. His efforts were successful and in 1978 military musicians were accepted as members.

In 1980, while still on active duty, he was elected to the Executive Board of Local 161-710 (Washington, DC). Among his duties were assisting in contract negotiations for the National Symphony and the orchestras of the Kennedy Center and the National Theater. He was also elected to be a delegate to the AFM International Convention, where he served on the Finance Committee. He was elected Secretary-Treasurer of Local 161-710 in 1990.

Mr. Lee was elected to the International Executive Board in 1991 and International Vice President in 1995.

Harold Bradley is a guitarist who has performed and recorded with many of the greatest names in country, rock, folk and film music including Elvis Presley, Jimmy Dean, Patsy Cline, Joan Baez, Henry Mancini, Charlie Pride and Roy Orbison. He performed on the soundtrack of Coal Miner's Daughter and appeared briefly in the movie Nashville. Along with his brother Owen, Mr. Bradley was also a producer and built one of the first recording studios in Nashville, a city that has since become a major recording center.

He has been a union activist throughout his career and President of the AFM's Nashville Local 257 since 1990. He has also served as the first President of the Nashville chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), sponsors of the Grammy Awards, and currently serves on the NARAS Board of Governors.

Bill Skolnik's 25-year career in the entertainment industry is varied; he has worked as a musician, music director, composer, arranger, lyricist, and music producer. He first joined the AFM in 1972 and, as he has lived in various parts of Canada, has been an active member of Locals 142 (Toronto, ON), 145 (Vancouver, BC), and 547 (Calgary, AB). Since 1998 he has served as the Executive Director of Local 149, which he successfully moved from the brink of insolvency to a point of economic stability and growth.

Mr. Skolnik has been instrumental in advising on and developing ground-breaking provisions that affect musicians, composers and producers working in the Canadian film, television and theater industries. In addition to being an active AFM member, he has furthered his work through memberships in the Canadian Media Guild, the National Radio Producers Association, the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, and the Guild of Canadian Film Composers.

Sam Folio is a percussionist and vocalist very active in the music business since the '50s. As content director for the only lossless music store on the Internet, he brings high tech knowledge to the Federation, which will help our recording musicians.

Mr. Folio is no stranger to labor strife, having organized pickets for the AFM in volatile situations in Puerto Rico, Key West, Miami, West Virginia, and Branson, Missouri. At the recent AFM Convention Delegate Jose Martin recalls when they were threatened by three gun-toting thugs, "They poked Folio in the chest as said, 'You are going home in a box,' and made a motion across the throat to me. Folio was stone faced and was not intimidated."

Mr. Folio is former trustee and president of Local 368 (Reno, NV), trustee of Local 655 (Miami, FL), and Local 555 (San Juan, PR). His first convention was in Shreveport, Louisiana, a member of the Ways and Means Committee and member of the Finance committee till his election as the youngest IEB member in 1983. Serving several intermittent terms on the board he co-chaired the Organizing and Recruitment committee with Ray Hair and co-chaired the International Musician Editorial Board with fellow board member Ken Shirk.

Mr. Folio is a former professor, researcher, and administrator at West Virginia University with a degree in Business Administration and advanced degrees in Health and Educational Psychology. He was appointed by Governor Jay Rockefeller to several positions in State Government managing multimillion dollar budgets and thousands of employees. "I believe my experience running a regulatory agency with oversight of 63 hospitals, 100 nursing homes; the State Insurance Agency; and the State Health Planning Agency will be of enormous assistance to the Secretary Treasurers office." Not lacking in humor Sam says, "Possibly my stint of CEO and superintendent of a public psychiatric hospital may be of use in the IEB meetings."

Lastly, but most importantly, Mr. Folio is a trade unionist. He grew up looking at three pictures on the wall: FDR, Jesus, and John L. Lewis. His maternal grandfather had his arm cut off while working as a child laborer at 10 years old. His paternal grandfather lived through the "coal mine wars" in Logan County, West Virginia, till he had his foot smashed while working underground. His great uncle, Tony Aiello, worked for the United Mine Workers of America and was killed on a picket line during a bitter coal mine strike.

