NEIL YOUNG is one of the world’s most famous musicians, with millions of followers around the globe. He’s a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, producer, director, and screenwriter. His music career began in the 1960s, when he formed Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills. He joined Crosby, Stills & Nash, and has recorded solo albums with his backing bands Crazy Horse and Promise of the Real. Young has recorded a steady stream of studio and live albums. He also plays piano, guitar, and harmonica on many of his albums, which frequently combine folk, rock, country, and other musical styles. He continues to tour and record new albums.
Young has received numerous Grammy and Juno awards. He’s a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and is the thirty-fourth-greatest rock ’n’ roll artist in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 greatest artists of all time.
Young is an environmentalist and outspoken advocate for the welfare of small farmers, having cofounded the benefit concert Farm Aid with Willie Nelson. Young helped found The Bridge School, an educational organization for children with severe verbal and physical disabilities.
Young has appeared as a guest on many major network shows, including The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with David Letterman, Saturday Night Live, and The Big Interview with Dan Rather, and has written two previous books: Waging Heavy Peace: A Hippie Dream and Special Deluxe: A Memory of Life and Cars.
He continues to enjoy a huge following with his frequent concert tours. Young resides in Malibu, California, and Colorado, with his wife, Daryl.
PHIL BAKER has been developing consumer electronics products for his entire career, including many iconic products for Polaroid, Apple, Seiko, Barnes & Noble, Think Outside, Pono, and others. He holds more than thirty patents and was a San Diego Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for his invention of the Think Outside Stowaway Keyboard.
Baker is the author of From Concept to Consumer, which details the product development process and is a valuable resource for anyone wanting to embark on developing a high-tech consumer product.
Baker is also a technology writer and journalist. He wrote a weekly column, “On Technology,” for the San Diego Transcript for twelve years and continues to write technology columns for a number of websites. He was recipient of the 2015 San Diego Columnist of the Year award.
Baker holds a BS degree in physics from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, a master’s degree in engineering from Yale, and an MBA from Northeastern University.
Baker and Young began working together to develop the Pono Music Player in 2012 and continue to work together on other projects, including the Neil Young Archives. Baker resides in Solana Beach, California, with his wife, Jane.