Alright everybody — after taking a week off from the normal “In the Shop” blogs, I’m back. But this time, instead of writing from behind the counter at Sims Music, I’m writing this one after spending the week in Washington, D.C. on Capitol Hill.

If you followed along on our social media at all this past week, you probably saw that I had the opportunity to travel to D.C. with NAMM to meet with members of Congress and their offices to discuss music education funding, as well as tariffs and how they’re impacting our industry. So this one’s a little different from the normal “here’s what came in this week” blog. This is more like “In the Shop… from D.C.” And honestly, it was one of the coolest and most eye-opening experiences I’ve ever had.

I was originally invited to head up Sunday, but since it was Mother’s Day, I decided to fly out Monday morning instead. NAMM had actually organized a day of service Sunday afternoon at a local high school where attendees met with students to discuss careers in music and the arts, which sounded awesome, but unfortunately I missed that portion getting in later.

Once I got to D.C., I had a little bit of free time before the evening events started, so naturally I ended up doing about six miles of walking around the city. I walked all the way down to the Lincoln Memorial, over to the World War II Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, looped back around the White House, and then back over toward Capitol Hill where the hotel was. It had been a long time since I had gotten to visit D.C. so it was great to get to experience the city for a few hours. It is an amazing experience to get to view all of the exhibits and memorials on the National Mall and was a great way to start my time in D.C.

That night NAMM hosted a welcome dinner for everyone attending the fly-in. It was great getting to reconnect with some people I’d met at previous NAMM shows, but also really cool meeting a lot of new people from all over the country — owners of music stores, manufacturers, educators, people involved in all different corners of the music industry. When arriving to the welcome dinner, I was given a green lanyard to wear, which would let everyone know it was my first year at the Fly In. This was great and opened the door for a lot of people to come up with encouraging advice, knowing that I was entering an experience unlike anything I had ever done before. After this first evening, I knew that I was in good company with people excited to make this visit the best and most impactful. 

Tuesday was basically an all-day training session, and when I say all day… I mean ALL day. We spent the entire day at the offices of Nelson Mullins, the law firm and lobbying group that works hand-in-hand with NAMM on music education advocacy in D.C. By the end of the day my brain was absolutely fried, but it was incredibly informative. NAMM President John Mlynczak was there, and we had a whole lineup of speakers and presentations breaking down everything from federal music education funding to tariff policy to how congressional meetings are structured and how to communicate effectively during them.

One of the coolest sessions was actually a storytelling workshop led by Jay Dash from SlapDash Productions. A huge part of these meetings is telling a story that people remember. Members of Congress and their staff hear pitches all day long from every industry imaginable, so the key is finding a way to make your message personal and memorable instead of just throwing statistics at people. After meeting with our team, I was designated as the ‘storyteller’ so I had to prepare a consistent story that would help connect the importance of the arts to the staffers and Members of Congress that we would be meeting with. Working on this part of the presentation was a fun challenge and one that actually helped me have a better understanding of why we were there.

We spent a big portion of the day learning about the federal funding asks that NAMM is pushing for — particularly around Title I, Title II, and Title IV-A funding that supports music and arts education in schools. We also had detailed sessions about tariffs and how they’re affecting music retailers, manufacturers, and customers alike.

Then toward the end of the day we broke into our state groups to prepare for the actual Capitol Hill meetings. Our South Carolina group was fantastic. It included myself, Anna Swearingen — a recent Carolina graduate who had done the NAMM fly-in before and absolutely crushed it helping lead us through the process — Greg from Music & Arts, and Connie Myers from Orangeburg, who works with Nelson Mullins in D.C. And let me tell you… Connie may be the most connected person in Washington. Everywhere we walked somebody knew her. I felt very good having her on our side.

We sat down together and mapped out our strategy for the meetings — introductions, storytelling flow, funding asks, tariff discussions, all of it. The whole goal was to make sure we clearly communicated why music education matters and why these programs are important for students.

That night ended with a rooftop dinner and the NAMM Jam overlooking the Capitol building. I posted a picture from up there on Instagram, but the view was unreal. Members of NAMM got up and performed while the Capitol sat lit up behind them. It was one of those moments where you kind of stop and think, “This is pretty wild.”

Wednesday was the big day — Capitol Hill day.

We started the morning by going through security and heading to our first meeting at Representative Jim Clyburn’s office. We didn’t get to formally meet with Representative Clyburn himself during the meeting, but we did get to speak with him briefly outside the office beforehand.

