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

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

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