Ryan Smith started in LA at The Roxy.

Cory, Nelson, and I went to The Metro for the Chicago stop.

Nelson jetted up to Toronto to hang at the Mod Club.

Ryan was joined by @Shure_Mike in Nashville at the Wildhorse Saloon.

Mike flew down to Austin to meet me at Emo’s.

Cory and @shureinc (or rather the person behind the tweets) had a hot time in Boston at the Paradise Rock Club despite a lot of snow.

Now we’ve got the finalists from each of the regional contests up at http://giveitvoice.shure.com/.  It’s up to you to vote on who you think deserves the trip to play at the Red Gorilla Festival in Austin come mid-March. Check out the bands’ live videos and vote!

Our thanks go out to all the bands that participated and those that played as well as the great venues that hosted our regional events.

Richard

Ryan Smith started in LA at The Roxy.

Cory, Nelson, and I went to The Metro for the Chicago stop.

Nelson jetted up to Toronto to hang at the Mod Club.

Ryan was joined by @Shure_Mike in Nashville at the Wildhorse Saloon.

Mike flew down to Austin to meet me at Emo’s.

Cory and @shureinc (or rather the person behind the tweets) had a hot time in Boston at the Paradise Rock Club despite a lot of snow.

Now we’ve got the finalists from each of the regional contests up at http://giveitvoice.shure.com/.  It’s up to you to vote on who you think deserves the trip to play at the Red Gorilla Festival in Austin come mid-March. Check out the bands’ live videos and vote!

Our thanks go out to all the bands that participated and those that played as well as the great venues that hosted our regional events.

Richard

The day of the event arrived and we made our way to the venue which is nestled within the blocks of campus that make up Boston University. College students are always looking for something to do and they like free stuff, too! This would be our saving grace when it came to the head count later that cold, snowy, slushy evening. The bands were already loading in when we got there, so we started to set up shop as well. Our talent pool for the evening involved the melodic rock of Captain Cutthroat, the captivating vocals of singer/songwriter Mieka Pauley and the spastic ska stylings of Llama Tsunami and the Without Helmet… we couldn’t have hand-picked a more diverse line-up if we tried, but this was what Boston wanted.

Fast-forward to show time… Captain Cutthroat was the first band randomly picked to work the stage and the PA to their full potential. They blazed through a powerful rock set leaving the crowd all wound up and thirsty for more. The guys certainly got things started in a big way for this stop on our SM58 tour.

Next up was Mieka Pauley, a hometown hero amongst the singer songwriter set. She graced the stage as our lone solo act for the evening, and from the first note, you could hear a pin drop. The audience huddled near the stage hung on her every word; quite a change from the first act, but altogether enchanting.

Finally, the eight members of Connecticut-based Llama Tsunami and the Without Helmet crowded the stage and got the crowd jumping with their homemade blend of ska and onstage antics. To say these guys had a good time onstage would be an understatement, the lead singer of the group had endured a snow blower accident earlier that morning to get to the stage… nothing was going to stand in the way of their moment to play Boston for the first time.

As the judges huddled in a dark corner tallying their votes, we thanked the faithful fans that stuck around all night and paid our respects to the amazing staff at the Paradise Rock Club. It was truly an experience we won’t soon forget. At the end of it all, Llama Tsunami took the Boston leg of the contest and moved onto the next round. Thanks Boston, we hope to see you again soon! Good luck to all the bands and we’ll see you in Austin.

Cory

The day of the event arrived and we made our way to the venue which is nestled within the blocks of campus that make up Boston University. College students are always looking for something to do and they like free stuff, too! This would be our saving grace when it came to the head count later that cold, snowy, slushy evening. The bands were already loading in when we got there, so we started to set up shop as well. Our talent pool for the evening involved the melodic rock of Captain Cutthroat, the captivating vocals of singer/songwriter Mieka Pauley and the spastic ska stylings of Llama Tsunami and the Without Helmet… we couldn’t have hand-picked a more diverse line-up if we tried, but this was what Boston wanted.

Fast-forward to show time… Captain Cutthroat was the first band randomly picked to work the stage and the PA to their full potential. They blazed through a powerful rock set leaving the crowd all wound up and thirsty for more. The guys certainly got things started in a big way for this stop on our SM58 tour.

Next up was Mieka Pauley, a hometown hero amongst the singer songwriter set. She graced the stage as our lone solo act for the evening, and from the first note, you could hear a pin drop. The audience huddled near the stage hung on her every word; quite a change from the first act, but altogether enchanting.

Finally, the eight members of Connecticut-based Llama Tsunami and the Without Helmet crowded the stage and got the crowd jumping with their homemade blend of ska and onstage antics. To say these guys had a good time onstage would be an understatement, the lead singer of the group had endured a snow blower accident earlier that morning to get to the stage… nothing was going to stand in the way of their moment to play Boston for the first time.

