The Post-NAMM

This weekend was the marvelous chaotic grandness that is The NAMM Show, aka the yearly convention for the National Association of Music Merchants. Word on the street is that it is THE convention of conventions - apparently the largest of US conventions. Doesn't surprise me. Based on my news feed alone, you'd think Stevie Wonder had cloned himself and was walking every inch of the exhibit hall, but I did not see him with my own eyes.  Same with handfuls of friends who had attended the convention, all of whom were pretty much untrackable to me.

NAMM is probably the only place where being an "Artist" is a disadvantage. The show isn't open to the public, and it's where some major deals get done by retailers and sellers large and small. But for us lowly musicians, it's a place where some endorsements can be had, and along with it, some validation, ease on the wallet, and important relationships that can carry a career onward. It was my first year with a Kawai badge, and I played a demo set with their beautiful $200,000 concert grand.  And although we spent the first 30 minutes scrambling for a PA system, all went well. Blue Microphones helped out and lent an enCORE 100, Walden gave us a stand, and my friend and fellow songwriter Matt Koelsch had one of my amps I'd lent him in his car, which was parked nearby.  Thank heavens, otherwise we wouldn't have had the opportunity for this cool panorama shot of the set:

I also had a badge from Walden (which would have been great to pass on to a friend if badges were transferable), my awesome guitar company from Nashville, who have always treated me well and even put my big face on their booth for the 2nd year in a row.

A new deal was struck with D'Addario, which is great news since guitar strings come and go, got dibs on an awesome piano stand prototype from Hamilton, and I can now grab an artist discount with Focusrite for one of their awesome interfaces.  Next phase: building up the artillery to make more music once touring is over in March.

While I am, for now, a simple indie songwriter upstart, I found myself dreaming big about the possibilities - NAMM is, after all, where you'll see big guys like Steve Tyler, Marilyn Manson and Adam Levine circumnavigating the same halls as student musicians, aspiring songwriters and freebie-hungry music fans. It's quite a thing.

Me and my friend/Singaporean indie rock princess Inch Chua before she interviewed me for Planet X.

After my songwriter friend Kevin So introduced me to Will Champlin, of  "The Voice" fame. The two go way back to Will's Berklee days.

Kevin invited me to the Hilton to play a song at a private party. Picture's a little dark, but here's me singing "War!" with Kevin on solo guit.