It’s time for the Winter NAMM show in Anaheim, CA next week, and that means it’s also time for the 27th Annual TEC Awards. This year’s convocation will be hosted by musical impresario Will Lee, who will oversee the proceedings as the awards honor “outstanding achievement in professional audio production and product design.” Also on hand will be guitarist/producer Steve Vai, who will receive the Les Paul Award, plus a who’s who of the industry (and that’s just the folks in the audience).
Presenters for the evening’s festivities will include Billy Sheehan, Phil Ramone, Eddie Kramer, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, Phil Collen, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Lisa Loeb, Bootsy Collins and Bernie Williams. Given the musical talent that will be gracing the stage to talk, it’s no surprise that some of them will be performing as well, including Vai, Sheehan, Baxter, The 2Cold ChiliBone TEC Band and various guest artists to be announced.
Since being founded in 1985, the Technical Excellence & Creativity (TEC) Awards have recognized the individuals, companies and technical innovations behind the sound of recordings, live performances, films, television, video games, and other media. 2011 saw the Awards move to the NAMM show, where they settled into their new surroundings nicely, the convention and the event complimenting each other well.
This year, TEC Awards will be given in 19 categories of Technical Achievement and eight categories of Creative Achievement. Additionally, there’ll be the Les Paul Award, which was established in 1991 to honor musical artists who have had distinguished careers as innovators in the creative application of audio technology. Past recipients include Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Brian Wilson, Peter Gabriel, Lindsey Buckingham, Herbie Hancock, Al Kooper, Steve Miller, Robbie Robertson and others.
If all that sounds like a fun night out (and it is), you can still get tickets HERE (and move it ’cause we hear they’re going fast).
In the meantime, here’s a look back at last year’s Les Paul Award acceptance, as Al Schmitt, Ken Caillat and Elliot Scheiner introduce Lindsey Buckingham during the 26th annual TEC Awards, January 14th, 2011.
