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

So I thought a bullet point format might work well for this.  I may ad a few short comments, but most of them will speak for themselves:

• My first show as an AR rep was to visit Slaughter at park West in Chicago.  The band we’re nice guys, invited me right up onstage to see their gear.

• Taking a road trip to Summerfest in Milwaukee to visit Destiny’s Child.  I brought some Shure shirts with to swag the crew and Beyonce put one on when she arrive before soundcheck!

• Many nights of hanging with one of the best photographers in the industry – Paul Natkin (www.natkin.net)

• Attending many awards shows including The Grammy’s, the Academy of Country Music Awards, The Latin Grammy’s (the 2^nd Annual was supposed to happen on Sept 11, 2001), the Country Music Awards, The Gospel Music Awards and the American Country Awards over the last 16+ years.

• Traveling to Switzerland (my first time out of the US) for the Montreux Jazz Festival.

• Seeing and meeting so many artists at the NAMM show each year.

• Working with some artists since the beginning of their careers: Le Ann Rimes, Jo Dee Messina, Dierks Bentley, Korn and many more.

• Meeting and working with legendary artists like The Pretenders, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Slash, Natalie Cole, Alison Krauss & Union Staion and The Who, to name a few.

• Being tricked by Tony Iommi – I met him at a gig early on in my AR career with endorsement paperwork in hand.  After handing it to him he said “I need to look this over.” A half an hour later, he came back and said “I can’t sign this.”  My face went blank – I was speechless.  He said jokingly “You should see the look on your face…I signed it.”

• Lobbying congress and the FCC on behalf of Shure to protect wireless products and the frequency spectrum they operate in.

• Watching The Who do a 2 hour pre-show rehearsal at the Palace at Auburn Hills, MI a day before their show.  It was myself and 3 other people in an Arena.  Shortly after they finished we shot an ad with Pete and Roger.

• Co-producing a Shure show for the National Sound Contractors Convention with Ed Thigpen and friends plus a 20 minute Blue Man Group set in the middle.

• Many days and evenings of hanging/working with some of the best AR reps in the industry at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) and the Modern Drummer festivals over the last 16 years. (You all know who you are!)

• At one of my previous bosses’ request, shaking Elton John’s hand after a sound check and thanking him on his choice of microphone.

• Seeing and Meeting Cheap Trick for the first time (on the same night) at The Metro performing the album Heaven Tonight. Killer show!!

• Coming up with a plan to open an AR office in Nashville and having that plan be accepted, put into action, and succeed beyond my expectations.

• Visiting some amazing Nashville area studios like Dark Horse Recording, Blackbird Studios, and Ocean Way.

• Having artists and engineers play me songs before anyone else gets to hear them and see them become hits.

• Seeing Rufus & Chaka Khan in Nashville.  Great show – deepest groove/pocket I’ve ever heard live!

• Shaking B.B. King’s hand and wishing him a Happy Birthday before a show in Chicago at The Riviera.

• Working with drummers who I grew up following:  Dave Weckl, Peter Erskine, John “JR” Robinson, Simon Phillips, Ndugu Chancelor, and many more.

• Arranging a group photoshoot with all the drummers listed above and a few others like Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez, Rod Morgenstein, and Trilok Gurtu.

• Visiting the set of the movie “A Mighty Wind” to watch them shoot at scene that made it to the extra’s on the DVD. (it’s the music video scene with the large Lava Lamps)

• Taking the guys in Spinal Tap over to the NAMM show floor for a quick tour. Then watching them perform for what has been the hippest NAMM show performance since.

• Remembering several Grammy performances I saw on site: Aretha filling in for Andrea Bocelli singing a classical song, Alanis Morrisette signing “Uninvited” backed by a string orchestra, Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing”, several Lady Gaga performances, and The Beach Boys with Maroon 5 and Foster The People

• Remembering all the great crew people behind the scenes at all of the awards shows who pull off major accomplishments to make these shows happen every year.

