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Just Plain Day 3
The next day we were back to the NAMM show, and discovered that the parking rate at our little 10 dollar lot was now 30 dollars. Nothing like good old American Supply and Demand! So we parked a zillion miles away and took a bus to the show.
Knowing my way around a bit better, I had created a list of folks I wanted to search down and chat with. First on the list was member Sonya P. from Rite1Productions. She was set up representing Discovery Firm in the basement area of the trade show. I hadn't even realized that there was a basement, and when I went down, I was greeted with some of the most interesting companies in the show. This is where many of the smaller, individual and Just Plain Friendly companies were, due, I am sure in some cases, to the economy of being in this location. But it seemed this was where some of the most quirky, unusual and cutting edge people were camped out and I met many of them as I walked around.
I made my way over to the Discovery Booth and our member Sonya P. Sonya is an independant producer in LA, and on this day she was representing Discovery products, which include a large library of sample CD roms. (See picture of Sonya and Brian on the website.) Originally, we had intended to tour Sonyas studio and profile her work, but the time never came, so we will run a story about her in a future issue.
"You might as well be walking on the sun" Smash Mouth
Not only did famous folks zing by regularly at NAMM, but also the folks who make the whole industry happen. I saw a camera following around Mark Beagleman, the founder of Mars Music, and shortly thereafter ran into my friend David Hernandez, who I know from Mars Music, and who used to play keyboards for the Village People. (Something he hesitantly shared with me one day) One of the people I wanted to chat with most, from the business side of the Industry was Michael Kovins, who is both the President of Korg, and also the President of IAEKM (International Association of Electronic Keyboard Manufacturers). I had stopped by the Keyboard Magazine booth to look for friend and fellow member Mitch Gallagher (Technical Editor for Keyboard Magazine, and all around nice guy) and instead of finding Mitch, who was off working his butt off I am sure, I saw Michael Kovins. After a brief chat, he agreed to meet with me one on one later in the day, so I could share some information with him about Just Plain Folks and what we were doing.
As I was killing some time, (and looking at Korg products), I struck up a conversation with several people in that area. One of which turned out to be Rodney, the guitarist for Dishwalla. He was a wonderful guy, and was very enthusiastic about Just Plain Folks and said he wanted to join up right on the spot. He said he wished there had been a group like ours when Dishwalla was trying to get going. Visit Rodney and the rest of Dishwalla at their website: DISHWALLA www.dishwalla.com.
My meeting with Michael Kovins was envigorating. I thought it refreshing to find someone with such a grounded and inclusive ideaology running one of the worlds largest musical instrument manufacturers. Also part of the family with Korg are Marshall, Parker, Vox, ToneWorks and Soundtracs. Mike spoke of educating consumers about the possibilities, and of expanding the pie of music for everyone involved. These are they same fundamental ideas of inclusion that we emphasize in Just Plain Folks. He really seems to get it on all levels, and not just from a business positioning point of view commonly found in this industry. He was very enthusiastic in his response to and interest in what we are doing, and I hope to work with him in the future, as these are the type of people who merit our support! Visit Korgs website at: KORG® USA ONLINE
Please also check out the wonderful work Mike and his associates are doing on the IAEKM web site! Welcome to the IAEKM Home Page! . I plan to do more about IAEKM in the future, and hope that we can work together with them to educate our members and the public about the amazing opportunities in Electronic Music and Recording technology! Companies included in the IAEKM organization are: Akai, Alesis, Armadillo, Baldwin, Carl Fischer, Casio, Coda, Electronic Musician Magazine, E-mu/Ensoniq, Estey, Generalmusic, Hal Leonard, Keyboard magazine, Korg, Lowrey, Mark of the Unicorn, Midisoft, Musicator, Musicware, Opcode, Passport, Rodgers, Roland, Technics, Voyetra Turtle Beach, Warner Bros. Publications, Yamaha ,Young Chang/Kurzweil. As you can see it is a virtual who's who in the Electronic Music world!
Just Plain Day 3 (Continued)
At the end of the day, we decided we would shed our music business mentality and head out and explore Hollywood as the enthusiastic tourists that we were. We headed first into Beverly Hills. Rodeo drive was crowded and pretty much as I imagined it. Lots of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches, Limos of all makes and models and the exotic and expensive of everything. All the famous designers were there of course, but to three Midwestern Males, didn't have quite the appeal it might have had to some of our female members. I didn't see any famous folks walking about, but then, there are so many in that area, how could you tell! We drove around the neighborhoods near Beverly Hills, and our mouths were wide open as we saw the landscaping, meticulous architectural design and fabulous display of wealth and success all around us. For me, the tree lined streets alone were worth the trip. I just can't get over how much those darn trees amused and impressed me! (I know, you LA folks are shaking your heads!)
Sid Graumanns theater and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
After a lifetime of seeing this hallowed sidewalk in countless news reports, documentaries, films and tv shows, it was quite a kick to actually see it in person. My perception was quite inaccurate of what it was all about, and how it was all laid out. It was interesting to find the Walk of Fame was a rather ordinary sidewalk in front of a variety of tourist shops, restraunts and movie theaters on Sunset Blvd. We walked up and down, as so many before us have, and gazed at the legendary names, and the completely unknown names that shared their proximity to each other down the sidewalk that extends a few blocks in each direction from Mann's Chinese Theater. Stars from music, movies, and real life immortalized in gold metallic stars, being walked all over by Just Plain Folks like us made me chuckle! I was also quite surprised at how many names I had never heard of. I consider myself fairly on top of the entertainment world, certainly well above average, and yet I still had no clue who many of these immortals were. I also found myself wondering how in the world a few of the names I did recognize got there. But who am I to speak right?
The theater itself, was quite fascinating. I was able
to walk right on the concrete slabs that contained many of the
most famous movie stars in history, and I even compared my hands
and feet to many of them. (At size 16.5, my feet were quite
a bit larger than anyone elses!). I even got to put my fist
into the fist print of John Wayne! Totally cool! You can
see my brother Chris at the star of Elton John on
the website.
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