The One Word That Sums Up the Importance of Summer NAMM

NAMM Photo Credits: Steve Burkhalter, Vic Serbe and Josh Bubniak

There is some negative talk about the future of Summer NAMM. “Should it be continued?” “What’s the point?” A growing number of smaller shows seem to be watering down its relevance. Being a first-time attendee, I thought I would give my impressions and insight as to why people really are missing the boat by not supporting this under-valued event.

First, it’s held in Music City, USA!Forget the years it was held elsewhere (look at what happened to attendance, then). I cannot tell you how much of a treat it was to hear live music walking to and from the Nashville Convention Center. This is first and foremost a music event, and everywhere you look, you are surrounded by rich music history. The Ryman Theater, where the first Grand Ole’ Opry was held, is right next door! If you would like to see some fine historic and vintage instruments, Gruhn Guitars has you covered. You can stop in for great local food and music on Historic Downtown Broadway.

Let’s switch gears before I sound like a tour guide for the host city. Based on what I have been told, Winter NAMM is so busy that it takes the entire four days just to get through the bass guitar and amp manufactures – and even then, you still might not get through it all! The flip side of that is you can almost walk the entire Summer NAMM twice in three days.

What am I getting at here? It’s pretty simple; at Summer NAMM, you get to talk to a lot of the owners, builders, reps and designers of anything that strikes you. These folks are here to show off their latest and greatest, and you have the time to pick their brain.There are up and coming companies that you can “discover” who would get lost in the shuffle at Winter NAMM. The bigger companies have a platform in which they have face-toface time with reviewers, distributors and customers.

To give an example, shortly after returning from my trip, I stopped into the local music store and lo and behold, there was a rep making a call.After laughing about Summer NAMM, he then went on to illustrate about how Winter NAMM is too busy. Trying to conduct business in a noisy environment, where people are looking for endorsement deals,Sounds a little counter-productive. Just imagine you are there, trying to conduct business and constantly being interrupted every five seconds because some hungry player is wanking away on an amp turned up way too loud, or wildly crashing a cymbal, in the hopes to get someone’s attention for a sponsorship deal. This is one booth, mind you. Now multiply that by 1,700! Can anyone say “headache?”

The Summer NAMM Show is roughly a quarter of this size. The drastic contrast can make it initially look stark and less attractive. But that’s looking at the glass half empty.Granted, you don’t want it to blow up to Winter NAMM chaos, but a few more “anchor companies” could really turn things around.

So why not take advantage?“Accessibility” is the magic of Summer NAMM and the one key advantage over its bigger sibling. A music show in the music capital makes perfect sense to me.