Continued…
As far as concerts went, Day 2 became an even more eventful day. NAMM’s annual All-Industry Drum Circle in the Palm Garden outside of the Anaheim Convention Center preceded the third annual She Rocks Awards at the Hilton.
The She Rocks Awards is an annual event that recognizes women “who display leadership and stand out within the music industry.” In previous years, awards went to Orianthi Panagaris, Dinah Gretsch, Janie Hendrix and Mary Peavey, among others.
Friday night’s event was hosted by Laura Whitmore — a music marketer, singer/songwriter, event producer and founder of the Women’s International Music Network, WiMN. Whitmore’s co-host was Orianthi Panagaris, who introduced this year’s winners.
The opening act, SHEL, delivered an inspired prelude to the evening, with music influenced by Led Zeppelin’s early ‘70s acoustic experiments, and, in equal measure, their own uplifting take on folk music. As the ceremony kicked off, Orianthi not only performed her hosting duties, but she also played guitar, sharing the stage, at one time, with Richie Sambora and at another time with saxophonist Mindi Abair, who this year received the “Mad Skills” Award. Orinthi’s most spectacular performance came during a sax-guitar trade-off with Abair during a song titled “Kick Ass” off of Abair’s latest album Wild Heart. Joe Perry plays guitar parts on the original studio track, but Orianthi rocked just as swaggeringly during the set, answering Abair’s sax lines with gutsy lines, showing off a mixture of flashy shred and melodic know-how.
Other award-winners of the night included Colbie Caillat in the “Video of the Year” category, Craigie Zildjian, who received the “Legend Award” and Martin Guitar’s Vice President of Mar-keting Amani Duncan, who received the “Vision Award.”
The Bangles received this year’s “Icon Award” and delivered a three-song set, with “Walk Like an Egyptian” closing the ceremony and morphing into a spontaneous jam in which the audience was invited to join the musicians on the stage, and many gladly accepted. Half-party, half-get-together for music industry professionals, the She Rocks Awards is a great way to honor women who not only survive, but thrive in a field that traditionally has been dominated by men.
Visit the Women’s International Music Network: www.theWiMN.com
Later Friday evening, Dug Pinnick played at the Hilton hotel lobby and soon after was joined by Richie Kotzen. It was a less formal show, bringing the evening to a laid-back closure. Pinnick had his own Signature Tech 21 Ultra Bass 1000 at NAMM this time. It is a 2-channel bass amp head, featuring an all-analog pre-amp and 1000-Watt Class D power amp. The design requirement was to arrive at the unique sound Dug has by running a guitar and a bass amp together, along with a rack full of effects. The resulting amp merges high-end distortion with clean low end.
On Saturday, the 30th annual NAMM TEC (Technical Excellence and Creativity) Awards became another event that attracted people from across the industry. The annual event honors “out-standing achievement in audio product innovation and sound production.” Engineer Ed Cherney and bassist Nathan East were inducted into the NAMM TEC Awards Hall of Fame, and Slash received the Les Paul Award. Slash, Orianthi, Jeff Baxter and Richie Sambora performed on stage, and comedian Sinbad hosted the event.
This year’s winter NAMM became the largest event in its history as far as attendance numbers go, so, naturally, it was impossible for Hardrock Haven to cover each individual music merchant and product. We were guided by brands and products that attract us as players and by our trust in endorsee musicians whose expertise we have learned to value over the years. We hope you have enjoyed our coverage — we will keep posting more throughout this week.
