PRS OFFICIALLY DEBUTS MAYER, SHEERAN MODELS P RS Guitars held a press conference in its booth
share his art with people. I can tell you at 7 a.m. pretty much every morning Paul [Reed Smith] is in the office, and he’s exploring the guitar. We’re not spreadsheeting; we’re talking about instruments every morning because this is our art and this is what we’d love to do.” {prsguitars.com}
on the afternoon of Jan. 23 with founder Paul Reed Smith and COO Jack Higginbotham. During the event, the duo officially an- nounced the new Silver Sky Wild Blue Lim- ited Edition model from its collaboration with John Mayer as well as the SE Ed Sheeran Cosmic Splash Limited Edition model. Smith also debuted its new documentary on Ted McCarty, the late mentor and friend of PRS founder Paul Reed Smith. Higginbotham closed the event with some words of inspiration for attendees. “If you haven’t played a new PRS in the last year or two, you haven’t played a PRS,” Higginbotham said. “What we are doing is incredible. Our art is making the guitar, and we get to use our art to support the wonderful people all around the world who are honing their art or performing their art — somebody like John Mayer who is just massively able to
Chuck Levin’s Adam Levin (center) ac- cepts his dealership’s award from George Hines (left) and Bob Bankston (right).
AIMM Dealers Set Goal of Inspired Retail W ith a focus on people, passion and purpose, the annual meeting of the Alliance of Independent Music Merchants (AIMM) took a deep dive into the theme of “Inspired Retail” during the organization’s annual day-long meeting on Jan. 21 at The 2026 NAMM Show. George Hines, AIMM’s president and co-founder — as well as the owner of George’s Music — kicked off the session noting that AIMM has entered its 28th year as an organization dedicated to helping independent retailers succeed. He noted that some things haven’t changed in that time, noting three pillars of success. First, people, detailing that suppliers are the creators of product and retailers are the curators of these products as a conduit for the public. Second, passion, noting that music retail is a “human, not digital” pursuit. And third, purpose, noting that every professional in the room should always ask why they do this. “So I challenge you in 2026, take on the thought of inspired retail or inspired production,” Hines told the audience of retailers and preferred vendors. “And I challenge you to have the best year you have ever had in the music industry.” During the morning session, AIMM also presented its annual awards with 19 recipients, including Chuck Levin’s Washington Music Center for Retailer of the Year for Growth (in dollars), Ted Brown Music for Combo Retailer of the Year for Growth (in dollars) and Amro Music for School Music Retailer of the Year for Growth (in dollars). Honorees for Retailers of the Year for Growth (in percentage terms) were Mundt Music for combo instruments and Heid Music for school music. {musicmerchants.com}
PRS Guitars’ Paul Reed Smith (left) and Jack Higginbotham address the crowd.
APRIL 2026 I MUSIC INC. I 35
Powered by FlippingBook