NAMM Show 2019 Report

photo: Robert Kinsler

Attending Winter NAMM is always a memorable experience, with plenty to discover and enjoy about various facets of the music business.

One of the largest trade shows in America, NAMM Show 2019 drew 115,000 registered industry professionals (not to mention music students, educators, invited guests).

There were more than 2,000 exhibiting member companies (representing 7,000 brands) from around the world at the Anaheim Convention Center over the course of four days.

It is hard to squeeze in everything you want to do, but I still managed to get a lot accomplished during my 11th NAMM visit.

Friday, Jan. 25

After eyeing dozens and dozens of exhibitor booths on the sprawling trade show floor, I caught my first live performance on the outdoor Pioneer Pro Audio/Arena Plaza Stage adjacent to the still relatively new north wing.

photo: George A. Paul

Happy Hollows, a Los Angeles based alt-rock band, put on an entrancing set featuring tunes from impressive 2017 album Concordia, such as the new wave-influenced “Decide” and “On the Wave” - both definite standouts.

Sarah Negahdari’s vocals were sometimes reminiscent of Kate Bush and Siouxsie Sioux, while the music left a lasting impression.

Back in the ACC, I headed upstairs to check out the large Gibson room, which was packed. Dave Amato from REO Speedwagon was part of a classic rock panel. When asked what lick made him instantly want to learn it, the guitarist played a bit of Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love” and talked briefly about Eric Clapton’s early influence on him.

photo: George A. Paul

Over in the Fender room, Lindsay Ell looped some sounds on the American Acoustasonic Telecaster guitar.

The country/rock musician - who has opened for Keith Urban and Sugarland, played Stagecoach Festival and put out John Mayer tribute album The Continuum Project last year – said she had recently become aware of the hybrid acoustic/electric model and loved it.

Alan Parsons made several appearances at NAMM. The master producer and engineer did a TEC Tracks keynote, mixing demonstrations and a signing related to his 2010 instructional box set Art and Science of Sound Recording (I highly recommend it to musicians).

Read my archival ASSR review and 2018 interview with Parsons about the Alan Parsons Project's classic Eye in the Sky: 30th Anniversary box set here:
https://newwavegeo.blogspot.com/2018/09/an-interview-with-alan-parsons.html
https://newwavegeo.blogspot.com/2012/01/alan-parsons-music-instruction-dvdnamm.html

photo: George A. Paul

Downstairs, near the lower Hall E at the Museum of Making Music stage, mild-mannered, Grammy-winning guitarist Laurence Juber (a onetime member of Paul McCartney and Wings) showed why he is considered one of the best acoustic fingerstyle players around.

There were times in the mostly instrumental set where it was astonishing that the sounds emanated from just one person and instrument. Highlights included brilliant covers of Del Shannon’s “Runaway,” The Beatles’ “She Loves You” and “I Saw Her Standing There,” plus an awesome extended take on The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” (complete with Pete Townshend-styled windmill motions). Finally, Juber finished with his “homage to a great American poet” – Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode,” this time singing it and soliciting audience interaction.

photo: Jesse Grant/Getty Images for NAMM

As the afternoon wound down, I saw Michael Anthony discuss his career with Van Halen, Sammy Hagar & The Circle and more at the NAMM U/Idea Center Sessions.

While the gregarious bassist dodged questions about recent VH reunion rumors, he talked about what first sparked an interest in music. After hearing Blue Cheer as a teenager in the 1960s, “I thought, ‘that’s what I want to do.’” At his junior high, “everybody wanted to be Jimmy Page. I wanted to learn bass.” The first LP he really got into was one by The Electric Flag. “I fell in love with the thickness of it,” said Anthony.

While attending Arcadia High in Southern California, he would see the Van Halen brothers in bands around LA and thought “this guy Eddie is really good.” Eventually, they met while attending Pasadena City College and Anthony could tell “these guys were very serious about making music.”

Once VH started, the band “played everywhere we could. It was all about the love of playing music.” Later, after massive success and David Lee Roth’s exit from the group, Sammy Hagar joined. Yet it wasn’t until Sammy left in the 1990s, that the two “really connected on a human level.”

Anthony on VH producer Ted Templeman: “We were a live band in the studio and we all worked magic back then.”

