Wow, jmdlers sure know how to party! and party! and party some more! Perhaps I am one of the first to be home & begin recovering from the weekend, aside from Steve & Kakki... I met Paz & Nikki & Darice for the first time at the NAMM show when I arrived. They all, plus Kakki, were hanging out & keeping poor Steve company, who was waiting 2 hours for us to arrive with a pass so he could get in to see the show. Apparently the new convention center in Anaheim (where the NAMM show recently returned to) forgot about building enough parking spaces for the multitudes that descended on the place.... But inside was very cool. If you have never been to NAMM, it is a freak show! All kinds of characters- hippies, business suits, folk singers, guitar gods, spinal tap wannabes, punkers, metal heads, hair of all lengths & colors & you name the costume, it was there. The musical ranges from classical instruments to african percussion to high tech recording gear to acoustic guitars (my favorite) to dj equipment---every possible piece of gear, attachment, gizmo, whatcamacallit, etc related to any and all kinds of music. Rooms & rooms & isles & isles of cool stuff. I got to about 1/100 of it. Upstairs, in a private room was the wonderful oasis from all the madness & loudness, ahhhhh, the Taylor room. A huge roomful of their beautiful guitars for anyone to pickup, sit down on the comfy couches & play. In the adjoining room was a stage & chairs & continual concerts by their technicians & recording artists. (And on Sunday, they let one of their indie artists, yours truly, pick out any guitar & get up on their stage to do a set in one of their tba spots. Very cool experience with an awesome sound set up. I am forever spoiled... ) After a Saturday afternoon of nammin, we met at the jmdl Conestoga hotel headquarters for some dinner in the bar. (If you want us, we'll be in the bar) Julius & Alison & her friend from SLC joined us after their day at Disneyland to celebrate Alison's birthday. I had 2 friends join us who live in the area (& though they aren't on the jmdl, are Joni fans!). Steve had a concert to produce that night. Then courtesy of Paz & his friend Tina, we all went to the Muriel Anderson All Star Guitar Night back at the convention center's Hilton ballroom. There, we ran into my friend & percussionist John, who was helping with the show that night & he ushered us in to the VIP section so we got front row seats (on the floor). Fingerstyle guitarists from all over the world followed by Larry Coryell & his son Julian (who sang a beautiful Duke Ellington song- the show highlight for me) & friends, including an amazing 13 year old guitarist, followed by Dog Star (Keneau R's band)& then Marco Mendoza trio who Kakki knew. THEN back to the hotel for some music playing & partying. All of this reminds me of how tired I really am & that I should go to bed now. So, to be continued... ******************************************* Kate Bennett sponsored by Polysonics www.polysonics.com hear the music at: www.taylorguitars.com/artists/awp/indies/ www.katebennett.com www.cdbaby.com/katebennett www.amazon.com ********************************************
