Held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, with several segments over at the Orleans Arena, Las Vegas was again overrun by the most loyal fans in music.  People were hanging out everywhere to catch a glimpse and possibly an autograph of their favorite stars.  As in years past, we got to hang out behind the scenes and check in with all of the engineers and A2′s who work so hard to make this show happen.  By we, I mean one of my Shure Associates, Jenn Liang-Chaboud and myself.  Jenn works for Market Development and has done a fabulous job at maintaining many key relationships on the West Coast and in Vegas.

We arrived on Wednesday and made a few visits to some local shows, namely Blue Man Group and the Shania Twain show.   The folks at Blue Man gave us a quick behind the scenes tour, which was amazing.  So much creativity and design goes into the many “out of the box” ideas that they create.

Thursday, April 4 was the first rehearsal day for the awards show.  If you caught the show, you saw the amazing performance by Shure Artist Little Big Town of their new single “Your Side of the Bed.”  Today, they just planned to rehearse the acrobats. The group showed up to watch and ended up singing along with the track.  Karen said to the crew “Please forgive our vocals on this as we have no ear systems.”  They were RIGHT ON PITCH!  Such talent!

Next up was Shure Artist Hunter Hayes rehearsing his new single “I Want Crazy.”  For those of you who don’t know Hunter, he learned and played over 30 instruments on his current album as its sole performer.  Quite a feet and he played them well!  This segment would segue into his introduction of the legendary Stevie Wonder, who would join Hunter and band on stage for “Sir Duke.”  Hunter and Stevie had met previously and discussed performing together one day.  That day would be April 7, 2013.  Hunter uses a UR2/SM58 on tour and that’s what he and Stevie used on the show.

The day closed with the legendary George Strait who, for this performance, also used a UR2/SM58.  He would later be joined by Garth Brooks on stage, who used the same, for a tribute to Dick Clark.

Friday Morning, we headed to the Orleans Arena to visit with Shure Artist Brad Paisley and crew. Brad would be hosting the Fan Jam concert on Sunday after the awards show.  In addition, Brad performed several slots on the show, including with Hunter and Shure Artist Dierks Bentley. Brad and Dierks both sang on a UR2/beta 58.    After that, we headed back to MGM to catch Kelly Clarkson’s rehearsal of her new single “Baby Don’t Rush” – such a great song!

Following Kelly’s rehearsal, co-hosts Blake Shelton and Shure Artist Luke Bryan were joined on stage by the Pistol Annie’s and Shure Artist Sheryl Crow for the show’s opening number called “Boys Round Here.”  Both Luke and Sheryl were on UR2/SM58′s.

Saturday’s rehearsal featured a number of Shure Artists including Dierks Bentley (UR2/SM58), Little Big Town (UR2/KSM9HS), Florida Georgia Line (UR2/SM58), The Band Perry (UR2/KSM9HS and UR2/SM58) and then Hunter Hayes w/Stevie Wonder.

All Artists on the show used the PSM1000 system for ear monitors, which were provided by ATK Audiotek in addition to the UHF-R systems.

Shure Artists that took home awards that night included: Luke Bryan – Entertainer of the Year, Little Big Town – Vocal Group of the Year, and Florida Georgia Line – New Artist of the Year.

This was a fabulous trip and it is always a pleasure to be able to maintain these great relationships and show our support at these events.

Ryan

PSM1000'S

Luke Bryan & DR. Pepper

SM57's on Brad Paisley's cabinets

UHF-R at Orleans Arena

PSM1000 packs

ACMA's from Front of House

Jeff Peterson (FOH), Ryan Smith, and Steve Anderson (Announce Mix)

Brad Paisley at Orleans Arena

Luke Bryan's Kit

Although, my first task when I showed up on Sunday morning for rehearsals was to try and solve a feature issue with our PSM1000 system.  Monitor Engineer Mike Parker had accessed a certain menu to take advantage of some of the “special features” of the system but could not get the unit back into it’s regular operating mode after doing so.  I called up to Shure HQ’s on Monday morning and a few emails later we had the solution.  I find it exciting to learn something new every single day!

