NAMM Awards Nominees Revealed

The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) have announced the nominees for their 31st Annual Technical Excellence & Creativity Awards.

While there are a number of categories covering film, television and studio design, there are four that are specific to popular music. James Taylor is included in three of the four categories including Album Production, Single Production and Tour/Event Production while the Foo Fighters are up for two, Remote Production and Tour/Event Production.

Other veteran artists to receive nominations include Toto, Diana Krall, Prince, Beck, the Grateful Dead and the Rolling Stones.

In addtion, the founders of Record Plant will be inducted into the NAMM TEC Hall of Fame for their exemplary work in capturing iconic music that stretches across generations of the American musical experience, including Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life, The Eagles’ Hotel California and live recordings captured with the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton. At the helm of three Record Plant studios were Chris Stone and the late Gary Kellgren. Their New York-based Studio A was the first studio designed for mixing quadraphonic (surround) sound.

Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter, whose guitar licks with Steely Dan, the Doobie Brothers and many more are included on the shelves of music’s most successful discographies, will be inducted into the NAMM TEC Hall of Fame for his myriad contributions to music. A sought-after solo and session player, Baxter’s career fluidly moves between a mixture of genres from pop to country to rock, fusion and beyond.

NAMM Awards nominees

Record Production / Album
Before This World – James Taylor
Smoke + Mirrors – Imagine Dragons
How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful – Florence and the Machine
Toto XIV – Toto
Wallflower – Diana Krall

Record Production / Single or Track
Bad Blood – Taylor Swift
Baltimore – Prince
Bloodstream – Ed Sheeran and Rudimental
Dreams – Beck
Stretch Of The Highway – James Taylor

Remote Production / Recording or Broadcast
Foo Fighters Sonic Highways
57th Annual Grammy Awards
2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
13th Annual A Great Night in Harlem
Carnegie Hall’s Opening Night Gala: Berlin Philharmonic – Sir Simon Rattle & Anne Sophie Mutter

Tour / Event Sound Production
Before This World Tour – James Taylor
1989 World Tour – Taylor Swift
Fare Thee Well – Grateful Dead
Sonic Highways World Tour – Foo Fighters
Zip Code Tour – Rolling Stones