Ray Hair, a 36-year resident of Denton, Texas, was president of Local 72-147 (Dallas, TX), a labor union representing 1700 professional musicians across North Texas and Southern Oklahoma, for 28 years prior to being elected International President of the American Federation of Musicians.

Mr. Hair negotiates the Federation’s international agreements with the sound recording industry, the motion picture and television industries and with other industry associations that employ professional musicians.

A professional musician who has performed all styles of popular music for over 45 years, Mr. Hair holds degrees in music from the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of North Texas, where he taught Drum Set and Percussion from 1975 through 1983.

Mr. Hair was elected president-secretary of the Fort Worth Professional Musicians Association in 1983, and was first elected to the AFM’s International Executive Board in 1989, a position he held when elected as AFM International President in June, 2010. 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 served as music director for most free-to-attend outdoor music and arts festivals in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, including the Bedford Blues Festival, Arlington's Pecan Street Festival, Racefest, The Taste of Dallas, Mansfield Music Festival and Feastfest, in addition to the Denton and Fort Worth Arts Festivals.

Mr. Hair served for two decades as a member of the Executive Board of the Tarrant County Central Labor Council and is a member of the Labor Advisory Committee for U.S. Trade Negotiations and Trade Policy, is co-chair of the American Federation of Musicians and Employers’ Pension Fund, and represents the AFM’s 90,000 members on the boards of the AFM-AFTRA Fund and SoundExchange, which collect and pay performers rights royalties in accordance with the U.S. and International copyright laws.

Bruce Fife, a multi instrumentalist on guitars, bass, keyboards, harmonica, plus vocals, spent 25 years as a full time, working class, club and freelance musician, playing a broad mix of rock, pop, folk and jazz. 

First elected to the Executive Board of Local 99, Portland, Oregon, in 1999, and then as its President in 2001, Mr. Fife has directed numerous projects and campaigns.  Citing his commitment to collaboration and engagement of local musicians in valuing their craft, Mr. Fife directed the efforts that led to the creation of the Fair Trade Music Campaign, as well as a radio programming monitoring operation, highlighted by the Media Empowerment Project, that led to commercial radio license renewal challenges.

In addition to his many union duties and activities, Mr. Fife has also served on the Steering Committee of Portland Jobs with Justice and the General Board of the Oregon AFL-CIO.  He is a founding member of the Oregon Alliance to Reform Media and has served on the Boards of MetroEast Community Media (KZME Radio), MusicFestNW Advisory Board, and the Music Education Assistance Project.  

In protecting the integrity, talents, and products of musicians, Mr. Fife's work on media consolidation and justice, as well as net neutrality issues have fostered working relationships with the Future of Music Coalition, Free Press, Office of Communication, Inc., former and present FCC Commissioners, numerous federal congressional representatives and Oregon legislators, and a broad range of related  national and regional advocacy groups.

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 149 (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.

In his role as AFM Canadian Vice President, Mr. Skolnik pledges "to work to the best of my ability to help you and all of our members to achieve an AFM that we can take pride in! I will be there for all locals, to provide you with the resources of the Canadian Office at all times. I will be responsible to you and work to have your respect and support for many years to come." 

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.

Vince Trombetta, woodwind, composer and recording artist was schooled at the Philadelphia Conservatory, Julliard School and the Philadelphia Musical Academy, currently the University of the Arts.  He studied composition with Vincent Persichetti, Robert Suderberg, Joseph Castaldo and Gary McFarland.  A former head of the saxophone department and composition instructor at the University of the Arts, Trombetta has taught musicians as diverse as Michael Brecker, Stanley Clarke, Ron Kerber, Bob Malach and Bill Zaccagni.  Vince has also recorded and performed with some of the world’s best artists, among them, Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire, Gerry Mulligan, Chuck Mongione, John Lennon, Michael Legrand and Phil Woods.  He has composed and arranged numerous works for both television and film and has over 350 published compositions to his credit.  His solo and ensemble work can be heard on thousands of recorded hours in television and motion picture soundtracks.  Vince was woodwind player, composer and arranger of the Mike Douglas Show for 18 years.  He was also a resident artist with the Henry Mancini Institute during its ten-year existence.  Vince has been a member in good standing with Locals 47, 77 and 802 for many years.  As a woodwind player, Vince has worked under every agreement from live engagements to electronic media, and has been part of the negotiation team of every electronic media and national contract.  For the past 15 years, Vince has sat as a trustee on the executive board of Professional Musicians, Local 47 in Hollywood, California, and as a trustee on the H&W Fund for the past 11 years.  In 2004, he was elected vice president of Local 47, and is currently the president.  He is the chair of the wage scale committee and the legislative committee.  Vince has attended the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania 3 times as a trustee, expanding his knowledge in the areas of leadership, management, finance and marketing.

