Music Mania Mayhem at 2025’s NAMM Show

Returning to NAMM Show held annually by the largest world non-profit music trade org, 1852 companies representing 4300 brands descended upon Anaheim and excitedly displayed the latest and greatest music technology as you might expect. This year, however, the LA Fires which wreaked unexpected havoc and smoldered an hour away were on attendees’ minds as some Angelenos there naturally wanted to swap survivor stories in the convention center hallways and LA Wildfire Relief Fund donations were collected via QR code. Immediately acknowledged on NAMM’s Media Day, the music community’s outpouring of support for their affected brethren set the tone for the next five days as a tragedy such as this is an obvious reminder now, more than ever, to live in the moment and cherish the joy creating and listening to music brings.

Kicking off my NAMM Show experience, I listened to legendary guitarist Peter Frampton describe to Martin Guitar’s CEO, being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the pleasure of playing on stage at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival (listen below!). Later that night, I visited the Westin Stage to catch string quartet Wholesoul and flamenco guitarist Caro live (peep my interviews with them soon). The next day, after walking the floors in the morning and checking out Yamaha, Genelec, Audio-Technica and Pioneer, I touched base with guitarist Noe Socha (interview also coming soon) and saw him perform with Rock Choi in the D’Angelico Room.

As darkness fell, I made my way to the Hilton, attending the 40th Annual TEC Awards hosted by Skunk Baxter who amusingly channeled Rodney Dangerfield throughout the night. After companies like Meyer Sound, Moog Music, Universal Audio and iZotope received their awards for musical software excellence categories, Jack White ended the show by receiving the TEC Innovation Award and encouraged the audience to keep innovating and taking chances before ripping through a short, fiery set.

On Friday, I witnessed Jon Batiste speak to a packed crowd about his Louisiana roots, playing on the streets and subway of NY as he brought his signature energy, receiving The Music for Life Award that morning there and at the Yamaha Grand Plaza stage later that night. During the day, I also connected with Grammy Award-winning engineer and producer Neal Pogue about engineering my fav album of 2024, Tyler the Creator’s ‘CHROMAKOPIA'(watch for that interview soon).

Starting Saturday’s morning off, getting in a line that snaked around the Hilton’s second floor many times over, I woke up early to hear Victor Wooten and Jacob Collier play and discuss the importance of music education as only they can. Throughout the day, I managed to chat with Khemist Mayfield, Justus Hajas, Grimson, Janet Robin, Simone Torres and Sean Billings (features coming soon), who were all lovely and offered a spectrum of perspectives across different genres and shared inspiring stories I was happy to capture. Ending that night, I made my way back to the Hilton to cover the 2025 She Rocks Awards red carpet where I got to chat with co-hosts Jennifer Batten and Lindsey Stirling, Paula Cole, Alecia “Mixi Demner from Stitched Up Heart, Starr Parodi, Aijia Grammer, Nurit Siegel Smith, Rozanna Weinberger and Beth Heidt (interviews soon to come) before each received their well-deserved honors. Couldn’t think of a better way to cap off an action-packed NAMM Show and look forward to 2026.