In the same way that Cons and ComicCons bring fandoms together, the NAMM Show unites the music world every January to celebrate the art and business of music. Community, connection, technology, sound, and wonder merge into one sprawl inside the Anaheim Convention Center.
Wear comfortable shoes.
This is the who’s who music event of the year. The NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Show is the only place you can meet the inventor of the .mp3 file format (Dr. Karlheinz Brandenburg), the iconic singer from Living Colour (Corey Glover), the powerhouse bassist from Mercyful Fate (Becky Baldwin), Stevie Wonder, and a major brass instrument retailer sales executives in the same afternoon. You can walk across one area the size of a football field and hear a bluegrass ramble, a soul-gripping blues jam (looking at you, Jared James Nichols), a Thrash Metal shredfest, and a scratch DJ performance, all within a few minutes of each other.
NAMM is not just a feast for the ears – – between the food trucks, the creature comforts for musicians to try out and purchase, the stage effects, the amazing variety of instruments to touch and play, or the world-class musical performances on the various stages around the venue, every sense gets treated.
The diversity of the NAMM Show is probably its greatest selling point: retailers of every level have spaces in its halls, from mom-and-pop boutique luthiers to billion-dollar manufacturers. I witnessed a conversation between three guys in ripped leathers and corpse paint and a short-haired corporate guy in a suit – – with all parties fully engaged and respectful (no picture – sorry!).
My personal favorite takeaways were the connections. Strangers became friends, even for the duration of the conversation and the exchange of cards on the floor. Just exploring the Convention Center will open you up to the most amazing, off-the-cuff, unexpected chats with amazing, interesting people. Music is the great connector, and NAMM is the world’s greatest network hub.
Some will tell you it’s overwhelming. They’re right. In the best ways. Every music professional needs to experience this event at least once.
♫
I won’t clog up the end of the article with a long list of gratitudes. Just two.
Thank you to the NAMM staff, whose patience and hyper-competence made registration so easy.
Thank you to Eric Haley and Marc Pruett (The Whiskey Network), my two Support Life And Music compatriots whose assistance was invaluable in making the event successful for us. Hanging with these guys is a hell of a lot of fun.
Jack Mangan, Eric Haley, and and Mark Pruett – – one of Rock’s greatest power trios.
Professor Elemental – “The preeminent Rap (Chap Hop) superstar of the U.K.”
SLAM Bumper: 1 minute
Lyrics reference: Professor Elemental.
-If you’ve got other orangutans you want to speak to on your presumably orangutan-themed podcast, you just crack on, mate. -What would I be doing today if I felt on top of the world? How would I treat myself? -The business of silliness is really important. -Loneliness plays a huge part in modern society and how sad people get.
This may be one of the most powerful episodes we’ve done. Chris Hathcock of The Reticent talks to us about their recent album, “please,” which Jack Mangan ranked as a Noteworthy Album of 2025. Chris understands the psychology and reality of music and depression at about five levels deeper than anyone else. Jack is usually pretty stoic, but he gets emotional during the course of this conversation. This one just hits home.
Trigger warning: There is frank, open talk about suicide in this episode. If you are aware that you or someone you know may be at risk, call “988” from your phone. You are not alone. You are not without hope. SLAM Bumper: Jason McMaster
Quotes: -My first book was just a humor thing, which is extra funny considering how depressing my music is. -The depression may be telling us the truth as it sees it. -When the despair comes, if you can, see if there’s a kindness you can do
Regiment – Tyler Heath Intranced – James-Paul Luna Persekutor – Vlad the Inhaler
Three of the best NWOTHM vocalists in the game today talk about the challenges and rewards of the musician life.
Lyrics Reference: Saxon Host(s):Jack Mangan, and Mark Pruett (The Whiskey Network) Jack’s T-shirt: Fender
Lead quote: People are eating this stuff up. Everybody who’s in the room is in the room for a very specific reason, and it’s because of the music. Quotes: -It used to be not important to me, and I got kind of in some dangerous situations. . . I used to do all kinds of crazy stuff. -The front man needs to be, yeah, hydrated, lubed up, and rested. -The main reason I do that, another job, you know, is so I can set aside the time and have the funds to make the tour, to make the recordings of our music and, you know, give the peoples what they want.
This D.R.E.A.M. Report made possible through a generous grant by the Arizona Eastern Star Foundation. For more information about the Arizona Eastern Star Foundation, please visithttps://www.azoes.org/az-oes-foundation.html
♫
The first four monthly D.R.E.A.M. reports focused on specific topics relevant to the living/working conditions of modern musicians. They’re great! You can find them here:
Unique Risk Factors (September 2025)
Substance Misuse (October 2025)
Through the Mirror (Two articles) (November 2025)
Here Comes Success (December 2025)
This month’s report is a bit different. We’re going to take you on a tour of the D.R.E.A.M. factory to reveal our processes and goals, and to shed a bit more light on our intention and purpose for the program.
No one really knows how the game is played / The art of the trade / How the sausage gets made.
But first, introductions.
The D.R.E.A.M. Team.
