This year, we had a host of great performances in the booth.  The Makepeace Brothers and Yellow Marbles are two great up and coming groups based in the LA area. They both performed 10-minute sets on Thursday.  Friday brought us 2 a cappella groups – a new group called Pentatonix who won the first competition on the TV show “ The Sing-Off” and the second was Shure Artists Take 6, who are now celebrating 25 years as a group.  Both of their performances brought an amazing amount of energy and a large audience into our booth space.  On Saturday, we welcomed famed producer Eddie Kramer for a discussion of how he used and continues to use Shure products to work his magic.  Last but not least, a great local LA artist named Britany Christian performed short demos for our newly introduced wireless line GLXD.  We are very thankful to all the groups who spent some of their time with us at NAMM.

Other artists that came by to visit included Sheila E., Sinbad, Christina Perri, Tony Royster Jr., and Actor/Musician Charles “Chip” Easton who plays Deacon Claybourne on the hit TV show “Nashville.”

Ryan Phillips and Adam Russell from the group Story of the Year also came by to interview yours truly as part of a documentary called “Who Killed (or Saved) the Music Industry?”

Since I have started Tweeting, I have been followed by a number of artists. One in particular, 10-year old Claire Stevens, came out to NAMM with her family.  She is a singer/pianist/guitarist who is writing her own songs and is determined to be a big artist someday.   She already has a 5 song EP that she recorded and her parents bought her a Super 55, which she has used at many performances including some at various House of Blues venues.  Keep an eye out for Claire because you can tell she loves to perform and now she has her eye on our wireless products.

OK, so here’s where the “+” comes in from the title.  After a successful NAMM show, I stayed in the area to catch The Who perform in Anaheim.  Definitely a BIG +!  The group Vintage Trouble has held the opening slot on their tour for the last few months and they know how to get people moving.  I’ve been fortunate to see The Who about 5 times now and it continues to amaze me how much energy they still have for performing.  Pete Townshend moves like someone half his age. Roger is still swinging around his vocal mic (now a Beta 58A) and had a big hand in the arranging of this presentation of Quadrophenia for this tour.  The encore consisted of several of their biggest hits.

The next day, I went up to the LA area to visit a few artists and management companies.  I got to catch Simon Phillips recording some new tunes with KSM27’s all over his toms as well as Kenny Aronoff playing at The Baked Potato with the Bombastic Meatbats, Chad Smith’s group.  What a great way to spend time in LA.  Loved every minute!

January 19-22, 2012
Anaheim, CA – Anaheim Convention Center

From our new products, awesome booth and even more awesome Shure staff, we had an amazing 4 days.  We even brought in some of the most recognized names in the music industry to sign autographs and perform in our booth.

The very first day, Thursday, we had producer/engineer Ken Caillat in for an Q & A about his experiences with Shure products and more.  Directly after that, his daughter Colbie Caillat jumped onstage to sing and then signed autographs for fans.

Following Colbie was a new group from the southern California called The Makepeace Brothers who sang a few short songs for a host of attendees. They had great 4 part harmonies and have performed with endorser Jason Mraz in the past.

After the show closed for the day, a few of us made our way over to the Hilton for the 3rd Annual Worship Night which Shure has been a part of since the beginning.  Israel Houghton & New Breed opened the show and endorser Lincoln Brewster closed it out.  It’s always great to see this event well attended.

Friday’s lineup was pretty stellar!  It kicked off with Heavy Metal group Meshuggah who were followed by Lincoln Brewster.  After that, Alice Cooper showed up and were immediately followed by Korn.  Two humongous lines encircled the booth for both acts…it was quite a site to see.  Jonathan Davis, “Fieldy”, and “Munky” all came to greet fans.

Following the close of Friday in the booth, I was invited by my contact at Meyer Sound to be a guest at their table for the TEC Awards where Shure won for 2 new products – The Beta 181 side address condenser microphone as well as the PGXD  Digital wireless systems. Meyer also won an award for their new MINA sound systems.  Congrats to all the TEC award winner!

Saturday, the one and only Rob Halford or Judas Priest, a longtime Shure user came in to sign and stayed past his allotted time for fans.  Following Rob was a new group called Dawes who sang a couple of songs and then signed.

Many other artists stopped in to say hello including Sheila E., Sinbad, Herbie Hancock, drummer Steve Smith, Richard Patrick of Filter, drummer Kenny Aronoff, and many more.

It is so awesome to have so many great new products to show everyone this year !  We have such a knowledgeable and engaging staff that love taking people through our products.  Keep visiting this blog as well as our main website for more details as the year goes on.

Enjoy the pix!

Ryan

Joe and lzzy from Halestorm

Artist Schedule 2012

Colbie and Ken Cailet

Colbie Cailet Sings

Korn at the Shure Booth

Lincoln Brewster Performs at Worship Night

The Makepeace Brothers

Lincoln Brewster Signs at Shure Booth

The Line for Rob Halford

Paul Jackson Jr.

Hannah Ford and Nik West

Ryan Smith with J. Devil