NAMM is truly the largest candy store for musicians or anyone even remotely related to the music industry. Everything that has been so carefully guarded throughout the year by research and development teams is finally let out for all to see, and the Drummer Connection crew was there for every moment of it!

       

It all started with Eric Rosebrock and Keith Thomas arriving earlier in the week to help the ddrum crew set up their monstrous booth.

 

 

Everything from the booth construction, to the set up and tuning of the kits, the guys worked hard to ensure that everything was in place for another awesome year at Winter NAMM.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The NAMM Breakfast of Champions is always a great way to start the day. You get to unwind and wake up to some excellent food before the hustle and bustle of NAMM actually begins.

 

 

The session started out with some “wake up” entertainment provided by slide guitarist Bob Brozman.

 

 

Afterwards NAMM President and CEO Joe Lamond came out to greet the crowd and discuss the current state of the industry and how the NAMM University Breakfast Sessions will help provide Members with answers, ideas and a plan of action for the year ahead.

Day one started with Zildjian’s press conference in which they unveiled some of the new products for the year. For “09” Zildjian wanted to expand upon their popular K Custom Hybrid series by adding a conical bell shape to some of the crashes. They also rounded out the innovative line of A Custom Rezo Series, followed by Ron Allman’s presentation of the Steve Gadd custom cymbal bag.

 

 

Artists John Blackwell and Ronald Bruner Jr. were also honored by announcing their new custom stick models-and be on the lookout for Zildjian’s new packaging for the ZBT Cymbal Pack. 

 

 

Then it was off to the Drummer Connection field headquarters located at the ddrum booth. There we began our quest document NAMM and add to our member database. Say hello to some of the new faces you’ll be bumping into the next time you visit.

 

We even ran into some old friends as Dom Famularo stopped by to say hello. 

The rest of DC crew spread out amongst the convention center to see what was to be in store for the weekend ahead. Keith ran out to snap some pics while Billy and Eric headed over to the Evans booth to meet up with Bob Gatzen to see what the buzz was about for the “09” product line.

 

As the sun set on day one the evening was just beginning as we flocked to the room to get ready for  Tama’s  All Industry Drum Circle. The year 2009 is the 30th Anniversary of Simon Phillip's endorsement of TAMA drums and both the drummer and the drum company intended to celebrate in the proper fashion. And celebrated they did!

The show opened up with Simon Phillips and special guests Charlie Benante, Ronald Bruner Jr., Brian Frazier-Moore and John Tempesta participating in an all-star jam session! At various times during the performance everyone traded solos and showcased their individual talent which set each artist apart from the rest.

 

 

After the drum circle the night progressed with Simon Phillips and his band Protocol shared the stage with Judas Priest other musicians as Simon ran through some of the songs he has recorded and performed throughout his career. I couldn’t think of any other way to end our first day at NAMM.

 

 

Sources: HarmonyCentral.com  Tama.com