by Boris Mogilevski
Early in 2022, I was invited by Kala Brand to join their team at the NAMM show in Anaheim, California. I knew very little about the event, and I had never visited California before. I was very excited but I tried to keep my expectations low as I knew that there was a chance that the event wouldn’t happen due to the Covid situation.
Also, a few months prior to my departure, I injured my leg, which put my entire journey to the US under a very big question mark! Fortunately, my recovery went well and COVID didn’t interfere with my plans. I arrived in California at the beginning of June. I spent my first 2 days relaxing at a small town near San Diego not knowing what awaited me…
I arrived in Anaheim one day before the start of the NAAM event, and I met the entire Kala crew. They took me to the Convention Center to show me the Kala booth and gave me instructions concerning my part in the show. The first day of the NAMM show, it took me around 30 mins to walk through the Convention Center. While walking I was blown away by the size of it. There were plenty of stages, people, and instruments that you could play with. It felt like every single instrument Brand had come to the NAMM show.
The music was coming from every possible direction, and I came across some of my favorite musicians and artists. After 2 years of isolation and lockdowns due to COVID, seeing so many people having a good time was beautiful to see!
During the 3 day NAMM show, I spent most of my time at the Kala booth. I was presenting Kala’s new ‘Elite’ series, by playing multiple concerts and interacting with the audience.
While I was there I got to meet a very long list of amazing people and inspiring musicians who came to the booth such as: “Bernadette”, James Hill, Guy Bernfeld, Magnus Sjoquist, “Ukulenny”, “U can Uke”, “The Ukulele Teacher” and many many more.
I really felt blessed to have the opportunity to share my love of music with friends and followers in real life.
One of the most memorable moments during the NAMM show was meeting my friend Bernadette @plazi and her beautiful family for the first time. Bernadette is one of the first people who supported my work online and inspired me a lot. I was waiting to meet her face to face for a very long time. We had such a good time jamming together, chatting, and hanging out.
One of my most memorable moments was when Bernadette surprised me by renting me a scooter, as this allowed me to check more of the NAMM show. That was such a sweet thing to do because I wasn’t very portable and couldn’t walk for a long time due to my injury.
The NAAM event is pretty much everything you can and can’t imagine, all under one roof !
The music, the stages, the endless choice of instruments to try, notwithstanding the parties and definately the people you meet!
NAMM was a total blast and I can’t wait to come back next year.