I’m starting to forget them at this point. I’ve met all my idols/influences except for David Gilmour and after one trip to NAMM they all start blurring together.
Highlights- Vai when I was 16 and worshipped him. I punished him, too. Totally rushed him when he was getting out of a cab, but he was cool about it and that day de-mystified him for me. I realized he was a regular human who just REALLY wanted to be good at what he did, not a superhuman. That was a life changing sentiment.
Doug Pinnick at the Dean NAMM Jam, we met walking into the Grove, I bought him a drink and he watched the whole show with my ex and I, screaming along with me and just shooting the shit casually. Saw him the next day at the Hilton and he walked right up like we were friends. Such a good dude.
Sevendust guys- In my 20’s I was going off the rails with my drinking habits at the same time Clint Lowery was getting sober. That dude sent me so many messages of encouragement, going back and forth in Twitter DM’s that I’ll forever be thankful. When I finally had the chance to meet him, I had him sign my JEM (not big on autographs, but he’s different). I was broke at the time and when Lajon came off the bus and asked if I was playing that night, or at least going t the show and I sheepishly told him I couldn’t afford it, he asked me how many tickets I needed and refused to take no for an answer. Sure as shit, I was on the guest list later that night. Amazing, real guys in that band.
Off the top of my head for the rest- Devin Townsend, all the Dream Theater guys (Portnoy probably 5x), Satch, Killswitch, Steel Panther (twice, once in an airport), Queensryche (Toddryche lineup), everyone in Mastodon but Brent a couple times, that’s probably it or guys I got to do more than just shake a hand with. The NAMM guys I barely consider “meeting” because it was so fast, but the one that always pops in my head is Claude Schnell, who just seemed happy that someone under 40 recognized him.
