JAM Pedals ‘Lending a Hand’ Campaign Provides Relief to Industry Professionals Amid Pandemic
JAM Pedals began as a one-person operation that has evolved over the last 15 years to become a “fine-tuned body of tone seekers,” all lead by founder Jannis Anastasakis. The NAMM Member develops effects pedals that are capable of addressing “a wide array of applications and styles, honoring those that came before us while claiming a spot in what is yet-to-come,” all while staying committed to creating well-tuned circuits that sound great no matter how you dial them in.
JAM Pedals is headquartered in Athens, Greece, a nation that has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite these devastating effects, the company is still determined to continue to handmake, hand-painted and meticulously inspect all of their products before they continue shipping to customers around the world.
The “Lending a Hand” campaign brought together Nels Cline, Graham Coxon, Bill Frisell, Julian Lage, Sean Ono Lennon, Steve Lukather, J Mascis, Lee Ranaldo, Nile Rodgers, Richie Sambora, Neal Schon, John Scofield, Alex Skolnick, Andy Timmons, and David Torn. The relief effort aimed “to raise as many funds as possible for eligible music industry professionals, enable people and organizations willing to contribute to this cause to do so while in the process recognizing their generosity with unique, one-off, handmade and hand-painted pedals out of the JAM pedals Custom Shop, hand-signed by their favorite artists.” A total of 150 pedals, ten per participating artist, were awarded to the largest donors between June 21 and July 12.
“One of the most severely hit industries from COVID-19 related measures put in place worldwide, has undoubtedly been music,” commented Anastasakis. “With more concerts canceled or postponed for at least one year, the income of countless music-industry professionals around the world has basically been swiped. JAM Pedals is a team of active musicians and sound professionals who are passionate about building pedals for fellow musicians. It only made sense to do our part to help the people and infrastructure through the Lending a Hand campaign. We are extremely grateful to the campaign supporters, artists, and media sponsors for making the initiative such a success.”
The funds raised total $54,887 are headed to charities close to the hearts of both JAM Pedals and the artists collaborating on the project including MusiCares ($38,003), Jazz Coalition ($5,006), Jazz Foundation ($3,106), New Music USA ($3,003), Crew Nation ($3,008), and Northern Greece Musician’s Union ($2,761).
For more information about JAM Pedals Lending a Hand Campaign, please visit https://www.jampedals.com/lending-a-hand/.