NAMM, the interNAtional Music products association M (go figure) had it’s winter convention in Anaheim last week, and as usual Jason, Ryan and I headed down.

We changed our strategy this year, and headed first to the Taylor Guitar suite to get their performance schedule – Taylor sets up a stage with top notch sound and lighting, and they invite some of their artists to do sets. Once we knew their schedule, we spent the intervening hours on the exhibit floor. Here’s some highlights.

If you want to see all my pics, here’s my set on Flickr.

I don’t have a heading for this one:

Taylor Artists

Last year we saw Everclear among others in a room that holds an SRO crowd of maybe 200 people. This year we saw four artists, none of whom we knew. First up was Marc Seal. Marc is touring for Taylor this year, and played a combination of original music and a few covers – including a nice job on “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.”

It’s worth checking out Doyle Dykes’ videos on the Taylor website. He has a lightning fast fingerstyle that is unique and energetic.

I didn’t know Elliot Murphy before this show, even though he’s been around since the 70′s. He’s a folk-rock singer-songwriter with a soulful deep voice. He was accompanied by Olivier Durand – one of the most unique and interesting guitar players I’ve seen in a long time

I’m not a big country fan, so Jonalee White was kind of lost on me.

Guitars

Some of the guitars I loved:

Equipment

Vox had some nice new amps, my favorite was the “Night Train,” a 15w head that sounded beautiful and weighed a ton. I also have to update my Pro Tools – the new Pro Tools 8 is a giant upgrade from my ancient version.

Other Artists

And of course there was the usual slate of sponsored artists signing stuff.

Again, more pictures on Flickr.