On what he’s listening to now: Rival Sons; The Beatles Channel on SiriusXM (“I have it on in all of my cars. I’ve been learning stuff about Paul McCartney’s bass playing that I didn’t know before”).

On his new signature Peavey bass amp introduced at NAMM: “It’s been a long time in the making.”

During past Yamaha-sponsored live events that I’ve seen here, the company has drawn people like U2’s Larry Mullen Jr., Stevie Wonder, John Legend, Vince Gill, Jon Anderson of Yes and other well-known talent to NAMM. Previously, they were only open to dealers and invited guests. Last year, the company moved its All-Star Concert to the large outdoor Grand Plaza Stage and made it available to all badgeholders.

photo: Bob Steshetz

Friday night’s show was emceed by comedian/actor Sinbad. The lineup (kept under wraps until show time) featured Sarah McLachlan, James “J.T.” Taylor from Kool and the Gang, Jon McLaughlin, Loren Allred and Jonathan Butler. All of them were backed by an orchestra and band consisting of veteran award-winning studio pros Greg Phillinganes on keyboards and Nathan East on bass.

Pop singer/pianist McLaughlin opened with the sweeping “Beautiful Disaster” and did “So Close” (his Oscar-nominated tune from Disney’s “Enchanted”). Allred belted out “Never Enough,” her contribution to “The Greatest Showman” soundtrack as well as a highly dramatic cover of Journey’s “Faithfully.”

South African singer Butler, who first came to prominence with the 1987 pop/R&B hit “Lies” did a lively performance of that song and put his own lengthy spin on Bob Marley’s “No Woman, No Cry.” He also covered Bacharach & David’s “What the World Needs Now.”

McLachlan's all-too-brief set was gorgeous and elevated the Yahama concert to a new level. Moving between acoustic guitar to piano, she engaged in some self-deprecating humor about her wrenching ballads and praised the orchestra during stellar performances of hit singles “Building a Mystery,” “I Will Remember You” (recounting how it was inspired by watching the film “Leaving Las Vegas”), “Sweet Surrender” and “Angel.”

photo: Jesse Grant/Getty Images for NAMM

Taylor, the original lead singer of Kool & the Gang, still sounded strong during sultry jams “Ladies Night” and “Too Hot," which segued into "Joanna.”

Another ballad, “Cherish,” was dedicated to federal workers who toiled during the government shutdown. Taylor also did a snippet of "All I Want is Forever,” his 1989 hit R&B chart duet with Regina Belle. The crowd went wild during closing number “Celebration” and Taylor sang a verse in Spanish.

Saturday, Jan. 26

photo: Robert Kinsler

While walking through the noisy trade show and marveling at all manner of axes, I happened upon Graham Coxon, the guitarist for Blur, doing a demonstration of Audient’s Sono amp modelling audio interface. Discussing the recording process with a technician from the company, he played some licks using the various “rooms” to replicate what the guitar would sound like in a concert hall, studio loft, basement, etc. Coxon also played brief snippets of Blur hits “Song 2” and “Coffee and T.V.”

Over at the Hilton, the fascinating TEC Tracks panel “The World of Early Moog Synthesizers” was moderated by the instrument maker’s daughter and executive director of the Bob Moog Foundation, Michelle Moog-Koussa.

Keyboardist Geoff Downes (Yes, Asia, The Buggles), session musician/film composer Michael Boddicker (Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie) and producer/engineer Robert Margouleff (Stevie Wonder, Devo, Oingo Boingo) took part in the discussion.

Margouleff noted that “music has always been geared toward architecture – where something is going to be played. Now, you don’t have to.” Later, he lamented how “the magic of the recording process and a sense of immediacy” is often lost these days.

photo: Jesse Grant/Getty Images for NAMM

Downes (pictured left) recalled the experience of playing 28 (!) keyboards onstage during Asia’s 1983 tour of Asia and admitted the Moog keytar was “heavier than it looked. It became a signature thing for me.

“In Asia, I had 20-ish synths onstage, all with different textures. I became a textured player,” he continued. “Keith Emerson was my idol. I first saw him at the Isle of Wight Festival with The Nice. He was my biggest influence in becoming a keyboard player.”

Margouleff described the forward-thinking Devo (for which he produced Freedom of Choice) as “a bellweather of the environmental movement.” He also talked about how the band got that distinctive whip crack sound for their hit single “Whip It.”

