Live Music

I have been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to see an incredible amount of live music in my first 40 years and I plan to continue. My first concert was the Police at the Providence Civic Center 4-13-1982, I was 11 years old. I remember the opening act, Bow Wow Wow, getting booed off of the stage and thinking that this was normal, like the gong show! And I remember how fabulous the Police and Sting were that night, they held the audience in their hands. I was hooked!

Stones VIP Pass (first time ever backstage) & Ghost in the Machine Tour Book From 1982 (I still have these!)

In high school my friends and I would work all summer landscaping at Green Animals, and we we would spend the rest of our time going to concerts all over New England. Sometimes we would be the first ones in line at the record store to buy tickets when the summer lineup was announced. Most of my favorite live concert experiences have nothing to do with being backstage, VIP, etc. Today when I am fortunate enough to have preferred seats or backstage passes, I often watch the show from the middle of the crowd - there is nothing like it when a great band is playing.

Green Animals Topiary Garden

Most of what I listen to on a daily basis is live music. I just prefer the improvisation and way great live music sounds. It is natural and real, you can hear the interaction between the musicians and you know that it has not been altered, re-mixed or dubbed over.

A friend and I were debating our top 5 concerts of all time that we have seen live (another in a long list of top 5 discussions we love to have). I found it very hard to come up with just 5, so many great moments and the memories after 20+ years are foggy at best sometimes. Every time I came up with 5 someone would remind me of another show that should be considered. I am going to keep working on it, if you have any suggestions or want to send me your top 5 I would love to debate with you: pdaddario@daddario.com

D'Addario and Aquila Team Up For Ukulele Strings

DUE TO GROWING POPULARITY, D’ADDARIO UNVEILS TWO COMPLETE LINES OF UKULELE STRINGS

The NAMM Show • Anaheim, CA • January 19-22, 2012 • Booth# 4834 – D’Addario proudly announces its new Nyltech and Titanium Ukulele Strings available in January 2012.

D’Addario and Aquila Strings are thrilled to announce their exciting new string development partnership, which created the Nyltech Ukulele Strings. Nyltech is made with D’Addario exclusive string material that offers a warm, yet punchy, gut-like tone.

The Nyltech Strings are available for most popular Ukulele sizes and tunings such as the Soprano (EJ88S), retailing at $11.10, Concert (EJ88C), also retailing for $11.10, Tenor (EJ88T), with a retail price of $12.55 and Baritone (EJ88B), which will retail for $13.90.

“Our new Nyltech Ukulele Strings are a contemporary take on a traditional sound with improved intonation verses other ukulele strings on the market,” says Brian Vance, Director of Product Management.

D’Addario is also releasing new Titanium Ukulele Strings. Titanium strings have recently been popular with classical guitarists for their bright, projecting tone and ultra-smooth feel. Now ukulele players can increase their volume, clarity and dynamics with Titanium Ukulele Strings. The dense monofilament material with translucent purple hue and smooth feel is similar to traditional nylon. The strings are available for most popular ukulele sizes and tunings such as the Soprano (EJ87S), retailing for $8.20, Concert (EJ87C), also retailing for $8.20, Tenor (EJ87T), to retail for $8.65 and Baritone (EJ87B), with a retail price of $9.85.

“We are excited to create Titanium strings that give a bright tone and smooth feel exclusively for Ukelele players,” adds Vance.

For more information on D’Addario, please visit www.daddario.com.

D'Addario does not support the proposed SOPA Act (Stop Online Piracy Act)

Recently, our name has appeared on a list with many other respectable companies and brand names regarding support of the proposed SOPA legislation that was recently introduced in the House of Representatives. D'Addario has been asking our elected representatives in Washington, as well as various business and trade associations, to help our company and others protect their universally recognized intellectual property rights from being stolen and profited upon by foreign counterfeiters. (FYI - 7 out of 10 sets of D'Addario strings sold in Chinese music stores are fakes!). However, this desire for legislative action with regard to our battle against counterfeiters should not be misconstrued as support for the proposed SOPA legislation. For this reason, we have formally asked the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to remove us from the list indicating that D'Addario & Company supports this bill and will ask any other website listing us as a supporter to do the same.

We have been waging a battle against counterfeiters who sell fake D'Addario strings for over a decade. Today, the packaging on fake D'Addario strings appears authentic but the strings are horrific. These predators have not only stolen our name but are damaging our brand equity and reputation with our valued customers in markets all over the world. As a result, we have asked our elected representatives to pass fair and responsible legislation to help us and other manufacturers combat this problem.

We are hopeful that through the process of legislative compromise Congress will pass a law that preserves constitutionally protected free speech and allows D'Addario and others to fairly compete on a level playing field in the global marketplace. In addition we will be reaching out to all the Congressional representatives in areas where D'Addario has a presence to inform them that we do not support SOPA in its present form.

In the last few days, we have seen countless comments on various forms of social media and received many email messages, both pro and con on this issue. While the D'Addario family is committed to protecting its trademarks and family name, that commitment does not take priority over our respect for the U.S. Constitution and our right to free speech under the First Amendment.

I am available to answer anyone's questions on this topic personally. Please post any questions or comments on my personal Facebook page. I look forward to hearing from you.



Sincerely - Jim D'Addario

P.S. FYI- http://shortformblog.tumblr.com/post/14893085824/sopa-chamber-of-commerce-list

Where Do You Shop For Music Gear?

Shopping

There is a lot of talk about where musicians shop today in our industry, and we have seen 3 distinct choices that have emerged for the consumer: The local stores/specialty shops, the national chain stores and on-line retailers. Each of them offers a distinct experience and brings different value to the customer, where you shop really depends on the experience you prefer: