• 1 hour 8 minutes
    Growing Up Statler: Wilson Fairchild on Harmony, Hustle, and the Working Musician's Life
    Growing Up Statler: Wilson Fairchild on Harmony, Hustle, and the Working Musician's Life – Gig Gab 542 episode image

    This week Wil and Langdon Reid of Wilson Fairchild pull up a chair beside Dave to show you what a life in music actually looks like from the inside. These guys grew up on a tour bus in the ’70s and ’80s watching their dads, Don and Harold Reid, play eight years with Johnny Cash before becoming The Statler Brothers, a side-stage masterclass we all wish we had. You’ll hear the advice that shaped them: nobody can put you in the music business and nobody can take you out, so you’d better love the life and want it bad. You’ll get the manager horror stories (let’s just call him Peter), the reminder that every musician is an entrepreneur, and the hard, useful stuff most players dodge: build a P&L, diversify, manage cash flow first, and when it rains, fill up your buckets. Treat every gig like it matters, because you never know who’s in the room: never punish the people who showed up, and don’t play to the empty seats.

    Then you’ll dig into the craft that made the family famous: blood harmonies. Learn every part, let the piano teach you how the notes relate, and practice early in the morning just to find your pitch. You’ll discover why four voices were an act nobody wanted to follow, why going from two parts to four is an exponential lift, and where the modulation earns its keep. Through all of it runs one thread: be believable. Whether it’s a vanity song that tells your audience exactly who you are or a closer like It’s Amazing What a Hug Can Do, you sell it because you mean it. That’s the whole game: Always Be Performing, every seat, every song, every night.

    • 00:00:00 Gig Gab 542 – Monday, July 13th, 2026
    • 00:02:19 Post-gig snacks
      • Nachos
      • Chocolate Milk
      • Twinkies
      • Exempt from the food pyramid
    • 00:05:17 Growing up on a tour bus in the 1970s and 1980s
      • A Masterclass in performance art
      • Their Dads, Don and Harold Ried played with Johnny Cash for 8 years before going out on their own as The Statler Brothers
      • Watching from side stage
    • 00:07:25 At 16 and 14, Wil and Langdon started band practice and gigging
    • 00:08:07 Advice from Their Dads
      • “Nobody can put you in the music business, and nobody can take you out”
      • You gotta love the life. You gotta want it really bad.
    • 00:09:24 Learning what to do…and what not to do
    • 00:09:37 Manager stories!
      • The manager who hangs on to you, waiting for something to happen, instead of doing work to make it happen for you.
      • A tuition moment: “Let’s just call him Peter”
    • 00:13:20 Our dads were businessmen
      • Managing and building a retirement as a musician
      • Business Brain – Every musician is an entrepreneur
      • Coming from nothing, sharing a bedroom, make enough to live check-to-check
      • When it rains, fill up your buckets!
    • 00:18:37 The dreamers are the ones generating the income
    • 00:20:24 Build a P&L for your music business
    • 00:23:10 Diversify yourself, produce yourself, protect yourself
      • CD Baby
      • Concert Pay
      • Manage cash flow first
    • 00:24:36 Every gig has an opportunity for you
      • You never know exactly who is in the audience
      • “Never punish the people who showed up” – Parthenon Huxley
      • “Don’t play to the empty seats” – Charlie Daniels
    • 00:28:35 Singing “blood harmonies” together
      • Tip 1: learn to sing every part
      • Tip 2: playing piano will teach you how the notes work and relate together
      • Statler Brothers were “Country lyrics with southern gospel harmonies”
      • Tip 3: practice singing early in the morning just to learn your notes
    • 00:34:30 Learning to blend with other people
      • “Bach says no!”
    • 00:36:00 Always think about the piano for harmonies
      • Their dads, The Statler Brothers, were the first group in country music. Four voices were an act to follow!
    • 00:39:30 Their sons, Jack and Davis Reid…the next generation
      • Four part harmonies with their boys!
    • 00:40:22 And now…harmony blend
      • Going from two parts to four parts is an exponential lift!
      • Dallas Corbin on Gig Gab – Rock is how high can you go? Country is how low can you go?
      • Where is Skid Row of 2026?
    • 00:50:00 The value of the modulation
    • 00:54:17 American Songbook: Country Classics and Gospel Favorites on Gaither Music
    • 00:58:10 Always be believable
    • 01:01:00 The value of vanity songs in your set
      • Show your audience who you are
    • 01:04:00 It’s Amazing What a Hug Can Do
    • 01:06:00 Gig Gab 542 Outtro

    The post Growing Up Statler: Wilson Fairchild on Harmony, Hustle, and the Working Musician’s Life – Gig Gab 542 appeared first on Gig Gab.

