Stylophone GEN R-8 at the NAMM Show - Thursday

Today (Thursday) was the first official day of the trade show at Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, California. While catching a shuttle bus ride from my hotel to the convention center, I got to visit briefly with a professional drummer who has toured with a bunch of famous acts. The only one I can remember is Barry Manilow. (He writes the songs that make the whole world sing, I am told.) I hit the gift shop for some NAMM swag first thing. Then I spent most of the day in the Dubreq booth with company owners Marcella Kavanagh and John Simpson. They are such great people and I am glad I've finally had the opportunity to meet and spend time with them in-person this week.

We must have had more than a hundred visitors check out the new Stylophone GEN R-8, along with the GEN X-1, S1, and Beatbox. There were folks from all over the USA, Canada, Mexico, Europe and Asia. It was fun to see the pure delight in the faces of many Stylophone fans who came by to get a hands-on experience with our two GEN R-8 prototype instruments. There was also a great deal of interest in the GEN X-1 among visitors who were not previously aware of it.

As you might expect at a musical instrument convention, the noise was relentless. We had organs, Mellotrons, a Haken Continuum, and various synths competing for attention all around us. Fortunately, the Stylophones held their own, with lots of people (including several friends of mine) making the trek to our little booth. One guy (I don't recall his name) said that seeing Dubreq's Stylophone products was going to be the highlight of his convention experience. Other visitors included Mikey D, who scored a guest pass from Dubreq, and theremin expert Randy George.  Toward the end of the afternoon, even Cuckoo stopped by.

According to my fitbit watch, I walked nearly 5 miles today. I'm feeling it. I'm also feeling satisfied after a long and enjoyable day of promoting Stylophones at one of the biggest musical instrument conventions in the world.