This years’ CMT Music Awards was held at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Wednesday, June 6.  Shure pitched in a healthy supply of wired mics to be used on the show and Clair Nashville brought in the wireless systems.  Endorsers Luke Bryan, The Band Perry, Rascal Flatts, Little Big Town, and Brad Paisley all used Shure UHF-R wireless systems with various capsules for their performances.   Other artists who used Shure included Zac Brown Band, Toby Keith, and Kenny Chesney.

I brought in a pair of SRH750DJ headphones for monitor engineer Jason Spence to try out and he was very impressed with their response.  I also caught Brad Paisley backstage and he commented that he’s been loving his amp sound lately with just pair’s of SM57′s on them.

Little Big Town performed their new smash hit “Pontoon” on top of a real Pontoon, complete with a slide off the back and plenty of folks on board having a good time being on national television (See pictures below)

The end of show performance featured Rascal Flatts singing their latest “Banjo” with a quick segue into Journey singing their trademark “Don’t Stop Believing.” The entire audience were on their feet!  A great way to end a great show.

However, that was not the end to my week.  The CMA Music Fest would carry me through the weekend.  (Stand by, I’m going to bring you that blog right after these messages…..)

Ryan

Wireless World

Rascal Flatts and Journey backstage

Jason Spence

Little Big Town

Loading The Stage

My Creds

Red Solo Cup

The Stage

Outside the Arena

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.

Las Vegas – MGM Grand Garden Arena

This was the second ACA show for Fox Network.  Production Mix Engineer Klaus Landsberg invited me to come out on behalf of Shure for this years’ show as they were going to be using primarily Shure wireless.  Sound Company ATK Audiotek would be providing the 26 channels of UHF-R Wireless systems and the 8 channels of PSM1000 ear monitor systems with multiple beltpacks as well as a compliment of wired mics.

Before flying out for this show, I received a text Friday evening from Earl Neal, FOH engineer with recently signed Shure Artists The Band Perry that the group wanted to use stock Super 55 ‘s on this show.  Prior to this show, they used darker gold painted Super 55’s on both the CMA’s in October and the Grammy Nominations Concert just last week.   Earl said they wanted to use the stock model and did I know of any place in either LA or Vegas that would have those.  I suggested a dealer in LA but that was the only dealer I could think of that would have 3-4 of those.  On my way to the airport the next day, I called Earl to see if he had any luck. We talked about some other options but he then mentioned he might send his wife over to Soundcheck to grab the 4 that were stored in Patty Loveless’ locker (an artist he’s worked for).  He got Patty’s permission.  I told him I could swing by and pick them up on my way to the airport and carry them out with me.  The Band Perry has now requested this mic on 3 major TV broadcasts!  They love the Super 55!

I arrived after 10 pm in Vegas on Saturday. The next morning, I received credentials and headed towards the backstage area at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.  Stopping at monitor world, Mike Parker was deep into learning a new DigiCo console.  About the PSM1000’s, Mike commented “I never leave home without them.”

Right next to him, I saw a table lined with over 20 P10R’s waiting for fresh batteries… a thing of beauty!  Had to grab a shot of that! Behind me, I spotted another photo op. Two racks of UR, 26 channels and a rack of 8 PSM1000’s.    Of the 11 performances on the show, 8 of the used Shure on lead and backing vocals. They also used 2 UR2/KSM9 transmitters for hosts Trace Adkins and Kristin Chenoweth.  From Trace’s incredibly deep voice to Kristin’s whose voice is high pitched, the KSM9 worked very well. ATK also utilizes 2 UR1’s for their podium mic setup.

I then went out to Front of House where Mikel Stewart of ATK was at the house production mix spot, the same role he takes at the Grammy’s and probably many more shows.  At the House music mix position was Ron Reeves, the spot he also enjoys at the Grammy’s (and many other shows).  One of Ron’s first comments was to pay compliments to the KSM 137’s they have been using on overheads at this show.  He likes to get most of his drum sound off of the overheads and loves these.

Klaus Landsberg was a wonderful host and said I could come into the production mix truck anytime I wanted to.  It was also great to see a lot of familiar crew people in site.  The rehearsals went very well, mostly ahead of schedule.

The Shure artists that performed on the show included Trace Adkins, The Band Perry, and Toby Keith.  Other artists that used Shure vocal mics included Thompson Square, Scotty McCreery, Chris Young, Eli Young Band, and Alabama!  Everyone used and enjoyed the use of the PSM1000 for their ear mixes.

Another show full of great Shure products with great artists!

Ryan

Jason Mraz leads this issue, in which editor Cory Lorentz attempts a short-list of bands who could be the next Beatles, Rolling Stones, or Led Zeppelin.

View and download the full On Tour With Shure Winter 2010 Issue on shure.com.