Canadian Music Trade - February / March 2020 | Page 25

Oh yes, the party. The Thursday night
following the opening day of The NAMM
Show is a big event on our annual calen-
dar. Held at the Sheraton Park Hotel just
a two-minute walk from the convention
centre, the NWC NAMM Canadian
Reception is the largest annual gathering of
Canada’s MI, pro audio, and, more recently,
live production professionals anywhere. The
casual atmosphere sees CEOs and presidents
of major suppliers mingling with the new
employee at a small independent store and
everything in between. Drinks and food
are going around, the live music is great
(especially this year!), and the capacity crowd
spills out into the hallway and outside. Some
are working the room for business connec-
tions while others are just thrilled to see old
friends and chat about family, sports, or
whatever else.
“In a conversation with [Cosmo Music
Owner] Mark Hebert and [Tom Lee Music
VP] Graham Blank, it was stated ‘This event
was our new MIAC,’” B&J Music VP David
McCallister told CMT after the show. In fact,
that’s a sentiment we heard quite often this
year, along with the jokes about the irony of it
taking an event in California to bring Canadi-
an MI folks together in one room.
“We were super proud to be a sponsor of
the event,” adds Dan Drysdale, music school
and retail store manager at Guelph, ON’s
JamSchool. “It’s funny because the network-
ing gets sloppier as the evening goes on, but
it still happens!”
“And that band! These guys are great and
it’s fun to have all that Canadian content,”
THE BOUTIQUE GUITAR SHOWCASE
exclaims Sergio Travaglione, GM of Music
Red One in Dorval, QC, referring to Toque.
To say Toque are a CanRock cover band is
like saying Bob Dylan is just a singer-
songwriter. The four-piece group is com-
prised of busy Canadian expats who perform
with the likes of Slash, Gene Simmons, and
Shania Twain’s bands but come together to
celebrate some Canadian rock classics. They
had the party in the palm of their hand from
the opening chord, and to make it even
more special, their friend and Bon Jovi gui-
tarist Phil X made a surprise cameo to play a
ripping version of “American Woman.” For
us, that was the highlight of the show, so
thanks to all of our sponsors and guests for
making it an unforgettable night.
Now, back to The NAMM Show itself.
Given that it acts as the launchpad for
manufacturers big and small to showcase
their latest and upcoming products, there is
often an attempt to track in real-time which
products or technologies will steal the spot-
light. In chatting with attendees, both “on
the record” and more casually, the consensus
seemed to be that the 2020 event didn’t
produce any “game-changers.” That’s not to
say that the show lacked cool new products;
you could fill a tanker ship with the amount
of new gear introduced that any musician
would love. More so, it’s that nobody found
a breakthrough product that will push things
forward in a bold way.
“The new product that is coming out feels
like we’re on a very slow, gradual [incline],
like something is coming, but I keep waiting
for this one thing to change it again,” says
Sergerie, adding that he feels Yamaha’s
TransAcoustic technology, which it has
added to more guitar models over the last
few NAMM Shows, is the last revelatory
invention.
Drysdale gives a shout out to D’Add-
ario’s Backline gig bag and Mic Stand
Accessory System, which earned a Best in
Show designation in the accessories category.
As well, he was effusive in his praise for
Yamaha’s new Red Label guitars, which
harken back to the company’s classic ‘60s
folk acoustics.
More than a few people CMT chatted
with at the show and afterwards had praise
for Roland’s new V-Drums Acoustic Design
(VAD) kits, which also earned a Best in
Show recognition. “That would be the thing
that was like, ‘Oh my god,’” adds Trava-
glione. “Also, I particularly loved the new
products from Blackstar [Amplification] and
I think that the Trace Elliot bass rigs have
got to be the sexiest things I’ve seen all year.”
On the audio and software side, Univer-
sal Audio’s new Luna system turned a lot of
heads and certainly dominated a lot of the
online discussion during the show.
On the Sunday afternoon nearing the
show’s close, we were chatting with Jeff
Gunn, the Toronto-based professional
guitarist who performs both solo and as the
guitarist/musical director for Emmanuel Jal.
Being a Godin endorser, he obviously had
praise for its new lines of acoustic and elec-
tric guitars, and also singled out Eventide’s
new delay pedals for praise. But interestingly,
Gunn said the most noticeable trend he saw
at the show was among the musicians he
recognized. “In terms of trends, I’d say it’s
the individuals here who you see taking the
stages and in some of the booths. It’s a lot of
the young people on YouTube or Instagram
who have their own channels. It was funny
just walking around and being like, ‘Hey, I
recognize that guy,’ and I don’t know him
from a band but know him from a YouTube
channel.”
While it’s easy to have your hours at the
show disappear in meetings and exploring
the halls, the NAMM U educational sessions
offer invaluable knowledge to retailers, as
well as welcome rest and calm in the centre
of the storm.
“We’re always looking for ways to
improve and there’s really no better way to
do that than to sit and listen and learn and
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