We’ve received content/expertise/proofreading/editorial contributions from the following Support Life And Music’s Advisory Council (SLAM Band) members on some or all of the reports:
Jack Mangan
Sarah Hyde
Dr. Sheila Unwin, Ed.D
Dr. Carolyn Cavanaugh Toft, Ph.D
Overview and purpose:
I want to see a change in the future / I’m gonna make the best of what I have
In spite of these sobering facts, the professional mental health communities and the music business are sorely lacking in musician-specific information, data, and resources. Support Life And Music exists to strengthen mental health and well-being for musicians and fans. We’re generating topic-driven data reports to reduce these knowledge gaps. Music industry and/or mental health organizations can leverage the data in thousands of beneficial ways – – independently or in collaboration with S.L.A.M. The possibilities are endless, including:
Spotting trends and commonalities in behaviors, perceptions, attitudes, coping and preventative measures, etc.
Analyzing the findings to identify, strengthen, and fine tune the positive, helpful concepts.
Analyzing the findings to identify, debunk, and devise preventative systems and measures against the negative, destructive concepts.
Equip music industry entities of all kinds with the tools needed to enact information-based systems and safeguards to protect their artists and consumers.
Equip counselors, therapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, and others with musician-specific info to develop musician-specific mental health therapies, educational materials, and situational understanding.
Sharing insights and data heretofore unknown and unavailable.
Education, positive encouragement, and enlightenment.
♫
Methodology and Sources:
I’m gonna show you how it’s done done done.
Data: For the first four reports, we analyzed all available recorded SLAM: Music Survival Guide transcripts, seeking commentary from panel guests and participants related to the article’s topic. This is the process.
Acquisition:
D.R.E.A.M. Team members with professional data analytics backgrounds perform keyword searches of all related terms.
For the first report, searches were conducted across multiple transcript files. For all subsequent searches, the quotes were drawn from a Master data file, consisting of all existing transcripts compiled together.
D.R.E.A.M. Team analysts checked the episodes to find new comments and to verify the accuracy of the transcribed comments.
D.R.E.A.M. Team analysts reviewed the SLAM: Music Survival Guide episodes seeking relevant commentary/quotes as data points.
At times, D.R.E.A.M. Team analysts utilized so-called “AI” tools (e.g.: NotebookLM, Google Gemini, ChatGPT) to scan the transcript files seeking relevant usable commentary as datapoints. The analysts quality-checked all AI findings.
Analysis:
The D.R.E.A.M. Team then identified trends, commonalities, and themes in the pool of acquired data points. These points were also tallied and quantified to enable counts and charts in the output. This has been done leveraging human professional data analysis backgrounds. On reports II and IV, “AI” tools also contributed to this analysis.
Output:
The report format has remained fairly standard, with only minor changes in each. Every report includes S.L.A.M. branding and title in the header, opening text explaining the purpose and theme of the report, and a presentation of the data itself. Relevant charts are inserted into the report for emphasis, clarity, and to enhance visualization. Pertinent song lyrics and/or references are often added too, to increase readability and relatability for the reader. Thunder only happens when it’s raining. Conclusion paragraph(s) follow the data, followed by an explanation of the data, tailored to the current report. The boilerplate explanatory text is as follows:
The S.L.A.M. internal Data Research Education Awareness Music Team (D.R.E.A.M. Team) analyzed the full spoken content of 36 different “SLAM: Music Survival Guide” panel discussion recordings, tagging meaningful statements across various categories. This report focuses on quotes associated with the concepts of success. We did not seek to confirm or debunk the truth or validity of any statements made. The purpose was to analyze, process, quantify, draw logical connections, find meaningful commonalities, themes, and/or contradictions between the statements, and ultimately share the recorded observations, feelings, concerns, beliefs, philosophies, etc., in the speakers’ own words and lyrics. No judgments of the speakers or others present on the call are intended, nor should any be inferred. The speakers were invited to participate in “SLAM Summit: Music Survival Guide” panel discussions. All episodes are publicly available or are scheduled for release at http://www.supportlifeandmusic.org/voices. The quotes in this report will be kept anonymous, and are not intended to be taken out of context as any kind of reflection on any persons involved in the conversations. Some of the content presented has been edited to:Remove extraneous words and phrases, like “you know,” “um,” “like,” etc., as well as to remove repeated or stammered words/phrases. Correct obvious Zoom transcription errors in translation, dictation, or grammar. (crosschecked against the actual episode audio.)No statement was changed, no quote was edited to directly or indirectly change its original meaning in any way. The “Conclusions” sections of this report were written solely in-house at Support Life And Music, and its recommendations are drawn from S.L.A.M. backgrounds in the music industry and mental health, as well as from the designated data set. All facts, figures, opinions, conclusions, and suggestions in this article are presented solely for informational purposes. There are mental health improvement techniques that can be undertaken by anyone in any situation to benefit themselves and others, but consultation with a certified mental health professional is always recommended. See the Support Life And Music website for an expansive list of healthcare providers.
Reports III and IV have included a References section for all lyrics citations. Such References will be included whenever necessary.
