The NAMM-ness of it all…
NAMM…it’s a whole thing…something that comes (post-Covid) every year, and each year I’m conflicted about going, and kinda wrestle with it more than I should.
If you don’t know, It’s basically a trade show for the music support industries like amps/instruments/software/recording/accessories etc etc, think CES but for Guitar Center type stores all the way down to Mom and Pop music stores in Idaho…and it’s also a showcase to the buying public of new goodies/technologies/hardware etc, with a large smattering of celeb appearances/signings/performances, and a goodly amount of partying and semi-mayhem at night.
For pro musicians, it’s often considered a must, for the simple reason that you just run into ALL kinda music pros from every related field, usually just by accident, and since that is truly how this business runs, word of mouth based on recent contact gets you half or more of the work you get in this business, (assuming you have the basic abilities needed, a WHOLE other subject). So pro people tend to try to go, even if they’re not really enthused, simply because it’s a reasonably smart business thing to do.
There’s also the downsides to consider…..massive crushes of people, a parking nightmare of almost biblical proportions, possibly the worst food concessions I’ve ever seen in my life, NAMM Flu, (where there’s an outbreak of some kinds of contact/air driven diseases in the days following NAMM because of all the proximity/hand-shaking/close-to-face yelling from loud nearby sonic violence), running into cling-ons who will try like hell to monopolize your time in order to gain “status” by hanging around you because of YOUR perceived “status”, real or not, walking for literally miles, (it’s a huge show), and noise pollution the likes of which is not usually heard of except on large constructions sites and Guitar Center on a Sunday when there’s a sale on. It can be brutal.
So I’m always conflicted about going. On the one hand I REALLY REALLY like running into people that often NAMM is the only time I see them, but because we shared some tour or other musical experience in the past and bonded, it’s truly wonderful to see them again and catch up, if even just for the moment or two before we all bound off to some VERY IMPORTANT this or that, I really do enjoy meeting in person the companies/people who I’ve been talking to in emails and phone working on and out gear issues/endorsements/help, (and there are so many manufacturers who been SOOO gracious and helpful), checking out specific gadgets and softwares etc, and even running into the occasional fan person who has seen you play with someone and really enjoyed it, they’re usually very sweet and respectful of your time etc, but it’s a treat for them and I enjoy that with them, it’s nice. And of course on the other hand, see above…..
Because of Covid a few years ago, I haven’t gone for awhile, and have heard that it was kinda going down the tubes and wasn’t what it once was, so I’ve kinda just ignored it mostly, and I haven’t been in literally years, and since the last coupla years have been personally pretty busy (thankfully) for me, I didn’t miss it. But last year I was invited to a bday party of a new-to-me friend that I did some shows with earlier in the year, who is a super nice guy and a great player, and at the party I met a number of people that I literally hadn’t even heard of, but were just lovely people and all very accomplished players and music pros ( I ended up writing a little thing about it on social media, I had such a nice time). I was so impressed by this group of people that it kind of re-invigorated my sense of community amongst musicians, which has I admit taken a serious beating over the years, culminating in a semi-withdrawal from professional music in the year or so just before Covid, and lasting until around 3 years ago when I started doing some of the best and most rewarding music work I’ve ever had the pleasure of being a part of, really just kinda by accident (a whole other story I should maybe tell someday….talk about being a lucky bastard, that’d be me…).
One of the people I met at that party was a fairly high level fellow at a very large musical instruments/hardware/electronics company we’ve all heard of, who asked if I was gonna go to NAMM coming (the current one happening now), and I described my confliction about it in general. He was effusive and convincing in saying that I really really oughta go, that things were really picking up there, and that it has become better than ever, been re-invigorated and streamlined etc, and if I wanted to go (and bring The Biscuit, cause I brought her up as being interested), just hit him up and he’d make it happen.