• Right Place, Right time -Finding about The Civil Wars and reaching out to form a relationship. Seeing them rise to perform at The Grammy Awards in less than a year.

• Hearing stories everyday from artists and engineers on how using Shure products have helped their careers and in some cases, changed their lives.

• Having a family, both at Shure and at home to share these moments with.

I know there are a few that I’m forgetting but these stick out.  I am so thankful everyday to be working and be allowed to visit with so many great people in this industry.   I hope to be doing this a long time as I feel I was meant to do it.  I move forward, with anticipation of the next great moments.

And now…back to work.  I have to come up with questions for my Jason Mraz video interview next week.

Calling all Artist Relations reps!  What are some of your memorable moments?

Ryan

There are so many elements that contribute to putting on an awards show like the GRAMMYs.  To list every aspect would take too long so we’re going to focus on our side of this trip.

As everything usually comes together at the last minute for this show, we sent out a nice compliment of Shure mics to supplement what sound company ATK Audiotek already had in stock. Appearing for the first time on this show was the Beta 181/C condenser mic. We sent 20 of those and saw several get used on tympani (The Beach Boys) and occasionally on drum overheads. We also sent a few of the KSM313 ribbon mics, one of which prominently appeared on John Paul White’s guitar amp during The Civil Wars short but very effective performance in the show.

We were also very pleased to learn early on that the PSM1000 ear monitor systems would be the exclusive system for the show this year. There were plenty of bodypacks on hand for the performers and many of the crew people made a point to let us know how well the system was working for them.

Watching the rehearsal and then the performances over the course of 4 days, there were many highlights for us that sounded amazing in the house, thanks to both Jeff Peterson who finely tuned the PA and Ron Reeves who mixes the acts so well.  The Beach Boys segment featuring Maroon 5 and Foster The People was quite a thrill to hear live in the house. Each group nailed the original harmonies, it was one of the highlights of the evening. The other was seeing The Civil Wars perform on this broadcast. They have quickly become a respected group that continues to impress well-established artists like Adele, Taylor Swift and now Coldplay, who Tweeted that they are now fans of the group.

The Glen Campbell tribute featured newly signed artists The Band Perry who sang “Gentle On My Mind.” It was great to see Glen having so much fun on stage in light of his ongoing battle with Alzheimer’s.

It was especially gratifying to have the industry standard SM58 open this years’ show in front of Bruce Springsteen and then have Sir Paul McCartney close the show on a wired Beta 58A. You can’t get more Rock and Roll than that!

Seeing the same crew that has been doing this successfully for so many years is always a wonderful part of this trip. Maintaining those relationships and letting them know we are there for support is a vital part of attending this show as well as talking with them about our products. There were a lot of people who have not had the opportunity to try the PSM1000’s out. Thanks to ATK Audiotek and the monitor engineers for this show, Mike Parker and Tom Pesa, over 20 acts were exposed to the new standard in monitoring.

Special thanks go out to Michael Abbott who is the audio coordinator for the show, John  Harris and Joel Singer with Music Mix Moblie, who take care of the music mix that goes out to television and Eric Schilling who shares music mix duties with John Harris. This years’ show was monumental in size and every year, it just keeps getting better and better!

- Ryan, Cory and Jenn

Bridgestone Arena- Nashville, TN

I’ve seen them before, and I will see them again – every chance I get!  Maroon 5 is such a great band to see/hear live.  They are tight, energetic, and well “schooled” in playing so many styles of music. After all, that’s what they are all about and it shows in their music. So many different influences come together in music that makes you move.  Everyone in the band has their part in each song, well orchestrated to let each part shine equally.

I was seated with my 15 year old son side stage, which forced us to watch the musicians more than the video screens, which were hard to see from our angle.  While I can appreciate great graphics and visuals that always add to the performance, I really enjoyed this angle.  As some of you may have gathered, I’m a drummer. So naturally, I tend to be drawn in to that person in a band quickly.  I must, therefore,  start out by citing that M5 drummer Matt Flynn is a MONSTER player.  Everyone has their place in a group but the drums provide the foundation.  Matt provides that so well in this group as this music demands it.  He was “on” all night and Adam Levine was right “on” with him.  I love watching a drummer who commands his drum kit.  Watching Matt land hits crashes so tightly and with such cool force all set long was inspirational.

