NAMM 2012: Day 2 featuring Uh Huh Her, Kenny Loggins

A version of my post originally appeared at ocregister.com

 

On Friday morning in the main hall, a small seated audience at the PreSonus Audio Electronics booth were treated to a delightful performance by L’Angelus.

The Louisiana family roots band is comprised of the Rees siblings, who are all in their 20s and have had their music featured in a PBS documentary. The lively Cajun-influenced NAMM set included “Vive la Bon Vie,” “Ca C’est Bon” and a soulful take on the Temptations’ “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” sung by fiddler Steve.

photo by Robert Kinsler

Upstairs in the Fender Guitars room, L.A.-based female duo Uh Huh Her (pictured, left) captivated a moderate-sized crowd with some haunting, synth-dominated alt-rock.

“We’re excited. This is our first time playing at NAMM; it’s like being at Guitar Center,” enthused lead singer/keyboardist/guitarist and onetime Mellowdrone member Camila Grey. 

The duo’s recent second album Nocturnes was co-produced by Wendy Melvoin (Prince+the Revolution) and expands upon their moody electro-pop in fine fashion.

Here, with music partner Leisha Hailey (formerly of the Murmurs and Showtime series “The L Word”) on bass/vocals and animated drummer Josh Kane, they conjured up some icy drama, notably during “Disdain” and "Time Stands Still" from previous effort Common Reaction.

Over in the secondary exhibitors’ hall, two NAMM employees clad in Sound Control-emblazoned shirts could be seen holding up meters to make sure the overall noise level didn’t exceed 85 decibels (it probably wasn’t a problem in that location; upstairs, it would be a far different story).

Nearby, Kenny Loggins did a signing at the Bedell Guitars booth and drew a large amount of fans taking photos and shouting inane questions at him while two security officers reminisced about Loggins’ major hit “Footloose” and the 1980s in general.