    13 July 2026, 7:05 am
  • 1 hour 10 minutes
    Ryan Goldbacher on Touring with Tom Keifer, Mixing FOH (and Monitors), and AI
    Ryan Goldbacher on Touring with Tom Keifer, Mixing FOH (and Monitors), and AI – Gig Gab 541 episode iamge

    This week front-of-house engineer Ryan Goldbacher calls in from the road with Tom Keifer, and you’ll quickly learn that landing the next gig comes down to two things: competence, and not being miserable to be around. Word of mouth is the real currency of touring life, so Always Be Performing applies long after you step off stage: when the tour bus is smaller than your bedroom and there are twelve people on it, how you treat the room matters. You’ll pick up honest strategies for protecting your sanity on the road, from taking a walk to renting a car and disappearing into the mountains, plus why testing your limits only works if you actually know where they are.

    Then you and Ryan get deep into the craft. You’ll hear why the way FOH mixes your band one night can shape how it sounds for gigs to come, why you’ve got about thirty seconds to describe your band to a house engineer at load-in, and the EQ lessons Ryan learned the hard way dialing in loud rock guitars and high-passing the bass. Stop calling a kick a bass drum, leave some air in it, and don’t be afraid to turn the knobs until it sounds good. From the pressure-cooker of mixing monitors on Mr. Big’s final US tour to a frank take on AI mixing and building the next generation of engineers, this one’s loaded for anyone serious about live sound.

    • 00:00:00 Gig Gab 541 – Monday, July 6th, 2026
    • 00:01:17 Ryan on tour with Tom Keifer
    • 00:02:29 Word of mouth is the key
      • Competence is key…that’s number one.
      • Close number two: you’re not miserable to be around!
    • 00:05:09 The tour bus is smaller than your bedroom, and there’s 12 people in it
    • 00:07:19 Creating your own personal space
      • Take a walk
      • Rent a car and drive into the mountains
    • 00:08:45 Week off between gigs
    • 00:11:11 FOH for Tom Keifer for Summer, 2026
      • You can’t spread yourself too thin
      • If it won’t fit on your plate, get it off
      • Having a dedicated monitor engineer makes a huge difference
    • 00:13:50 Test your limits, but don’t be afraid to know where they are.
    • 00:16:52 Always be communicating
    • 00:18:46 This tour Ryan brings a FOH console
      • House monitor engineer
      • Band is all on wedges
      • A&H Avantis
      • Tom Keifer goes over the entire set with the house lighting designer
    • 00:21:12 Tom Keifer helps Ryan with producing the show for the night
      • The benefits of working with an artist who tells you how to make yourself more valuable to them
    • 00:23:32 The FOH and Band relationship
      • The way FOH mixes the band for one gig could affect the band for the future. Respect this!
      • Communicate what your band sounds like to the engineer…early on as you’re loading in
    • 00:29:42 Developing trust with your engineer first
    • 00:31:03 Thirty seconds to describe your band
    • 00:32:33 Making the next generation of engineers better
    • 00:33:59 Engineers who are musicians / Musicians who are engineers
      • ProTools…great software, dumb name!
    • 00:38:18 Learning from mistakes
    • 00:40:16 Stacking EQs on Rock Guitars by mistake…and then intentionally!
      • Working with loud guitars on Stiff Little Fingers
      • Steve Smith introduced Ryan to Stiff Little Fingers
    • 00:41:21 SPONSOR: OneSkin. Born from over a decade of longevity research, OneSkin’s OS-01 Peptide™ is proven to target the visible signs of aging, helping you unlock your healthiest skin now and as you age. Get 15% off OneSkin with the code GigGab athttps://oneskin.co/GigGab  #oneskinpod #ad
    • 00:43:30 Accidentally learning to drop guitar EQ between 2k-4k
      • Adding a high-pass filter on the bass guitar in a rock band
    • 00:48:21 Don’t call a kick drum a “bass” drum, otherwise you’ll mix it the wrong way.
    • You want some air in that kick!
    • 00:49:07 Don’t be afraid to turn the knobs until it sounds good
    • 00:51:27 The pressure of mixing monitors makes you a great engineer
    • Mixing monitors for Mr. Big’s final US tour
    • 00:55:09 RTAs are great, but be able to do it by ear
    • 00:58:29 Speaking of Toys…Let’s Talk AI Mixing
      • Mentorship and apprentice programs
    • 01:08:43 Show Logistics
    • 01:10:03 Gig Gab 541 Outtro

    The post Ryan Goldbacher on Touring with Tom Keifer, Mixing FOH (and Monitors), and AI – Gig Gab 541 appeared first on Gig Gab.