So that conversation stuck with me and got me thinking I’d go ahead and march on down there again. Normally I’d talk to one of the companies I work with (usually GHS Strings, whom I’ve been with for literally over 35 years since I was in a band called The City on Chrysalis, which had myself/Stuart Mathis/Billy Trudel/Jerry Speiser from Men At Work who had recently kinda broken apart, and Peter McIan who had produced the first 2 two giant Men At Works records in it, another whole story on it’s own), but since he had offered and I thought it would be polite as well as kind of fun to stay in touch with him, (I liked him and his enthusiasm, and since it was mainly him that convinced me I thought it would be the right thing), I reached out to him and he said that he was still able and willing, and I got him the info and let it be till we got closer to the event. Thing was, as we got closer to the event I reached out again a coupla times including just very recently, got no responses at all, realized I had never got the confirmation email that you typically get from NAMM, and that I was probably screwed and not going to be going.
And that’s one of the problems that I have with LA music folks in a nutshell…..they will self aggrandize and pompous about like Trump on a bender in a whorehouse, but then when it comes time they can disappear, (typically if they think it won’t matter or you don’t have enough juice for them to put out the energy etc.), so this was a gentle reminder that many LA people, (notwithstanding the generally lovely folks at that party), will often turn out to be just like that, and one must always be ready for them to turn out that way.
Anyway, me and The Biscuit were mildly disappointed, but in my case of course there was also some relief for the reasons above, and then some NEW FIRES (!?!?!) started, and some of my other kind of work (if you’re a musician in LA you’d better be VERY GOOD/lucky/have a sig-other with some dough/be an extremely good politician to be able to live and work here), so it’s kinda ok it worked out that way….that parking thing and the NAMM Flu being the things that I’ll never ever miss… I’m a bit bummed that in particular I won’t be able to get some face time in with some of the manufacturers who have been REALLY helpful over the last 3 years (GHS/KALA/MXR BASS INNOVATIONS/AMPEG/JBL/JAD FREER/UNION TUBE AND TRANSISTOR/PETERSON STROBE come to immediate mind), but I’ll catch them next year, and I’ll make sure I handle it correctly this time….
So you NAMMsters have a ball, I’ll catch you next year (probably anyway), and I’ll watch for all the cool goodies from over here!!
We are Magicians.
When I was playing with Christopher Cross some years ago, there was a section of the show where Christopher would go out and do a few songs by himself solo, and then I would take an acoustic guitar out there with him and we’d do a few songs singing and playing together like that. It was quite a thing for me as a guy from Juneau, Alaska, who was very scruffy and often poorly mannered but happened to end up being pretty good at playing bass and singing while I did it, quite a thing to find myself singing and playing guitar with a guy like that.
I remember when I first heard “Sailing” when it came out back then, driving along the highway in Juneau that connected downtown Juneau to what was called “out the road”, or “the Valley”, which is the part where the Mendenhall Glacier is if you’ve been there. Driving along and that song started, and out over the water there was a hole in the clouds that had lit up a part of the water out over the Gastineau Channel, a kind of “god-hole” that was really beautiful…..I was just slain by the sound, and I never forgot that moment. So finding myself on tour with him, doing that part of the show with him, I would often just be kinda shocked it was happening, and that kind of moment has happened to varying degrees with EVERY artist I’ve had the opportunity to work with,. Although I don’t like the way the term “grateful’ is just tossed around like it’s proof of caring, in this case it’s the right word, I’m grateful to have done the things I’ve been able to do.
Anyway I digress… so while Christopher was playing the first few songs by himself, I would always grab someone and say, “Do you know how good at THIS that guy is?!? If you saw that at like Genghis Cohen or Largo or really any venue that is known for singer/songwriters getting up and playing a song by themselves, your goddam HEAD WOULD EXPLODE! You’d be like ” who the HELL is this guy and why isn’t he huge?!?!?”. And of course in the end he was, and he IS. But the point is that as he sat there playing, everyone would kind of gather round in a way, their attention getting closer and the room would get smaller and more and more intimate, and everyone was there together in that room, sharing in that moment.
There’s almost nothing else that does that like music does, and it’s MAGIC, literal actual MAGIC.
What we musicians do does things to and for people that almost nothing else can. We help provide a release valve, we help define moments, we provide a soundtrack to someone’s life that will resonate and transport them like nothing else except smell can (science!), we provide a method of understanding, a sense of not being alone and that someone understands, a sense of comfort, feelings of urgency, a lifting of spirits, and balm for the soul.
