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

We just started working with Alabama Shakes this year but I had yet to see them live.  We have been working with Justin Townes Earl and The Civil Wars so I was happy to see them make an appearance.  Other highlights of the show included the house band that featured such legends as Buddy Miller and Don Was.  Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes commanded the stage during their performance of “Be Mine.”

Joy Williams and John Paul White of The Civil Wars were awarded the Vocal Duo/Group of the Year award.

Bonnie Raitt was in attendance to accept a Lifetime Achievement award and then treated the crowd to a performance at the end of the show.  John Hiatt joined her on “Thing Called Love.”  The Mavericks also performed towards the end and their sound just filled up the room.

A generous combination of Shure mics, both wired and wireless covered the stage.  SM58’s were the main elements of choice.

_________

The show ended, but my night was far from over.   I heard about a new vocal group called and watched a few of their videos online.  They are a new group that formed in Durham, NC with a great vocal blend and music that sounds like its straight out of New Orleans with a percussive hint of Blast!

I met several members right after the awards show and told them I would make their midnight show at The Rutledge.  I arrived a bit before their performance and met the rest of the band.  Half of the band are siblings and the rest compliment the others’ talents.

There have been several instances when I’ve gone to see a new act and thought that they have already outgrown the stage they are performing on.  This was one of those times.  They are ready for bigger stages and I’m almost certain that more crowds will get to experience their sound.  It’s pretty fun to watch them and see how passionate they are in the moment.

Look them up and you may find a new favorite for your music library.  They’ve got my attention!

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

I’ve been very fortunate to have attended some wonderful concert events over the years.   There have been memorable moments at cool venues and so many great artists.  When I heard about Bluegrass Underground here in Tennessee, I was certainly intrigued.  It was time to go see this for myself.

I set out from my house in La Vergne on February 25 and drove about an hour to the same exit that Bonaroo is held each year.  From there, it was winding roads most of the way till I ended up at Cumberland Caverns.  I parked and walked through the gift shop to the entrance of the cave where a TV production truck was camped out.  They were in the middle of capturing 13 bands over 3 days, each band playing under an hour. The Civil Wars performed their set the night before and tonight, Vince Gill was headlining.

I worked my way down into the cave and in about 3 minutes was in the Volcano Room.  The room is big enough to hold an audience of about 500.  I had arrived just in time to catch a group that Vince has been a part of for a while called The Time Jumpers.  Great traditional Western Swing but new songs.

After a quick changeover, Vince Gill and band were up.  Vince has been singing on a KSM9 since its introduction many years ago.  FOH Engineer Hugh Johnson has mentioned many times that it’s the first mic he has found where he can leave Vince’s vocal channel as close to flat as possible, not having to add much or take away much in frequencies.    Vince performed a string of favorites for the crowd and told a few humorous stories.  He is such a genuine artist and a pleasure to know.

I am not sure when the next tapings will take place for this series (which the first season is now on PBS) but if you visit the Bluegrass Underground Website, they may post the next time they will.  It’s a cool experience in a great setting.

Ryan

Pretty funny eh?  Glad to see that this video is approaching 1 million views.  Josh is a great artist and as you can see, has a way with BIRDS!

So you are probably wondering – what does The Civil Wars have to do with this and what about Right Place, Right Time?

Last year, Josh invited me to a show at The Belcourt Theatre to see him perform with Bluegrass legend and Josh’s mentor Tony Rice.  After that great show, I was hanging around by the sound board and the house engineers asked me if I had been to the show the night before.  I said “No, who was it?”  They said it was a great group, a male and a female, called The Civil Wars.  It was great and Taylor Swift was here tweeting about the show.  Intrigued, I grabbed my iPhone and did some research right at that moment.  Looking at their bio… Joy Williams…I know who that is. I had met her before at a Dove Awards show when she was a Christian artist.  She sounded great back then, and even better now.  But who was this guy John Paul White?  Their harmonies sounded so great together as I watched the video for Barton Hallow, I had to find out more and reach out to their management.  I did, and the rest is documented in my earlier blogs.  They signed with Shure, have gone on to perform with Adele, win 2 Grammy Awards, and get a ton of great exposure.  I was so glad to be in the Right Place at the Right Time.

So what are some of your Right Place, Right Time moments?  Have YOU heard of Josh and/or The Civil Wars?  If so, where were you when you did and what were your reactions?

Ryan – Feb 2012

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

Nashville, TN – The Ryman Auditorium

There is such a wonderful feeling when you know you are watching something special.  Whether it’s a great movie,  football games when everyone player giving 150 % (I’m talking Walter Payton 150 %), or a music group that draws you in.

Part of my role in Artist Relations involves seeking out artists that have the ability to influence other artists and people in many ways, but namely musically.  After all, that is where it should start, right?  You know from my past blogs about The Civil Wars and also from word of mouth (if you are now following them) that they are one of those artists.