Over the past 33 years, Dave Pomeroy has become a prime example of the Nashville music scene's creative diversity. Consistently on the cutting edge of the music business, Pomeroy has established himself as a world-class bassist, vocalist, performer, writer, producer, and more recently, as a musicians rights activist and AFM leader.

He has played electric and acoustic basses on over 500 albums with a wide range of artists including Trisha Yearwood, Willie Nelson, Elton John, Emmylou Harris, Peter Frampton, and The Chieftains. He has played on Grammy-winning recordings with Kathy Mattea, Alison Krauss, Earl Scruggs, and Guy Clark, and has performed in concert with Steve Winwood, John Fogerty, Dr. John, Patty Loveless, Mose Allison, and many others. His TV and video work includes appearances with Chet Atkins, Earl Klugh, Eric Johnson, Dickie Betts, and Vince Gill.

Pomeroy was named "Studio Musician Of The Year" by Nashville's Metro Magazine in 1991, his band Tone Patrol was voted Nashville’s "Jazz Band Of The Year" twice, and he was voted "Outstanding Bassist" at the 1997 Nashville Music Awards. He co-wrote the title track of Chet Atkins and Tommy Emmanuel’s 1997 CD, "The Day Finger Pickers Took over The World", and has had songs cut by Don Williams, The Sweethearts of the Rodeo, and many others. He has produced numerous album projects for a variety of artists and was musical director and co-producer of Don's "Best Of...Live" album, recorded at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1993.

In 1989, he founded Earwave Records, (www.earwavemusic.com) which has released many of his solo and band projects, including his acclaimed all-bass and vocal CDs "Basses Loaded" and "Tomorrow Never Knows", hailed by critics and listeners as two of the most innovative and musical bass albums ever recorded. His annual "Nashville Unlimited Christmas" concerts benefiting "Room In The Inn" have become a Music City holiday tradition, with an impressive guest list including John Prine, The Fisk Jubilee Singers, Emmylou Harris, and the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble. Since 1992, Pomeroy has raised over $100,000 for the "Room In The Inn" homeless program with his Christmas concerts and CD releases on Earwave Records.
 
An AFM member since 1978, Pomeroy has long been active in Nashville’s Local 257, first as chair of the Club Committee, then as a Hearing Board and Executive Board member and from 2005-2008 as President of the RMA Nashville. In December 2008 he was elected President of Local 257. The changes Pomeroy has brought to the Nashville Musicians Association have been dramatic, and have resulted in better service, greater efficiency, and the first increase in membership in many years. "I am honored and humbled to be elected to the IEB, and I look forward to working on behalf of all of the members of the AFM as we move together in unity towards a positive future."
 

A local officer since 1998, Tina Morrison served as Secretary-Treasurer for seven years prior to being elected President in 2005. She was appointed to the AFM Diversity Council in 2001 and has continued as a member since the Council became a standing committee of the Convention in 2003. Tina considers herself to be very much a product of the AFM which led to educational opportunities that encouraged her to become a strong voice for musicians in her community. She is active with the Spokane Regional Labor Council and was appointed to serve on the Spokane Arts Commission.

Tina is primarily a freelance bassoonist who helped form and became the leader of a woodwind quintet that performed at weddings, private parties, summer concerts, as well as presenting educational programs at elementary schools throughout the inland northwest. She (bass guitar) and her husband (guitar & vocals) also formed what became a 5 piece rhythm & blues band that worked in venues throughout eastern Washington and northern Idaho. She also has experience as a woodwind doubler for local musical theater productions. Her father was a bassist who performed in big bands and jazz combos and her son is a bassist currently performing with a blues trio.

"The AFM Mission Statement is my guide for representing musicians. All musicians have the opportunity to benefit by working together within the structure of our Union. We must be willing to celebrate our differences and work together to gain better working conditions for all musicians. The strength of our community will be grown through inclusion, respect, empathy and solidarity".