As in the past, ATK Audiotek provided over 20 channels of UHF-R wireless systems for both vocals and instrument packs.  They also sent a rack of the aforementioned PSM1000 systems for monitors.    Shure Artists that appeared on the show this year included Rascal Flatts, Little Big Town, Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley, LeAnn Rimes, and one of the shows hosts Trace Adkins, who performed alongside Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Mixing the music for the show was Randy Faustino and sending it all out to the public was production engineer Klaus Landsberg.  FOH for the venue was Mikel Stewart with ATK Audiotek.

Shure Artist Luke Bryan took home 9 awards that evening and Little Big Town brought home the Video of the Year award.  Congratulations to all of the artists that were nominated and those who won.

Ryan

What Shure Artists, you say?   OK, so here’s the rundown:

fun., Luke Bryan, Maroon 5, Dierks Bentley, The Band Perry, and newly signed Shure Artist Hunter Hayes all performed on the show. Shure Artist Sheryl Crow appeared to announce along side Chris Young.  To top it all off, Maroon 5 performed a 40 minute set after the hour long broadcast.

Let’s talk nominations!  Several Shure Artists are up for awards including: Mumford & Sons, fun., Arturo Sandoval, The Civil Wars, The Black Keys, Alabama Shakes, Maroon 5, Chris Botti, Megadeth, The Roots, Dierks Bentley, Ronnie Dunn, Little Big Town, Al Jarreau, Casting Crowns, TobyMac, Fonseca, Lila Downs, Dailey & Vincent, and Dr. John.

A big CONGRATUALTIONS to these and all who are nominated. Best of luck in February 2013 !

I’d also like to give a big shout out to all the crew who work this show.  Joel Singer, Jay Vicari, Mark King, Jeff Fecteau, Mikael Stewart. Steve Anderson, Andres Arango, Jackie Brooks, Danny Breedan, and so many more. You guys ROCK!!!

Ryan

Not only this, our PSM1000 system was exclusively relied upon for all wireless ear monitor mixes. 16 mixes and over 50 belt packs were used for all of the acts.

Shure artists Brad Paisley, Luke Bryan, The Band Perry, Dierks Bentley, Vince Gill, and Little Big Town all used the UR system with various capsules.

Speaking of Little Big Town, a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to them for winning Single of the Year for “Pontoon” and finally getting the award they have been working towards for 13 years, Vocal Group of the Year!

Other artists that used Shure UR handheld transmitters included Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Willie Nelson, Eli Young Band, Taylor Swift, Hunter Hayes (who won Best New Artist), Brantley Gilbert, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Kelly Clarkson, and Carrie Underwood.

As usual, I was able to attend both rehearsal and the show to hang with the crews and the greet the artists.  I was also pleased to have fellow Shure Associate Bill Ostry visiting from our Market Development team. It’s always a pleasure to have Associates come down to visit and get a taste of all of the action in Nashville.

There are plenty of YouTube videos of the performances from the show online.  Check out them all out, including a very special duet with Kelly Clarkson and Vince Gill.

Ryan

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

A couple of exciting aspects of this years’ show included the fact that PSM1000′s were relied upon as the only system for ear monitors and Shure’s new Axient wireless system made 2 appearances on the show.  The first was with artist Chris Young and then later in the show with Shure Artist Sara Evans.  Both artists used the SM58 capsule and the system sounded incredibly clean.

One emotional point during the show was when Shure Artists Little Big Town sang a song with a children’s choir written by newcomer Hunter Hayes entitled “Here’s Hope.” The group started and ended with verses from John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Another magic moment came in the form of an actual wedding ceremony, performed during the song “Marry Me” sung by Shure Artist Martina McBride who was accompanied by Pat Monahan of Train.

Rascal Flatts debuted their new hit single “Banjo”, joined by Steve Martin whose banjo was captured using a KSM137.  Toby Keith brought out his “Red Solo Cup” for Vegas and sang while wandering through the crowd, joined by the one and only Wayne Newton and comedian Carrot Top. The Band Perry debuted their new single “Postcard from Paris” singing on a trio of KSM9′s.

Another big highlight for me was when KISS walked by backstage, a couple of times.  They were there to present the award for Vocal Group of the Year.  I grew up listening to these Rock Icons and to see them that close was pretty awesome.

The crew for the show worked extra hard this year as they were rehearsing 2 shows at once.  The next day after the awards show was a special concert – Lionel Richie and Friends – to be broadcast later this month.  It’s always a pleasure hanging with this crew as they are so professional and offer great advice/commentary on current and future products.

Click on this link to see some highlights of the show and all the Shure products in action.

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