How is it possible that 2 singers/ instrumentalists can grab an entire audience and keep them as quite as a sleeping child during each song?  You just have to go see it for yourself.  They have so much fun, sing and play so well, that you have absolutely no choice but to be quite and enjoy every second.  Backstage before the show, I was talking with singer/songwriter/guitarist John Paul White who said he has been looking forward to this show for such a long time and that’s what I told him to do – “enjoy every second.”

After the first 2 songs, singer/songwriter/pianist Joy commented to the audience that she probably should not have worn too much black mascara and John Paul said “me either” which was just one of many funny comments during and evening filled with laughter and great music.  Both Joy and John Paul were very emotional about this show and toasted the audience several times for making their first show at the historic Ryman Auditorium a sell out.  It has been their dream to play here. When they initially got together as a team, neither imagined that it would lead to this moment.

Here they are though. Their singles and the albums have captured so much attention. Their live performances have gathered acclaim from many of their peers, including 2011′s Top selling artist Adele. Before Adele though, right here in Nashville, was where they captured the attention of a younger artist.

Towards the end of the evening, John Paul started mentioned how the group likes to give back to the community and help out “less fortunate” artists.  He went on to say that they found an artist that they thought could benefit from an appearance with them but that she was a bit “shy.”  John Paul and Joy motioned for her to come out on stage.  Seconds later, Taylor Swift strolls on stage and sings  a song with the group called “Safe & Sound“.  This beautiful song is included on the upcoming release of The Hunger Games soundtrack.  (I just finished this great book myself and am looking forward to starting the second book)

Taylor became a fan of the group when they performed at The Belcourt Theatre.  She tweeted about them and this certainly helped their cause of trying to expand their fan base.  Thanks Taylor!

I also got the chance to meet with the groups’ videographer Allister Ann.  Allister has been capturing video and photos on the road for a while now and does some amazing work.  She took the time to interview the group for us.  You can watch that video here.

Many of their family members were in attendance for the show.  John Paul jokingly commented that “My whole family tree is here and y’all are probably part of it since we are here in the South.”

Both Joy and John Paul sound crystal clear through the KSM9 and there’s aKSM313 ribbon mic/SM57 combo on his guitar amp.

Look up their schedule online and if they are not coming to a town near you, MOVE!  Seriously, it is worth a road trip to see their live show…it IS something special.

Ryan

Nashville, TN – The Ryman Auditorium

There is such a wonderful feeling when you know you are watching something special.  Whether it’s a great movie,  football games when everyone player giving 150 % (I’m talking Walter Payton 150 %), or a music group that draws you in.

Part of my role in Artist Relations involves seeking out artists that have the ability to influence other artists and people in many ways, but namely musically.  After all, that is where it should start, right?  You know from my past blogs about The Civil Wars and also from word of mouth (if you are now following them) that they are one of those artists.

How is it possible that 2 singers/ instrumentalists can grab an entire audience and keep them as quite as a sleeping child during each song?  You just have to go see it for yourself.  They have so much fun, sing and play so well, that you have absolutely no choice but to be quite and enjoy every second.  Backstage before the show, I was talking with singer/songwriter/guitarist John Paul White who said he has been looking forward to this show for such a long time and that’s what I told him to do – “enjoy every second.”

After the first 2 songs, singer/songwriter/pianist Joy commented to the audience that she probably should not have worn too much black mascara and John Paul said “me either” which was just one of many funny comments during and evening filled with laughter and great music.  Both Joy and John Paul were very emotional about this show and toasted the audience several times for making their first show at the historic Ryman Auditorium a sell out.  It has been their dream to play here. When they initially got together as a team, neither imagined that it would lead to this moment.

Here they are though. Their singles and the albums have captured so much attention. Their live performances have gathered acclaim from many of their peers, including 2011′s Top selling artist Adele.Before Adele though, right here in Nashville, was where they captured the attention of a younger artist.

Towards the end of the evening, John Paul started mentioned how the group likes to give back to the community and help out “less fortunate” artists.  He went on to say that they found an artist that they thought could benefit from an appearance with them but that she was a bit “shy.”  John Paul and Joy motioned for her to come out on stage.  Seconds later, Taylor Swift strolls on stage and sings  a song with the group called “Safe & Sound“.  This beautiful song is included on the upcoming release of The Hunger Games soundtrack.  (I just finished this great book myself and am looking forward to starting the second book)

Taylor became a fan of the group when they performed at The Belcourt Theatre.  She tweeted about them and this certainly helped their cause of trying to expand their fan base.  Thanks Taylor!

I also got the chance to meet with the groups’ videographer Allister Ann.  Allister has been capturing video and photos on the road for a while now and does some amazing work.  She took the time to interview the group for us.  You can watch that video here.

