Gibson
JC and Dendy from Gibson joined Lt. Dan Buckley at summer NAMM 2019 to start our day of interviews. JC, CEO of Gibson, was more than happy to discuss and express his excitement to be a part of NAMM and be able to be a part of the community here in Nashville. Coming off a very successful show the night before at the Wild Horse with artists such as Jason Isabell and Cassadee Pope. It was exhilarating to continue to see everyone’s excitement for music coming to NAMM. With the new relaunch of the Gibson Foundation, an effort in Dendy’s words is to “bring music into the hands of people who otherwise wouldn’t be introduced to music.” Gibson’s goal is to give new meaning to the importance of guitars and what they can do for people. Coming to NAMM with over 200 playable guitars, Gibson showed off their new collection based on the classic “Gibson” look. It was a thrill to catch up with Gibson and to hear of all the fantastic things they are doing. Make sure to keep up with Gibson as they continue to impact the music community and as they move their Headquarters to the heart of Nashville come this fall.
Photo By: Matthew Khan Photo By: Matthew Khan Photo By: Matthew Khan
Vanguard Audio
Dan Buckley met with Derek, the CEO of Vanguard Audio. Vanguard’s specialty is creating studio microphones. They have been in business for six years, but have only been selling their microphones for three years. Derek stated that the reason for that is when they are creating microphones each microphone has to meet the three pillars of their company, “professional, affordable, and original.” All of Vanguard’s incredible microphones are well under $1000, have a five-year warranty, and checked for 100% quality control. At the Vanguard booth, you experienced beautiful microphones that the team spends extra money and time on to make them aesthetically pleasing. To learn more about Vanguard Audio and Derek listen to the interview below!
Photo By: Matthew Khan
Fender
Richard Bussey from Fender stopped by the Lightning 100 booth to talk with Lt. Dan Buckley about Fender’s new products, his career, and his favorite spots in Nashville. Richard runs the accessories division for Fender and stated that their best upcoming products are six new effects pedals, guitar strings, and acoustic guitar pickups. Fender was kind enough to give guests free strings at NAMM if they mentioned they heard Richard on the radio with Lightning 100! Richard used to be the National Buyer for Guitar Center and mentioned that he lives for guitar accessories. Now, as the head of the accessories division for Fender, Richard does not feel like he has a job because he has the opportunity to create new accessories every day and to him. That’s living the dream. His typical day starts at 6:30 am and ends around 6:30 pm. The reason his hours are so long is that he has to make phone calls all around the world to all of Fender’s buyers. Richard encouraged that everyone should check out the new Fender products they released at Summer NAMM, but especially the Tone Master Series amplifiers which he called, “the future of amplification.” Richard loves Nashville, especially Peg Leg Porker. We hope to see Richard and the Fender team again next year at Summer NAMM if not sooner!
Peavey
Sitting down with Fred from Peavey to talk about the Make Music Experience that will open to the public the following day. After hearing Fred’s story at Peavey, we dug into what new products Peavey will have on display here at NAMM. Introducing the Trace Elliot line of bass amps that only weighs 2.6 lbs that puts out 200 watts of power. Peavey is also showing off combo amps and new mac series bass amps where you can see what you are playing. It was a thrill to hear how much passion Fred and Peavey have for what they do and how excited they are to share their products with the community here at NAMM 2019.
Photo By: Matthew Khan
Korg
Nick from Korg spoke with Dan Buckley about everything Korg has to offer. Korg is a distributor, so they warehouse and distribute products. They have 13 different brands! Korg offers everything from keyboards to amps. At the Korg booth, they had a little bit of everything, including Darkglass effect pedals which is the newest company they are distributing. Nick mentioned that is has been a very successful partnership thus far.
Photo By: Matthew Khan
Tape Op Magazine
Larry Crane, the creator of Tape Op Magazine, visited the Lightning 100 booth to talk about his career with Lt. Dan Buckley. Larry started Tape Op in 1996 before he owned a professional studio. The inspiration stemmed from wanting to learn more about the art of creating records and recording music. Larry has learned so much from interviewing a wide variety of people. When visiting Nashville, Larry loves that he can talk to people that are making all kinds of different music. In Portland is known for indie rock music, but Larry has all different genres coming to his studio. Some examples are jazz, bluegrass, alt-country, indie rock, and electronic. We loved hearing Larry’s story about opening a recording studio with Elliot Smith and recording “Miss Misery” with him and how that one song changed his life. If you want to learn more about Tape Op and hear interviews with Larry, there are free subscriptions online at tapeop.com.
Written By: Chloe Hopper and Ruben Franco
