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The last day of the NAMM show features the NAMM University “Best of NAMM” presentation at the Breakfast Session
And the breakfast was pretty darn good this year – biscuits and gravy, bacon and scrambled eggs, taters, sweet rolls and croissants, fruits, orange juice and strong coffee. The best part of the morning was the stellar playing of the Kruger Brothers. I had no idea that a banjo could do that – Jens Kruger plays it like a Stradivarius. The Brothers (Jens, Uwe and Joel Landsberg) were respected with a standing ovation at the end of their set.
Frank Alkyer, publisher of Music Inc. and a panel of experts that included Gayle Beacock, Vic Salazar, Steve Fortner, Tim Pratt, Jonathan Lipp and Chris Basile, announced the recipients in the following categories:
Best In Show
- P-Bone, Conn-Selmer
- Atlas Hardware, Ludwig
- StageScape M20D Mixer, Line 6
- DL-1608 Digital Mixer, Mackie
- MyDentity Drums, Mapex
Best Accessory or Add-On
- Teach Yourself Pro Audio Series, Alfred Publishing
- Todd Sucherman’s Method & Mechanics II DVD, Hal Leonard
- TS-100 Series, Ultimate Support
- Apex Keyboard Stands, Ultimate Support
- Pitch Clips, Korg
- Cheat Sheets
- OnStage Stands iPad Mount, The Music People
Gotta Stock It
- THR Amplifiers,Yamaha
- Quick Release Hi-Hat Clutch, Gibraltar
- XW-P1 and XW-G1 Synthesizers, Casio
- Axient Wireless System, Shure
- American Stage Instrument Cables, Planet Waves
Companies To Watch
- Line 6, Booth
- Mapex
- Fishman
- Charvel Guitars
- Behringer
- Casio
Also during the breakfast session, NAMM presented its Wanna Play? Award to eight companies from outside of the music products industry, which use music products in their television ads, helping to inspire people to make music.
The recipients of the 2011 Wanna Play? Awards are:
- SunTrust Bank for its Rock Stars In the Financial Industry print ad
- freecreditscore.com for its Credit Fail TV ad
- Cheetos for its Piano TV ad
- Chase for its Ultimate Rewards print ad
- Target for its Music Teacher TV ad
- Heineken for its The Entrance TV ad
- Rocksmith for its Rocksmith Launch TV ad
- Chevy for its Shine TV ad
Mark Hriciga, vice president of advertising and user experience at Experian Consumer Direct, was at the presentation to accept the award on behalf of freecreditscore.com and its TV ad called “Credit Fail.” And singer, songwriter and guitarist Chelsea Williams was also at the presentation to accept the Wanna Play? award on behalf of Chevy for its “Shine” TV ad, in which she appeared.
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