Many of their family members were in attendance for the show.  John Paul jokingly commented that “My whole family tree is here and y’all are probably part of it since we are here in the South.”

Both Joy and John Paul sound crystal clear through the KSM9 and there’s a KSM313 ribbon mic/SM57 combo on his guitar amp.

Look up their schedule online and if they are not coming to a town near you, MOVE!  Seriously, it is worth a road trip to see their live show…it IS something special.

Ryan

[slideshow]

Rob Halford commands the cover spot in this issue, in which editor Cory Lorentz reminisces about his father teaching him to keep up with what’s cool in music. Times have changed since Columbia House packages came in the mail, but the need to discover great new music persists.

View and download the full On Tour With Shure Winter 2012 Issue on shure.com.

Nashville, TN

Soundland Nashville has taken over the town with great new upcoming bands.  I hope you got a chance to go out and hear some new music.

I started out my day on Thursday by visiting a panel discussion at the Belcourt Theatre on the success of the band The Civil Wars.  If you are not familiar with the group yet, please click on the link.  They are on tour in Europe with Adele, who was quoted saying this is her favorite group live. The speakers included people from their record label, distribution, marketing, and their producer.  It was very interesting to listen to the details of how this group came together, by chance, at a writing seminar and immediately hit it off.  So many great opportunities have come their way and their team has done a great job of handling them.  Their success at iTunes was amazing and now they are opening for one of the best selling artists. Go pick up their record, Barton Hallow, …. immediately after you finish reading this blog of course.

Following this panel was another regarding Grooveshark, the music streaming service. So many people are starting to enjoy having access to thousands of songs at their fingertips.

After that, I went over to Soundland’s temporary headquarters to catch an interview and performance with new Endorser Justin Townes Earle.  American Songwriter did the interview and Shure captured it all.  We supplied a couple of KSM42′s, a KSM353 ribbon mic, some Beta 27′s, and a few SM57′s to capture these moments, which will later be put up online.  The engineer’s were enjoying it all through a couple sets of SRH940 headphones.  The mixes sounded great!  (see pics below).  There will be many other artists interview up as well so visit Soundland’s website often to see them up there soon.

I then walked over to the 12th avenue concert are and waited for the evening’s show to begin.  Tonight featured a group that’s starting to take off – Cults.  Closing the show were endorsers Foster The People.  I watched Cults perform for a little bit and noticed that they were using a non-Shure vocal mic up front.  However, halfway through the set, I saw the monitor engineer change out to an SM58. Sounded like it may have helped a bit.  Festival situations are always difficult to walk in to as you may not get the soundcheck you are used to.

Foster took the stage and proceeded to rock the crowd. An energetic set and a great light show was just what the crowd needed.  While I was hanging out watching their set, I was back by one of the food trucks.  This was a BBQ food truck !  The owner called me over to take a look at what he had on the smoker.  Upon opening the lid, he revealed about 10 pulled pork roasts, completely caramelized over and smelling way too good.  He asks one of his assistants for a serving dish and proceeds to pull apart the meat to give me a sample.  Heavenly….is the word that comes to mind.  Then, if it couldn’t get any better, he offers me some of that caramelized bark!  DONE!  I’m falling deeper and deeper into BBQ bliss…”and I can’t get up.”

After a great set by Foster The People, I met with their sound engineer who proceeded to tell about how much they love the UR wireless mics and the PSM900′s.  Then I’m escorted to the buses where I’m introduced to both Mark Foster and Mark Pontius who thanked Shure for our support.  Foster is loving the freedom of his wireless UR2/KSM9 vocal mic, saying “it’s made me a new frontman.”

The next day (Friday, Sept 23), I went over to the Cannery Ballroom to grab a video interview with Justin Townes Earle. Justin has a rich, deep knowledge and appreciation of traditional country artists.  He loves to talk about them.  They have influenced the way he chooses to perform and connect with his audience.  Justin also loves his new Beta 57A vocal mic as well as his PSM900 ear system. I don’t want to spoil the surprise when you see the interview on our website so I will stop at saying that this was a great interview to be a part of and I have meet another wonderful, approachable artist in this exciting world that is our music industry.

Please take a gander at some of the photos and if you attended Soundland, please (pretty please) write back and let us know of your experiences.  We’d love to hear from you!

A special THANKS to the folks at American Songwriter magazine for inviting Shure to be a part of this event.

Ryan

Music City Roots – The Civil Wars & more

Loveless Cafe, West Nashville, TN

My musical roots were planted by my parents. Great music was always playing  in our house while we cleaned or worked on projects.  The Carpenters, John Denver, Tom Jones, Elvis Presley, The Doobie Brothers,Fleetwood Mac and Simon and Garfunkel.  These were my early music mentors and it is still a wonderful feeling to hear these songs today, even through my iPod.  Back then, it was all vinyl through a great sound system and finally through a set of heavy Zenith Allegro speakers.