“We enhanced their unique ideas,” Margouleff said.

Boddicker reminisced about working with Michael Jackson on Bad, Thriller and Off the Wall: “He always wanted something new and different. He was always pushing to make me do something I’d never done before. He’d say, ‘make it hot,’ which meant a ‘different, new and exciting sound.’”

Then Margouleff reflected on Stevie Wonder's Talking Book and Innervisions: "We never knew what sound we'd get until we went into the studio. It was always a sonic adventure."

[The Moog Museum opens this spring in Ashville, N.C.]

photo: Jesse Grant/Getty Images for NAMM

Another interesting TEC Tracks talk was Birth of a Record: Making Don Henley's Building the Perfect Beast with Danny Kortchmar, producer, musician and co-songwriter for the Grammy-winning, multi-platinum 1984 album.

This freewheeling panel, moderated by journalist Mr. Bonzai, included legendary drummer Jim Keltner (who played on a Building track) and engineer/mixer Niko Bolas.

They all recounted the heady times of moving from studio to studio. Said Kortchmar, "Whatever we wanted, we got. It took over six months to record." With dance-pop hit "All She Wants to Do is Dance," they utilized a then-new Yamaha DX7 synthesizer. "We got one of the first ones," said Kortchmar, because money was no object. 

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell co-wrote top 10 single "The Boys of Summer" with Henley, but it was no easy process. Kortchmar said Campbell brought in a demo tape with the memorable opening riff, but had trouble replicating the exact sound in the studio. Ten days later, it finally passed muster with Henley's exacting standards. Soon after, Campbell got sick. "We ran Mike into the hospital," said the producer. 

Bolas remembered one point in the recording where Bob Seger turned up and told Henley, "the girls like it when you sing higher." Kortchmar revealed that the original arrangement of "Sunset Grill," inspired by an actual eatery on Hollywood's infamous Sunset Strip, was done in 6/8 time. 

When the subject veered to other projects, Keltner told a humorous story about being kicked out of a studio for talking too much during a session for one of Steve Perry's solo albums that Bolas mixed. 

Later, Kortchmar offered a bit of advice to young musicians, pointing out that "everyone is supposed to create the groove; not just the drummer." Keltner concurred.

photo: Bob Steshetz

The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus sponsored the Saturday night Imagine Party concert headlined by Elle King. Having only seen a partial set from her at Stagecoach Festival '17, it was great to finally get the full experience.

And the Anaheim gig didn't disappoint. Following a "bass off" contest of players vying for prizes judged by Derek Smalls of Spinal Tap and the audience, Los Angeles native King's versatility was on full display in Anaheim. She switched from acoustic and electric guitar to a custom gold-plated Deering banjo while the eclectic music ranged from alt-rock and blues to country, folk and soul. King even did a credible cover of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues."

"This is my first NAMM," she said. "I had an accident with my knee, but that didn't stop my ass" from being here. Although a crutch was propped on the drum riser and a stool was at the ready nearby, the raspy voiced singer barely used the latter.

photo: Bob Steshetz

Clad in a white shirt emblazoned with the phrase 'Have a shitty day,' King and her tight backing band The Brethren kicked off the 21-song, 85-minute set with "Baby Outlaw." It was the first of several songs from last year's personal Shake the Spirit album, which includes production or writing collaborations with the likes of Greg Kurstin, Tim Pagnotta, Death Cab's Ben Gibbard and Larkin Poe.

Standouts included the catchy, reverb-drenched single "Shame," her favorite Beatles tune "Oh! Darling" (playfully sung in the direction of one Brethren guitarist and she belted it out at the end), the gritty "Naturally Pretty Girls," the brawny "Last Damn Night" and "Good Thing Gone." As expected, "Ex's & Oh's," King's Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum, rock radio chart topper from 2014, got a loud response.

With another NAMM Show in the books, I look forward to attending again in January 2020.

About NAMM:

The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) is the not-for-profit association with a mission to strengthen the $17 billion music products industry. NAMM is comprised of approximately 10,300 members located in 104 countries and regions. NAMM events and members fund The NAMM Foundation's efforts to promote the pleasures and benefits of music, and advance active participation in music making across the lifespan. For more information about NAMM, visit www.namm.org, call 800.767.NAMM (6266) or follow the organization on social media.