It’s a bit striking to compare Agile Partners’ participation in NAMM (the music industry’s largest and most important event) this year versus last year. Last year, a couple of us simply walked the 2010 NAMM Show floor, learned what NAMM is all about, and frankly, were a bit overwhelmed by the 80,000 attendees and cacophony of sounds that permeated the Anaheim Convention Center. This year, not only did we set up a triple-kiosk exhibit that featured our AmpKit, Guitar World Lick of the Day, GuitarToolkit and TabToolkit apps, but we were also fortunate to share some incredible experiences with renowned artists that we’ll remember for a long time.

NAMM Media Preview Day
We started 2011 NAMM with the Media Preview Day on Wednesday, January 12, the day before the show opened. Agile Partners was honored to kick off the Media Preview event with a presentation of our AmpKit and Guitar World Lick of the Day apps to a swarm of reporters and photographers from around the world. Helping us to present our two highly acclaimed apps were none other than Alex Skolnick from Testament / Alex Skolnick Trio and Phil Collen from Def Leppard. Alex Skolnick went on stage first to talk about and play guitar with AmpKit on iPad. Next on stage was legendary rocker Phil Collen who also played guitar using AmpKit and talked about our Guitar World Lick of the Day app. Here’s Alex playing some incredibly beautiful jazz and serious metal tones, and Phil giving a Lick of the Day lesson to the NAMM media – all using AmpKit.

Following our presentation to the media, Alex and Phil walked over to Agile Partners’ exhibit with a crowd of reporters and photographers following closely behind. For the next three hours, the two kind and gracious artists continued to play guitar, answer reporters’ questions, and just make sure everyone was having a really great time. Phil and Alex are two of the kindest and most gracious — not to mention talented — people you will ever meet on this planet. It was a real treat not only to have them at our exhibit, but to hear them play amazing guitar using AmpKit!

While Alex and Phil were hanging out at our exhibit, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee was being honored on the NAMM Media Preview stage for his efforts to give more school kids access to musical instruments. When the press asked Huckabee if he could play a little bass, someone suggested that he jam with Phil Collen. Being the incredibly gracious person that he is, Phil agreed to do so. Taking AmpKit on iPad with him, Phil joined Huckabee on stage with Martin Guitar’s Dick Boak. What followed was a highlight of the entire 2011 NAMM Show.

Dueling iPads
Our memorable NAMM moments continued after Media Preview Day when our exhibit area became the scene of an amazing performance: Dream Theater’s Jordan Rudess came to our booth to jam on keyboard and his MorphWiz app with Rob Math, the guitar virtuoso who played guitar using AmpKit at our booth during the entire NAMM Show. Although the two musicians had never played together, their impromptu NAMM jam (which we billed as “Dueling iPads”) was a beautiful performance that gave many of us in the audience goose pimples.

Joel Kosche from Collective Soul
Agile Partners was also thrilled to have Joel Kosche, Collective Soul’s lead guitarist, play guitar using AmpKit at our NAMM booth. Joel recently released a full-length solo album, Fight Years, and has been playing guitar using AmpKit for several months. He says he finds AmpKit really useful for “practicing and recording ideas for songs, especially while traveling.” Joel is not only a talented artist, but also a gracious person as demonstrated by the many interviews he gave and autographs he signed while at our booth. He also emailed us several of his AmpKit presets to share with other AmpKit users. Many thanks Joel!

Last But Absolutely Not Least!
We also want to thank the thousands of people who stopped by our exhibit during the four-day 2011 NAMM Show. Our team particularly enjoyed meeting “NAMM families” – families that included moms, dads, and children of all ages. What a great way to enjoy not just the NAMM Show, but music in general! We particularly got a kick out of watching parents and their kids jamming together with guitars and AmpKit at our booth.

Finally, to all our customers who visited our exhibit and told us that you have been enjoying one, two, three or all four of our guitar apps – thank you! We assure you that Agile Partners continues to work hard at enhancing all of our products, ensuring they remain among the very best apps in the entire App Store.