As I grew older, my older brother took drum lessons and I was introduced to early Chicago, Kiss, Led Zepplin, Rush, REO Speedwagon, and Cheap Trick.  When it came time for me to pick an instrument, I felt I was born to play the drums.  At the time, my father felt that having two drum sets in the house was a bit much, so I chose the guitar. After about 6 months of lessons, I begged my father to let me get a drum kit.  He gave in and I’ve been playing every since.

Late in High School, I was introduced to the world of Jazz and musicals.  I was fortunate enough to be a part of a full big band called Suburban Swing.  These were some of the best times of my life musically.  I learned so much about playing with a group and how to control my playing so the lead parts could be heard.  We played all the Jazz standards as well as played many musicals together. I still keep in touch with that band director today and we are hoping to have a musical reunion of sorts in the next year or so.

Since I’m now located in Nashville, I get to attend certain shows were the song is sung by the original writer and it helps to paint an even better picture of the song, because you can hear what he or she originally intended.  Every once in a while, I hear about a new group “in the wind.”   A couple of weeks ago, I got to see The Civil Wars in Chicago.   They brought me back to my musical roots, back at my house, listening to Simon & Garfunkel and the magic that a duo can have.

So tonight, I went out to West Nashville to the Loveless Barn because when it’s good, you just can’t seem to get enough of it (and I’m not just talking about The Loveless Cafe’s world famous biscuits).  I can relate to this group because they renew in me the passion for executed music and well blended harmonies.  John Paul and Joy both brought along their KSM9‘s and the KSM313 for guitar amp and, like the last time, the place was packed. This evening was also very special as long time Bluegrass favorites Cherryholmes would play their last Nashville show as a family. I have also watched this group grow up and become big news in the Bluegrass world.  They were sporting 2 KSM44 condensers for the lead vocal spots.

So let’s talk about YOUR roots.

What is it about certain bands that takes you back to where you grew up or what you grew up listening to?  Is it by accident, on purpose, or something else?  We would love to hear about your musical roots.

Ryan

Schuba’s Tavern – Chicago, IL

My parents were married about 3 blocks away from Schuba’s.  It’s always great to be able to drive down Belmont Avenue in Chicago and still see the church, and many other sights that I grew up seeing when I lived in Chicago.  My Grandmother lived about 2 blocks North of Belmont Avenue, walking distance from Cubs park.  My Grandfather played as a one-man band at the Cubby Bear several times, right across the street from Wrigley Field.

I always love going to see shows in Chicago as well.  When I found out that newly signed endorsers, The Civil Wars were in town for 2 nights, I just had to catch a show.  I had heard about them when I went to see Tony Rice and newly signed endorser Josh Williams play a show in Nashville at the Belcourt Theatre.  The engineers for the Theatre were raving about this group that had performed the night before and that Taylor Swift was tweeting them up.  With the help of today’s technology, I was able to look them up on my handy iPhone and find out more info. A few days later, I reached out via email met up with management.  Later, I met with the group, they tried out a few mics and ended up loving the KSM9 for their vocals.  John Paul White mentioned that he used the SM7B to record his vocals for their debut full length release.  The other half of the group is Joy Williams who I had known about from the Christian market.

So, back to Chicago.  I called up our Chicago based photographer, the infamous Paul Natkin and he was free for the evening to grab some live shots.  We arrived at Schuba’s at about 5:45 and grabbed some dinner (the French Onion soup at Schuba’s is the BEEEEST!).

Immediately following dinner, Joy and John Paul had arrived to do a quick line check.  We took the opportunity to grab some shots of them in the alley behind the club.  We returned to find an artist named Arum Rae Valkonen doing her line check. She is part of group called White Dress however, The Civil Wars asked her to come out solo and travel with them.  Arum Rae sang through a standard SM58 and played guitar. It was a great set of music and she has an interesting voice.

The 58 came off and a pair of KSM9′s took their place front and center.  Joy and John Paul took the stage and proceeded to quiet the room with every song.  Their voices blend together with the magic of Simon & Garfunkel.  Their songs, deep and rich with emotional content.  At every song’s end, wild applause.  The sold out crowd was mesmerized.  I was so glad I sent that email !!

Minimal production, 2 performers, 3 vocal mics, 2 instrument mics  (KSM313 on JP’s amp and 1 Beta 57A for Joy’s “Squeeze Box” and that was it. How could something so easy be soo goood?  Something magical happens when you break it to just the singers and their song.  How can that emit more emotion than a big massive production?  Somehow, it just does….and I don’t care why.  I just stand there and enjoy every second.  I was right there in front, behind my favorite photographer, both of us….speechless.

Ryan