It is only fitting that Mr. Folio is AFM Secretary-Treasurer at this time in his life. After all he was responsible for the initiation of the first ever budget, the balanced budget bylaw, and the three-year plan-all of which he will be responsible for implementing. He is interested in turning the office of Secretary Treasurer into a professional position as soon as possible and wants to take the politics out of the office. Yes, he wants to eliminate his job.

An arranger and freelance/recording musician, Joe Parente has been a local officer for thirty years. He has served on the Law and Finance Committees, the Futures Committee, Pamphlet B, Symphonic Recording, and the Audio/Visual Contract Committees. An advocate for the Locals and Local autonomy, he was elected to the International Executive Board in 2005, and has been the president of Local 77 in Philadelphia since 1996.

Bob McGrew has been a Local Officer of Local 65-699 (Houston, TX)  since 1977 and Secretary-Treasurer of the Local since 1987. He has been a professional musician since 1963. And he is a past president of both the Western and Southern Conference. He has been a delegate since 1987 and was Chair of the Law Committee in 1997, 1999 & 2001. Mr. McGrew served as a member of the AFM International Executive Board from 2001-2003 and is currently the Vice President of the Professional Musicians of Texas, a statewide organization of local musicians' unions with jurisdiction in the State of Texas.

Mr. McGrew is an active drummer performing with the Rob Landes Trio, well known for performances in concert at the Galveston Grand 1984 Opera House, Jones Hall, the Wortham Theatre, and the Houston Jazz Festival in Houston and throughout the country. His career has also included managing the musicians' credit union in Houston (since 1980) as well as co-producing the Kemah Jazz Festival, which he has done since 1997.

Billy Linneman career in music began while he was still in high school, when he was made staff bass player at the Grand Ole Opry. He held that position for 43 years. Throughout his career he has also worked on a number of sound recordings, including advertising jingles, and he spent 10 years working for the busiest jingle company in Nashville. He plays consistently on local, cable and syndicated television shows. To date, Billy has logged more time on TV than any other bass player.

A local executive board member for 23 years, Mr. Linneman has served as the Secretary-Treasurer of Local 257 (Nashville, TN) since 2003. He has been a member of the AFM Convention's Law and Finance Committee.

Ray Hair, a 28-year resident of Denton, Texas, is president of Local 72-147 (Dallas, TX), a labor union representing 1800 professional musicians across North Texas and Southern Oklahoma. As its president, Mr. Hair negotiates the Unions' agreements with 14 symphony orchestras including the Dallas and Fort Worth Orchestras, the Dallas Opera, and the Richardson Symphony, as well as agreements with every major employer of professional musicians in the area.

A professional musician who has performed all styles of popular music for over 35 years, Mr. Hair holds degrees in music from the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of North Texas, where he served as adjunct faculty, teaching drum set from 1975 through 1983.

Mr. Hair was elected president-secretary of the Fort Worth Professional Musicians Association in 1983, and was elected to the International Executive Board of the American Federation of Musicians in 1989, a position to which he was re-elected in 1991, 1995 and most recently in 2003. He facilitated a merger of the Fort Worth and Dallas musicians' association in 1991, creating the largest entertainment union in the southwest, now headquartered in Arlington.

Mr. Hair pioneered the free-to-attend, continuous, multi-stage festival entertainment format in North Texas in 1985 with Denton Jazzfest, now the Denton Arts and Jazz Festival, and with the Fort Worth Main Street Arts Festival in 1986. Representing the D/FW Musicians Association, he has acted as music director for most of the free-to-attend festival events in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, including the Bedford Blues Festival, Arlington's Pecan Street Festival, Racefest, The Taste of Dallas, and Feastfest, in addition to the Denton and Fort Worth Arts Festivals.

Mr. Hair serves as a member of the Executive Board of the Tarrant County Central Labor Council and is a member of the North Central Texas Workforce Development Board.