♫
Review process: S.L.A.M.’s D.R.E.A.M. Team includes members with professional business data analysis backgrounds, plus one member with a Ph.D in Psychology, and one with an Ed.D. in Leadership and Learning. Depending on availability, internal team members review the articles prior to publication to ensure quality control, veracity, accuracy, and acceptable grammatical presentation.
The articles are then shared by Support Life And Music and its various members across various social media platforms. Links have been sent directly to external mental health Ph.Ds, professionals, and experts, as well as music industry and philanthropy subject matter experts.
♫
The D.R.E.A.M. future:
I believe / We can change anything / I believe / We can rise above this / I believe / There’s a reason for everything / I believe / In my dream.
♮ More power!
SLAM: Music Survival Guide transcripts will continue to be one source of data. We are working toward utilizing more robust database technologies, which will allow for more sophisticated analytics options and greater data integrity, efficacy, efficiency, and security. The master transcript file will then serve only as a backup, until it can be sunsetted.
♮ Added data collection methods:
For some reports, Support Life And Music will leverage inhouse data analysis and marketing experience to conduct targeted surveys of specific and/or general population groups. The questions will be crafted and refined with the help and guidance of the D.R.E.A.M. Team’s data experts and smart people (Ph.D.s, Ed.D.s).
The surveys will also be conducted by specialized professional marketing firms, when applicable, appropriate, and budgetable. Independent firms hired by Support Life And Music will enable options to conduct and analyze highly-scalable survey responses for use in D.R.E.A.M. reports.
♮ The request line is open!
We will work with individual orgs and persons to create bespoke D.R.E.A.M. reports. We’re taking requests! Please feel free to contact us to talk about pertinent topics you’d like to see covered. We’ll also reach out to make suggestions that will benefit specific people, companies, organizations, causes, etc.
♮ Peer review.
Our internal review process will continue, but in the future, each report will undergo review from at least one external subject matter expert before publication.
♮ Increased circulation, visibility, impact.
Increasing the scope of D.R.E.A.M. subscriptions, emails, press, social media, dialogue – -i.e. Stoking greater interest and broadening readership.
*A note on frequency: The D.R.E.A.M. reports will continue to release on a monthly basis, allowing for occasional months with no publication. At the inception of D.R.E.A.M., we’d entertained the notion of doing two reports per month. . . but then we came to our senses. Regardless of staff and resource increases, the 10-12-per-year cadence will likely never change.
♮ Help!
The musician mental health crisis is real. It’s critical. It’s devastating. It’s so embedded in our culture, that few acknowledge the need to push back. Musicians living unstable, shortened, tortured lives – – hey, that’s just how it’s always been. “The price of fame. Artists are crazy. What are you gonna do?” Our greatest struggle as an organization has been raising awareness of the seriousness and severity. We may never fully convince the larger population, but we won’t stop fighting to save and improve music lives. We’ll continue battling, using our Artist Voices, D.R.E.A.M, and help directory.
Thank you.
The next D.R.E.A.M. Report will be topic-driven.
Any requests?
References.
-Lin-Manuel Miranda “The Room Where It Happens” (2015).Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording) [Album]. Atlantic.
-Queensryche “Best I Can” (1990). Empire [Album]. EMI USA.
-Huntrix “How It’s Done” (2025). KPop Demon Hunters (Soundtrack From the Netflix Film) [Album]. Interscope, KidinaKorner.
-Fleetwood Mac “Dreams” (1977). Rumours [Album]. Warner Bros.
-Joe Satriani “I Believe” (1989). Flying in a Blue Dream [Album]. Relativity.
Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth of Overkill talks music, Thrash, music business, getting paid, Metallica, vocals, drinking, drugs in the scene, New Jersey, New York, survival, and being a regular guy. Overkill were one of the bands who helped define the Thrash genre. Bobby’s voice is iconic.
Hosts: Jack Mangan and Rich Catino (MetalAsylum.net)
Lyrics Reference: Overkill
SLAM Bumper: Doro Pesch
Quotes from this episode:
-It’s almost like the secret silent killer, isn’t it?
-I’m grateful to be able to have lived my life in Levi’s and motorcycle boots.
-I was drinking with Pete Steele. I mean, what do you think’s gonna happen?
Keith Roth! Satellite radio listeners hear his distinctive raspy voice on SiruisXM’s Ozzy’s Boneyard and Hair Nation, but he’s also a musician who’s worked with. . . too many projects to list, including David Johansen, Bon Jovi, The Ramones, The Dictators, and Frankenstein 3000.
Lyrics Reference: The Rolling Stones
SLAM bumper: Burton C. Bell and David Ellefson
Three Episode Quotes:
There you go, let’s put that on a poster and sell it.
Kids mature a lot quicker in New York. It’s just because of a product of surroundings, but it’s the greatest city in the world.
I get on that treadmill, and by the time I get off it, it is therapeutic.
Monique Powell, iconic singer of Save Ferris, who were one of the absolute best of the 90s Ska bands, and are still delivering good times and great music today.
“I believe that every person that buys a ticket to a Save Ferris show is precious, and deserves our love and respect.” “I cared immensely about them, but they didn’t care about me.” “You make your own waffles in the morning.”