That’s actual MAGIC. Or it is to me, literally Human Magic.
I say this a lot to my fellow musicians, to varying reactions ranging from vehement agreement to “Check Please!”. Mostly it depends on who you’re talking to, and mostly it’s related to whether they are a Touring Sideman (someone who is hired to go out on concert tours and support an artist who is playing live venues), or someone who is trying to write and perform their own music, and/or someone who is involved in the creation and recording of someone else’s music (sessions players, producers etc).
Those are typically different mindsets, (not always, but typically), with the Touring Sidemen often not very interested in those aspects, and the Session Types at least understanding that point of view and trying to create something special that will sound like MUSIC to them and the listener, and then the creators/ARTISTS being almost ONLY concerned with trying to create MAGIC at all times, even if the reason is only to generate income, because they know income tends to follow MAGIC around quite often.
But for me, I think that even in the Touring situation, it’s still MAGIC. We’re still helping that moment happen, that release, that communal moment, that healing and power, and in fact when you’re Touring, if you’re paying attention you can see it happening every night. Every night out there SOMEONE is having that moment of clarity, or that moment of release of a pent up anguish, or a memory has been jogged loose, or they finally understand something that didn’t make sense till that moment.
A guy I used to play with in Christopher’s band named Dave Beyer, who played drums with Christopher for most of the time I was with Christopher, said something to me once I appreciated and never forgot: “Every night at some point while Christopher is speaking in between songs, I try to look around for those 30 seconds or so at what I’m doing, really see how unique and special this is, and how amazing it is to be here now doing this.” And every show I’ve done after I’ve tried to remember to do that, because for all I know it could be the last time I ever have a chance to do this, and it may really matter that I was paying attention, not letting it just go by like it didn’t matter.
And that was the energy and focus I would put into it, like it mattered (*Past tense because it’s Covid times, and there’s none of all this happening at all right now!). Trying to actively PLAY every note, hit everything as right as I could, sing as in tune as I could, bring as MUCH game as I could to all parts of what I was doing, trying to make it MUSIC and MAGIC as much as I could. I’m sure I wasn’t always as successful as I would like, and there were/are many technical issues that can get in the way, but the more you push towards that, the more likely it is that you’ll succeed!
I had a MAGIC moment that I always refer to in talk about this subject….
I was playing in a Borders Bookstore Cafe (remember those?!?!), on the road supporting my 2 CD releases I’ve made on my own (another whole world of stories for another time), and I was playing a song called “The Lady’s Song” which for me is about my Grandmother dying, and how bad I was at handling that. In the audience that evening was a guy with what I guess was his wife and 2 children, and during that song the guy’s wheels just suddenly came off, seemingly all at once. Full on sobbing crying family gathering around him, utterly emotional and without caring about being in public. At the end of the show he came up while I was signing and selling my CD’s, bought both of my CD’s for each of his family members, and told me that he had not grieved yet for his mother who had died some fair amount of time before, and that something about that song and that moment had gotten him thinking about it, and suddenly it all opened up on him, and he had started the real grieving process in that moment. I gave him a hug and told him that that was what I was there for, and thanked him for what I thought was a wonderful thing to share with me, and that in a way he had given me the best kind of compliment he could give me.
For ME, that was MAGIC as well.
To be able to help like that, to be able to bring that to someone, THAT is what we do.
I would just like to put it out there, what we do is MAGIC. Remembering that and understanding the human power of that, respecting it and giving it to our audiences, sharing that with them, that’s a really wonderful thing we can do, not everyone gets that opportunity.
Cool video…
Mocking death?!?!
But….they’re all ALSO just people, with their foibles, demons, ticks, itches, relationships, children, problems, illnesses and now even death, just like anyone, doing anything.
I don’t know, I read that piece and realized maybe I’ve been kinda glossing over it whenever I see someone slagging about this, knowing that it’s just ignorant childish creepiness that’s not worth engaging one on one…had this reaction, felt like saying something…