Back to the rest of the band.  Adam Levine had a great time last night.  “You’re wearing me out, Nashville” he yelled out after one song.  He is a great front man and wonderful vocalist.  He and James Valentine’s guitar playing compliment each other so well.  Michael Madden on bass locks in on Matt’s solid foundation and Jesse Carmichal’s keys provide a harmonious counterpoint for each song.

Changing directions is in this bands nature but it always sounds like Maroon 5.  That’s their magic.  It’s no wonder why they took an immediate liking to fellow new endorsers Fitz & The Tantrums early on.  Both band provide a fresh approach to honoring those who came before them but in their own unique ways.

Adam sounds awesome on his UR2/KSM9 champagne colored wireless mic.  FOH engineer Jim Ebdon loves this mic on Adam’s voice and had the band dialed in nicely!  I also was introduced to one of the groups recording engineers for the past 2 records, Noah Passovoy, who stated that the SM7 has been the mic of choice for Adam’s vocals, beating out much more expensive and typical competitors for that spot.

I look forward to every new project from this group and wish them nothing but the best on their road to continued success.  Speaking of the road, here’s a link to catch them while they are out on tour:  http://bit.ly/oRtiOv

When you go to their show, feel free to write back and tell us about your evening.

Also, check our MySpace page and our Artist site regularly as we will be editing the video interview I got with Adam and James backstage.  I included a few photos from last night including a shot of the groups “recycling center” in each of the dressing rooms.

Enjoy!

Ryan

I certainly won’t claim to dislike them, but it’s not my style. I’m just indifferent. I also know the difference between music I don’t care for and music that is bad. Maroon 5 may not be my style, but they do not, by any means, create slop. I couldn’t help but notice their on-stage execution was flawless without being rigid. To put it as succinctly as I can — they have fun on stage and they do it without missing a beat.

Last night’s show was a promotional event for “Company X” brought to us by “Company Y”. In it, the band played several songs from their upcoming album, Hands All Over. Company X will be airing this in about a month. Their crowd was very in to the new stuff, so if you’re a fan, time to start your Googling. The program is called “Soundcheck” and it’s brought to you by the largest retailer in the world. ‘Nuff clues?

All those guys know how to do what they do very well. I was particularly impressed with Mickey Madden’s bass playing in relation to drummer Matt Flynn’s right foot. Making a rhythm section tight like that is why people spend hours in editing lining everything up in a DAW. They do it live. So I’m going to give credit where credit is due: I can respect them even if I’m not going to run out and buy a record. Added plus: everyone I’ve met with the camp has been a pleasure.

There is a saying that personality goes a long way. I first met the band and crew when we were doing an ad shoot for Shure. In that day with them they impressed me as nice guys — funny, approachable and not pretentious, which can unfortunately be a little rare when artists have achieved the level of popular success they have. Nearly fifteen million records sold worldwide is certainly nothing to sneeze at. Many a musician that got there have let that go straight to their heads. Not these guys.

There was another treat with this show. Bill Sheppell is an engineer I’ve known ever since I started this job. I met Bill early in this decade when he was FOH for Korn. Since I’ve known him he’s done only what we can solidly call “A-Level” acts, among them ZZ Top, Mellencamp, Prince, MJ…as in Michael Jackson. Yeah. He’s the guy that got that call. Listening to him mix is just flat-out fantastic. I’m pretty sure he could make wax paper, a copper coil and a rolled up kitchen magnet sound good. Here’s hoping it’s not too long before he’s in town again.

Richard

Maroon 5 gets top billing in this issue, in which editor Cory Lorentz remarks on the genre-blending that is defining new music, and shares the story of a fourth-grade class performance gone wireless.

View and download the full On Tour With Shure Winter 2005 Issue on shure.com.