And then NAMM surprised us with a pretty unbelievable addition to our group… Queen Cora — drummer for both Prince and Beyoncé — joined our meeting. So suddenly I’m sitting in a congressional office talking about music education funding with Prince’s drummer sitting across the table from me. No pressure. She was absolutely incredible though. Super kind, incredibly passionate about music education, and obviously when someone with that level of experience speaks, people listen. She brought so much energy and credibility into the room. That meeting went really well, especially since Representative Clyburn’s office has historically been very supportive of arts funding.

After that we had lunch in the Capitol Visitor Center — Senator Tim Scott had reserved a room there for all the South Carolina groups — and then the afternoon became a whirlwind. We headed over to Senator Lindsey Graham’s office next. One thing that really stood out to me was how different the House side and Senate side of Capitol Hill feel. The House side is loud and packed with people moving everywhere. The Senate side is calmer, quieter, with these huge ceilings and long hallways. Just a completely different atmosphere.

The staffer we met with in Senator Graham’s office was fantastic and incredibly knowledgeable. She gave us a little behind-the-scenes perspective on current legislation and upcoming votes, and she was very receptive to the music education funding requests we brought forward. From there we went to Senator Tim Scott’s office, where we had a joint meeting discussing both music education funding and tariff exemptions. Again — super positive meeting. We met with two of his staffers, and they took a ton of notes and were very engaged in the conversation.

And yes… I finally got to do the thing I really wanted to do all trip:

Ride the underground Capitol subway.

One of the interns in Senator Scott’s office happened to be a Clemson student and offered to take us through the underground tunnel system beneath the Capitol. There’s literally a little subway tram underneath the buildings that transports members and staff between the House and Senate sides. This was a very cool experience. 

After our meetings on the Senate side, we headed over to Representative Joe Wilson’s office. This one was especially cool because we actually got to meet directly with Representative Wilson himself in addition to his staff. His office was incredible — wall-to-wall memorabilia and photos with political figures from all over the world — and while we were sitting there talking, directly behind him through the window was the Capitol dome itself.

It was one of those surreal moments where you kind of sit there thinking, “How in the world did I end up here?” But honestly, one of the biggest takeaways from the entire trip was just how receptive everybody was. We were told early on that there are much worse things to lobby Congress about than music education. Everybody loves music. Everybody has some connection to it. And because of that, people genuinely listened.

Once the meetings wrapped up, we gathered for the giant NAMM group photo and then headed to what might’ve been the perfect ending to the trip — the Congressional Record concert. This was incredible. It’s a bipartisan music event where members of Congress from both sides of the aisle actually get on stage and perform music together. They had a full house band, and representatives were getting up singing, playing guitar, percussion, piano — even a group called the “House Spouse Glee Club” performed.

Queen Cora got up and played again, and at one point they had a full New Orleans-style second line marching band weave through the crowd. They also showed videos from legendary musicians like Dave Weckl and Jeff Coffin talking about the importance of music education and arts funding. And honestly… It was just really inspiring to see people from completely different political backgrounds all coming together around music.

Thursday morning wrapped everything up with a final session focused on what happens after we leave D.C. — working locally with schools, districts, state representatives, nonprofits, and communities to keep advocating for arts education back home.

And then just like that, I grabbed my suitcase, headed to the airport, and came home.

Overall, it was truly one of the most meaningful experiences I’ve ever had.

I was incredibly honored to be invited to represent Sims Music, the nonprofit that I chair, South Carolina Sound Bites, Freeway Music, and music education in general. And if you asked me today whether I’d go back next year, the answer would absolutely be yes.

One statistic that really stuck with me during the trip was learning that there are over 700 Title I schools in South Carolina. Without proper funding, many of those students may never get the opportunity to play an instrument or experience music education at all.

And yes — obviously as a music retailer, more people playing music helps our industry. But the bigger picture is so much more important than that.

Music changes people. It gives kids confidence. It gives them a community. It gives them purpose. Studies consistently show students involved in music perform better academically, attend school more consistently, and develop skills that carry into every part of life.

Most kids in band class won’t become rock stars. But they will become teachers, engineers, nurses, business owners, parents, and leaders — and music helps shape who they become. So whether it’s through federal funding, state funding, nonprofits like South Carolina Sound Bites, local music stores, lesson programs, or community support… getting instruments into the hands of people matters. A lot.

So yeah… definitely a different kind of “In the Shop” blog this week.

Next week we’ll get back to talking guitars, drums, pedals, and all the normal chaos around the store. But I wanted to share this experience because it was something really special, and honestly something I’ll probably remember forever. Thank you to everyone who followed along online while I was up there. And if you’ve got any questions about the trip or want to hear more stories from Capitol Hill, come by the shop and ask me about it.

Thanks so much everybody. We’ll see you soon.

-Justin Sims