As the judges huddled in a dark corner tallying their votes, we thanked the faithful fans that stuck around all night and paid our respects to the amazing staff at the Paradise Rock Club. It was truly an experience we won’t soon forget. At the end of it all, Llama Tsunami took the Boston leg of the contest and moved onto the next round. Check out their video performance from that night on our website http://giveitvoice.shure.com/ Thanks Boston, we hope to see you again soon! Good luck to all the bands and we’ll see you in Austin.

Cory

Of Forgotten Dreams

A hardcore band from Austin, TX, they took the stage first and pulled out a blazing, energetic set which resonated well with their hometown crowd.  They were the youngest band there, and we’re expecting them to go much further.

JJ & The Rogues

A great ensemble of solid players playing rock and indie tunes.  Everything about this band was solid.  They have noticeably been playing together the longest.  They drove in from Ft. Worth, TX and boy, did they come to play!

The Pulse Electric

An electro/rock band (a la Shiny Toy Guns) also from Austin.  They ended up winning the crowd with their hooky dance tracks.

In the end it was The Pulse Electric who moved on to the next round.  Having the hometown advantage definitely weighed in to the final call of the judges (of which I was one this time).  We want to thank all three bands and Emo’s for making it a great evening!

Richard

The SM58 Give It Voice Tour departed Chicago and headed northeast to Toronto, Ontario Canada for the Regional Final at the famous Mod Club. It was a cold winter night but @VanessAlegacy and @MarcCowie warmed up the house as they went head to head with 40 minutes sets each.

Vaness aLegacy hit the stage first and got things started. They had a pretty good crowd on hand and their fans sang along with songs on their set which consisted of Urban inspired Pop-Rock. The highlight of their performance was when they performed “I’d Rather Be Lonely” which is the song that got them voted into the Toronto Regional Finals.

After his 6+ hour driver Marc Cowie made it in halfway through Vaness aLegacy’s performance and had to set up backstage. Despite just getting in and not having a sound check, he sounded pretty good. I would describe his sound as Surfer Rock. Unfortunately for him he didn’t have as big of a crowd but that was to be expected since he wasn’t local. Needles to say he came out and played his heart out.

After both sets the judges voted and the winner of the night’s showdown was Veness aLegacy. Congratulations to them and we wish them the best of luck in the next round.

The SM58 Give It Voice Tour departed Chicago and headed northeast to Toronto, Ontario Canada for the Regional Final at the famous Mod Club. It was a cold winter night but @VanessAlegacy and @MarcCowie warmed up the house as they went head to head with 40 minutes sets each.

Vaness aLegacy hit the stage first and got things started. They had a pretty good crowd on hand and their fans sang along with songs on their set which consisted of Urban inspired Pop-Rock. The highlight of their performance was when they performed “I’d Rather Be Lonely” which is the song that got them voted into the Toronto Regional Finals.

After his 6+ hour driver Marc Cowie made it in halfway through Vaness aLegacy’s performance and had to set up backstage. Despite just getting in and not having a sound check, he sounded pretty good. I would describe his sound as Surfer Rock. Unfortunately for him he didn’t have as big of a crowd but that was to be expected since he wasn’t local. Needles to say he came out and played his heart out.

After both sets the judges voted and the winner of the night’s showdown was Veness aLegacy. Congratulations to them and we wish them the best of luck in the next round.

Vaness aLegacy’s performance, along with the other regional final winners can be watched at the following link:

http://giveitvoice.shure.com/

Now that I hit my stride, I was ready to emcee again at the Wildhorse Saloon for the Nashville Regional Finals.  I was pleased to see an enthusiastic crowd show up to support these artists.  First up was The Specktators from East Lansing, MI.  Quite a drive for them!  Taking the middle slot, from Atlanta, GA was Nick Edelstein.  Finishing out the evening was local artist Ingrid Salas and Black Shadow.  The Nashville Regional winner was Nick Edelstein.  Congrats to all the bands for getting this far!

Our Special Thanks go out to the crew at all of the venues who were extremely helpful!  We love working with all of you!

Ryan Smith

Richard

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Richard

After a very successful NAMM show in Anaheim, I traveled north to hanging out in LA for a few days, awaiting the kick off of the Shure Give It Voice tour.  The first show would take place at The Roxy Theatre.  I had a blast being the emcee for the evening and working up the crowd.   The first band to win a performance slot for the evening was The Internet.  They were followed by Daniel Durrett, who travelled over 6 hours from Northern California to compete and finally, Captions.  It was a very close vote, but in the end, it was Captions who advanced to the final round of voting.  New Shure Endorsers Domenica was in the crowd as well as a quick visit by endorsing drummer John “JR” Robinson.

Ryan Smith