The TEC Awards have announced actor, comedian, and musician Fred Armisen as host of the 35th Annual Technical Excellence and Creativity Awards (NAMM TEC Awards), being held Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020 in Anaheim, California. Nominees for the awards, which honor individuals, companies and technical innovations used in sound recordings, films, broadcast television, and video games, were recently announced in Nashville at Summer NAMM. The TEC Awards are presented annually as part of The NAMM Show.
The actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician is best known as an alumnus of Saturday Night Live, and as the co-creator of series, Portlandia. Armisen assembled and is the bandleader and frequent drummer for the Late Night with Seth Meyers house band, The 8G Band. In 2018, Armisen's Netflix one-hour special, Fred Armisen: Standup for Drummers, was described as "comedy for musicians but everyone is welcome."
Armisen's passion for making music ignited in the early '80s when he began playing drums in a local band with some Valley Stream, NY high school friends. In 1988, he moved to Chicago to play drums for the punk rock band Trenchmouth, and in the 1990s, he played background drums with Blue Man Group. Armisen played drums on three tracks for Les Savy Fav's 2007 album Let's Stay Friends, as well as tracks for Matthew Sweet's 2011 album Modern Art, and Wandering Lucy's 2015 album Leap Year.
Tickets to see Fred Armisen and winners of the 35th NAMM TEC Awards Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020, are available for purchase on-site at the Hilton Anaheim or in advance here for $65 (General Admission) or $195 (VIP). The show begins with a VIP-only reception at 6 PM, followed by the awards ceremony at 7 PM, held in the hotel’s 2nd floor Pacific Ballroom.
The Les Paul Innovation Award and NAMM TEC Hall of Fame honoree(s) will be announced at a later date. Past honorees include 2019’s Les Paul Innovation Award Peter Frampton and TEC Hall of Fame inductee, Leslie Ann Jones. Previous Les Paul Innovation Award winners include Jackson Browne, Joe Perry (Aerosmith), Don Was, Slash, Todd Rundgren, Pete Townshend, Steve Vai, and others who have received the award since it began in 1991.