Rain!   It always rains during this awesome week of performances.  Does that scare the crowds away?  No, but when lightning is on the horizon, like it or not, it’s time to bail.

The first part of Friday, June 7 was spent over at LP Field watching sound checks with Hunter Hayes and Little Big Town.  Hunter was joined on stage by fellow Shure Artist Jason Mraz to sing a new song.  After their rehearsal, I was able to chat with Jason a bit and catch him up on some new products.  He was particularly interested in my description of the new GLXD system.  I was thrilled to hear he is working on a new album.

Next up was Little Big Town, who would be joined onstage by another fellow Shure Artist – Sheryl Crow.  Sheryl has been warmly welcomed into the country music scene and it’s great that she spends a lot of time in Nashville.  Little Big Town would stick around for the rest of the week as co-hosts for the TV show which will be broadcast later on.

After LBT finished, I headed across the river to catch a set with long-time friend and Shure Artist Jo Dee Messina.  Halfway across the bridge, I realized that Hunter Hayes had made a trip over as well and was playing a surprise set for the folks at the Riverfront Stage.  I arrived at the barge on which the stage and backstage area sit and went in the green room to say Hi to Jo Dee.   She was a in a great mood, talking about her Kickstarter album project and all the new music she is putting out, some of which she would perform in mere minutes to a great crowd. As Hunter came off stage, sweaty as all get out, I seized the opportunity to grab a shot between these two amazing Shure Artists.

Jo Dee commanded the stage….until….

Fifteen minutes into her set, she was forced to make an announcement that lightning was spotted nearby.  They were forcing her to cut her hour long set short.  Such a bummer! I did get to hook up with a fellow Shure Associate and his wife who have already purchased tickets to next years show!

After waiting out the rain a bit, I returned to LP Field for the evening concerts.  It turned out to be an amazingly comfortable night once the rain moved out.

Saturday brought out Shure Artists Dierks Bentley, Florida Georgia Line, and a surprise performance by Lenny Kravitz.  I grabbed a quick shot with Tyler and Brian of Florida Georgia Line early on before their sound check and Tweeted it out.  They retweeted to over 255,000 of their followers!  Thanks guys!

Sunday was a nice day but unfortunately, sets were cut way short due to approaching weather.  Two Shure Artists:  Brad Paisley and The Band Perry got to perform 2 songs while Gary Allan was able to sneak in his whole set before them.  As I was leaving that evening, they were cutting the final artists down to one song.

I was glad to be on the road a bit early and beat the bad weather home.   I had a fantastic weekend hanging with the artists and all of their awesome crews.  I’m already looking forward to next year!

Ryan

Hunter Hayes, Ryan, and Jo Dee Messina

Jo Dee Messina

Hunter Hayes

Jason Mraz

CMA Stage

Sheryl Crow

Dierks Bentley

Tyler, Ryan, and Brian- Florida Georgia Line

Lenny Kravitz

The Band Perry

TBP's Belt Packs

Bad Weather!

Brad Paisley

It all kicked off with the CMT Music Awards in the heart of downtown.  You just never know who is going to stop by – a Rock star, a Rap superstar, or how about a few actors and actresses? It’s an exciting week to be in Nashville.

Behind the scenes, there is so much that goes into preparing an award show for television.  What the public sees is the end result of choreographed moves by several departments, all within very short time periods, to put on performances that typically take hours to set up.  To watch them make it all happen is still exciting to see.

Then, after the lights went down in Bridgestone Arena, they were firing up all over town for the CMA Music Fest.  Over at LP Field, the stage, the lights, the video screens and the audio have been slowly put in place over the last week.  The 4 shows here are sold out!  Just across the Cumberland River, a barge sits on the bank, complete with a full stage and PA.   Talk about a monstrosity of an event!  By the end of this week though, the crews are pretty worn out and ready to be done.

As I walked into LP Field for soundchecks on the first day, the chairs are empty.  Once the lights come up for the first act, it’s such a charge.  Last night, superstar Luke Bryan hit the stage and the place went crazy.   Country Music fans are truly the best fans in the world!

So why after 20 years of being in this business do I still get excited about being a part of this week?

Maybe it’s because music has been in my blood since I was very young.  I told myself that if I could not become a touring musician, I wanted to be as close to the industry as I could.  I’m 44 years old, have a family that stays plenty busy, and an awesome career.  My job is ever-changing. I’m learning new skills and getting more involved in social media. All of this together provides me the fuel for maintaining my excitement.

What are some things that help you to maintain the excitement in your career? How has your job changed and how did you make those changes a positive part of what you do?

Stay tuned for my after show wrap up of this week – 3 more days to go!

