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After The Fire

NAMM 2022 - Signs of Recovery

By Art Podell

WALL SCRAWLS / Art Podell

As we on the west coast understand all too well, large forest fires wreak havoc on ecosystems and civilizations. They rage indiscriminately destroying everything in their path.  Yet when they mercifully begin to subside, spring inevitably comes with signs of rebirth and life. During the years of 2020 and 2021, the rages of the pandemic, world economics, and major shifts in trade and energy policies ravaged our precious instrument and equipment landscape.  The worldwide fires of lockdown and virus-generated panic ravaged our sensibilities and lifestyles.

NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) stands as a reminder of the creativity and productivity of music and media professionals. A virtual forest of productivity teeming with musical instruments and equipment familiar and new, and novel methods to create sound and video, record, and perform. These flourished like a verdant rainforest.

I wish I could say that NAMM 2022 was all this and everything its predecessors were, but unfortunately for all concerned, it was fairly obvious to me that the effects of a crushing pandemic, the economic fallout of a world economy hobbled by sanctions and disasters, had taken its toll on the event. Several of my colleagues echoed my feelings. Yet the signs of spring were there nonetheless. Eager vendors, perhaps not as many as in 2019 proudly displaying their wares. Familiar and new names, craftsmen, entrepreneurs, marketers – all vying for the attention of the throngs of visitors who trudged through the display halls, up the escalators, elevators, and stairs, to catch a glimpse and perhaps to fondle or examine a new instrument, gadget. Or perhaps just to ogle at the colorful displays.

My normal inclination has always been to concentrate my attendance on the ground floor acoustic instruments and folk and traditional music areas of interest. Guitars, banjos, fiddles, and the like. In previous years, all the acoustic instrument displays were located in one giant display hall and I would wander for hours looking, touching, and playing instruments. Sure, plenty of guitar makers showed up, but there were some obvious absences. Huss and Dalton, Gibson, Santa Cruz, to name only a few, were not represented. They were missed. Martin Guitars had a large display area, complete with an array of representatives to assist. Normally, the acoustic instrument display booths are concentrated on one level. Not so in the 2022 NAMM. In order to see the Taylor Guitar exhibit, I had to take the elevator (escalators and stairs were also available) to a higher floor level and search for the “Taylor Guitar Room”. Once there, the display was formidable and similar to the Martin Guitar exhibit. As mentioned before, Gibson was absent.

Back to level one. This was the main instrument level and there was no shortage of instruments although those of particular interest to any acoustic/traditional/folk player were scattered among the cacophonous array of percussion, performance amplification, and accessory vendors. Unfortunately, listening was difficult this year as the bulk of the guitar and acoustic stringed instruments shared the space with the percussion, brass, and keyboard vendors.

One of my favorite activities at NAMM shows is to wander and find all the “odd” instruments – you know, the creative luthier at work. Although as mentioned earlier, the number of instrument booths had shrunk from previous incarnations of NAMM, there were several worth mentioning. A word about some of the more unique items.

The variety of guitar permutations did not disappoint and perhaps a sentence and photo or two or three or…might help me share the curiosity of exploration when it comes to unique guitars.

Burgeois Guitar

A Burgeoise Guitar, one of the more decorative instruments on display. Unfortunately due to the large volume of noise in the hall, careful listening to the tone, etc. of the instruments was difficult. Almost all of the instruments on display were available for playing.

Caro & Topete

These 'variations on a theme' always intrigue me. What's the saying? "Build a better mouse trap and the world will beat a path to your door!". That's the one. Here's a guitar built by Caro and Topete. Odd sound hole configuration and a double bridge. Again, difficult to judge with all the noise in the room but I would love to play one and hear what the deal is. Wouldn't you?

Electric Guitar

I mean, c'mon, you've got to love this one...

Greg Deering

One particular welcome sight was the Deering Banjo Exhibit with Greg Deering hosting the site, making himself available to chat with anyone who stopped by. I immediately recalled the visit I had made in 2019 to the same booth. At that time, Jens Kruger was sitting comfortably at the Deering site, showing any and all exactly what incredible music a banjo was capable of making.

Cigar Box Guitars

Cigar Box Guitars

Guitar Straps

Franklin Guitar Straps

Acoustic Bass by Big Johnson Bass

Big Daddy Bass

Germantown

Made in China, of course... an aside, a colleague of mine commented that although China was amply represented (guitars, ukuleles, gear, etc.), recent trade tariffs severely hobbled their presence in 2022.

Along with all the “regular suspects” associated with traditional music, the gang of accessory vendors was present and amply scattered throughout. I saw guitar and banjo capos of plastic, shining chrome, and gold plate in as many configurations as there are for can openers. John Pearse (among others) had a wall of guitar strings on display and one vendor had managed to cover another substantial wall segment with guitar straps. Cases for picks made of leather, metal, fine woods, graced another counter. Gadgets galore, a wonderful device made by Pole Hugger that clips to any mic stand and holds earphones or mic wires. A company that builds a training device called Lung Trainers, that increases a singer’s or a wind instrument player’s lung capacity. The list goes on.

For those who attended the entire event, including the evening events, there were showcase performances. Among them, a showcase featuring KZZ Music recording artist Holly Montgomery. Notably, Ms. Montgomery is a member of the California Country ensemble “The Mustangs of The West”. Several of the artist showcases were held in surrounding venues, hotels, etc.

That’s about it. I spent about five hours combing the floors, rooms, booths – talked to lots of eager vendors and onlookers.  All in all, spring was there at NAAM…signs of recovery are here. Perhaps this year’s NAAM is a harbinger of a new order in the way products are marketed. The previous year’s experience has taught us many new avenues for promotion. Video, online presentations. We will have to see what the future brings us.  For me, video and online presentationd satisfy a limited number of human senses. I’m sure any true music lover prefers putting his or her hands on the instruments they are examining. We’ve all seen what electronic enhancement, and presentation has done for music. Positively and Negatively. But at the end of the day I’m hoping that our dear industry makes a full return to robust next year.

Here is the OFFICIAL NAAM 2022 link

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