Summer NAMM 2021: Welcome Back!

“Welcome back, my friends, To the show that never ends We’re so glad you could attend Come inside, come inside!” — Emerson, Lake, and Palmer

And we did go inside, and we welcomed back our friends: Summer
NAMM 2021 returned to Nashville’s Music City Center as the first in-person
music-industry reunion in 18 months. The relief among attendees and exhibitors
was palpable. NAMM isn’t just about new products — it’s about connections,
renewing friendships, discovering new ideas, and falling in love all over again
with the music industry.

Granted, there had to be changes. Aisles were wider, the
schedule was altered (two exhibition days instead of three with 9-hour instead
of 8-hour days), and both NAMM and the Music City Center made extraordinary efforts
to ensure a safe show for attendees — no-touch badges, guidance on how to demo
instruments safely, a list of restaurants and hotels that follow CDC and local
safety guidelines, expanded disinfection (no rugs), and more.

And, yes, there was a strategic downsizing — but, while there
wasn’t the usual frenetic commotion of a typical NAMM show, it afforded a rare
opportunity to spend quality time, to go more in depth on products, and to work
with a curated group of exhibitors and attendees to focus on business,
relationships, and the recovery that’s picking up momentum.

And make no mistake: the music industry is revving back up.
In areas where the pandemic is coming under control, live performance is making
a cautious re-entry. Those who rediscovered music and recording while they were
stuck in their homes are ready to learn more, to collaborate more, and to dive deeper
into the joys of making music. The biggest problem at Summer NAMM wasn’t about
creating demand but meeting it. Trends are moving in the right direction,
and NAMM wants to help put its foot on the accelerator.

Although the show was smaller, there was plenty to do.
Summer NAMM is typically a guitar-centric show, and, for guitar players, it
never disappoints. Taylor had its own room overlooking the exhibit floor, where
attendees could kick back and check out the latest (and, yes, the electrics do
look very sweet).

Another treat has become a NAMM mainstay: the Boutique
Guitar Showcase. Who can resist seeing those crazy, wondrous guitars?

IK Multimedia definitely had the biggest surprise of the
show with their X-Gear boutique digital pedals. Yes, hardware. They’ve
taken effects from AmpliTube and transformed them into hardware floor effects —
now you can take the sounds you use in the studio onstage and vice versa. No
wonder their booth had people who were flipping out over not just the sound but
the concept.

NAMM even had extraterrestrial visitors, who go under the
names Gamechanger Audio and Third Man Hardware. They showed their unique Plasma
Coil high-voltage distortion in a booth that was like something out of a 1950s
science-fiction movie. Or maybe that’s just the fashion these days in Alpha
Centauri.

But, seriously, NAMM isn’t just about fun and games. The
summer show was packed with seminars, educational presentations, and booth
events.

Overall, NAMM continues to raise the quality and quantity of
the sessions it presents. This year’s mix was an eclectic combination of
straight-ahead business, ways to recover from the pandemic, and visions of the
future. Brian Hardgroove, from Public Enemy, gave an impassioned presentation
about the power and importance of music and why we should never take this
importance lightly.

And perhaps best of all for some showgoers, the Music City
Center keeps raising its bar on food — the BBQ brisket and pulled pork screamed,
“Nashville, y’all!”

Was Summer NAMM 2021 a “monster” show? Well, at least one
booth had no doubts about it.

But the reality is that the attendees were taken aback by
the positive vibe. Physically, Summer NAMM 2021 was a smaller show than usual,
but it was surprisingly well attended. Showgoers were obviously delighted to be
seeing everything in the three dimensions of physical reality instead of it being
compressed into the two dimensions of a video conference call.

All fingers are crossed that Summer NAMM 2021 is the wave
of the future and not just a lull between waves of a pandemic. Nonetheless, the
music industry has always been the industry of human happiness. Summer NAMM 2021
presented us with a hopeful view of the future — and, if the mood of the
attendees and exhibitors is any indication, the industry is ready to do
whatever it takes to keep moving forward, whether in a virtual or a physical
world.
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