Ryan

CMT Awards 2013

Bridgestone Stage

Little Big Town PSM1000's

CMT Awards Live 2013

LP Field setup 2013

Sara Evans 2013

Ryan & Craig Morgan 2013

Craig Morgan 2013

Riverfront Stage 2013

Luke Bryan CMA Music Fest 2013

Someone has been making deals with Mother Nature because she decided to ease up on the crews that work this show in the stifling heat.  There were breezes like we’ve never felt and nights that were simply gorgeous outside.  Yes, there was the expected rainfall but not nearly as bad as it was in past years, interrupting the show schedule.

As usual, I spent the majority of my day over at LP Field as the groups loaded in.  This event has always been exciting to be a part of to see all the contacts we have in Country Music and meet some new faces.  I did, however, spend sometime across the river at the Riverfront Stages to catch a few artists.  Jo Dee Messina has been a Shure Artist clear back to her first hit and she never fails to draw a huge crowd at this event.  After so many years in this industry, she still delivers a great performance!  The other artist I caught there was Corey Smith who had a great following and loves playing in Nashville. If you are not hip to his music, go check out his site and download “Maybe Next Year.”  He’s a great songwriter!

LP Field is home to the Tennessee Titans.  This week, it was the evening party spot for all the fans who spend the week in town to catch all their favorites like Glen Campbell, who I have never seen in concert.  What a treat! One night Ronnie Milsap kicked off the evening playing all of his hits.  He sounded amazing as well.

Some of the Shure Artists that rocked the field were The Band Perry, Luke Bryan, Rascal Flatts, Brad Paisley, Randy Houser, Little Big Town, Dierks Bentley, and Martina McBride who performed last on Sunday to close out a great week of music in Nashville.

Shure was well represented throughout the fest on both stages thanks to the help of Clair Nashville and Morris Light and Sound.  The wired mics that we brought out to the CMT Music Awards were then brought over to be used at LP Field.

Thanks to all for continuing to wave the Shure Flag and for keeping the spirit of music alive and well in Nashville and beyond.

Ryan

Music City

Day One - empty stadium

Glen Campbell

Covering up at FOH

Paisley's guitar cabs

Brad Paisley

Riverfront Stage

Riverfront 2

UHF-R & PSM900's

Jo Dee's crowd at Riverstages

Jo Dee rocks the river

Jo Dee Messina and Ryan

Luke Bryan

Luke Bryan from FOH

Little Big Town - Front Page News!

Mics a plenty

John McBride and his awesome desk

Side Stage

Crew Humor

Back of the Stadium

Post Show Teardown

Nashville, TN

2011 marks not only the 40 year Anniversary of the CMA Music Fest but also the 10th year of the Shure office in Nashville. I have been fortunate to be able to attend this show since Shure opened the Nashville Artist Relations office in 2001. It has been great to be able to support this event and meet with all of the great people who have put it on over the years. It has changed over the years as they are now taping many of the performances for later inclusion in a 2 hour television special. Roughly half of the artists that performed at LP Field during the 4 day event are either Shure Artists or used Shure on vocals. OK, why not, let’s list them all!

Shure Artists:

Sara Evans
Brad Paisley
Dierks Bentley
Little Big Town
Martina McBride
Trace Adkins

Josh Turner, Dailey & Vincent  and Rascal Flatts

Shure users:

Ashton Shepherd
Chris Young
The Band Perry
and The Janedear Girls

It’s always great to see the crews for each of these artists and meet new faces and engineers.   This show is the perfect place to get lots of business accomplished.  Although it’s very hot and the hours are long, I do look forward to this show every year.

Each night, the stadium filled up with enthusiastic crowds and there were several guest artists who showed up to sing along.  Alabama showed up on Thursday night to perform with Brad Paisley, American Idol winner Scotty McCreery joined Josh Turner on a song, Martina McBride and Idol runner-up Lauren Alaina made a great pairing on Martina’s song “Anyway“, Little Big Town joined  Rascal Flatts for an awesome display of vocal harmonies on a medley of classic rock tunes.

As customary, each night started off with the singing of our National Anthem.  On Saturday night, Shure Artists’ Dailey and Vincent sang their version which is THE BEST version that I have ever heard.  I’m sure it will be up on the internet soon enough,  keep an eye out for it.

Some of the products that were prominently used throughout the shows included the UR2/SM58 and the UR2/KSM9 for many of the lead and backing vocals, the Beta 98AMP for toms, a few KSM313 ribbon mics on amps  and well as many KSM32′s for overheads and guitar amps.

The annual appearance of rain was broken this year but it was a close one on Saturday evening.  It cooled off quite a bit (which was welcomed by some) but never a drop.

So comes to a close another great year of artists performing at this wonderful event.  Speaking of Anniversaries, my wife and I celebrated 17 years on Saturday!  Looking forward to many more!

Ryan