    6 July 2026, 7:05 am
  • 52 minutes 44 seconds
    Patrice Peris on Sync, Survival, and Why You Don't Need a Backup Plan
    Patrice Peris on Sync, Survival, and Why You Don't Need a Backup Plan – Gig Gab 540 episode image

    This week singer-songwriter Patrice Peris joins Dave to flip the script on building a music career. That question musicians always get – what’s your backup plan? – is a terrible one, because Plan A was never required to land where you first mapped it. Through COVID, a cancer diagnosis, and a bone-marrow transplant she now calls a rebirth, Patrice kept asking what each detour was teaching her and never stopped writing, landing sync placements on Netflix, HBO Max, and The Voice along the way.

    Want to break into sync licensing yourself? Get resourceful and bullheaded: take a class, build multiple streams of revenue, and gamify the grind: how many gigs can you find, how many music supervisors can you email? Every musician is an entrepreneur, and the numbers game rewards whoever keeps opening doors.

    Then Patrice gets practical, because gigging musicians are athletes. You get her playbook for protecting your voice across three-set nights: a real warmup, scale work, stretching, smart placement that pulls the sound out of your throat and into the mask, and the vocal rest you keep skipping. From there comes the band conversation nobody wants to have: in-ear monitors and the whole mix exist to serve the lead vocalist, so drop the ego and decide together what you actually want your band to sound like. Build a backup bench while you’re at it, because life happens and roles need filling. Patrice stepped back from the stage but never stopped creating, and that’s the whole point: keep writing, keep adapting, and Always Be Performing.

    • 00:00:00 Gig Gab 540 – Monday, June 29th, 2026
    • 00:02:36 Live has given me things in waves that weren’t what I wanted
      • Welcoming the unexpected
    • 00:05:20 “What’s your Plan B?” Is a terrible question
      • And Plan A doesn’t have to go where you planned
    • 00:07:55 COVID and Cancer…all a journey
    • 00:09:10 Perspective… always be asking: what is this teaching me?
    • 00:10:43 Always writing
    • 00:11:40 How do you get started writing for sync?
      • A nod to bullheaded persistence
    • 00:15:10 Starting a Sync Business
      • Always have multiple streams of revenue
      • Take a class (or two)
    • 00:19:44 Being resourceful is the key to bullheaded persistence
      • Gamify it all!
      • How many gigs can I find?
      • How many people can I email?
    • 00:22:57 Learn to be strategic and mindful
      • Anytime you’re climbing the ladder, failure is inevitable
      • Invest energy into the creative realm and also into the business realm
    • 00:25:54 “No Plan” isn’t a plan
      • Listen to your inner 16 year old…sometimes!
    • 00:29:47 Coaching people to let go of the hat
      • The 80% Rule
    • 00:35:20 Growing your music business
    • 00:35:38 Vocal blowout
    • 00:41:00 Listening for Placement
      • Where is the voice going?
    • 00:42:31 In Ear Monitors can make a big difference
      • Bands need to understand the sound has to serve the lead vocalist
    • 00:44:42 What do we want our band to sound like to people listening?
      • Bands need to come together as a group
      • Communicate and decide upon the goal for what the BAND is going to sound like
    • 00:49:38 Get two of everything
    • 00:50:56 Gig Gab 540 Outtro

    The post Patrice Peris on Sync, Survival, and Why You Don’t Need a Backup Plan – Gig Gab 540 appeared first on Gig Gab.

    29 June 2026, 7:05 am
  • 1 hour 38 minutes
    Sub Gigs, Mic Mutes & the Art of Mixing Live with Jesus Hernandez
    Sub Gigs, Mic Mutes & the Art of Mixing Live with Jesus Hernandez episode image

    This week you start things off digging into the craft that separates good gigs from great ones. You’ll get the playbook for prepping and surviving sub gigs, learn (again!) why a splitter snake earns its place in your rig, and sort through the real options when you need a mic mute switch that actually works. Then you wrestle with a question every working band faces today: are fan-posted videos helping your brand or hurting it? It’s the kind of practical, in-the-trenches breakdown that reminds you to Always Be Performing, whether the camera’s rolling or not.

    Then guest co-host Jesus Hernandez joins, and you trace his path from a Portastudio kid to the engineer bands trust with their sound, along with the philosophy he’s built along the way: you’re serving people’s ears, and the console is your instrument. You’ll hear why you should ask a band what they want to sound like before you touch a fader, why learning to mix yourself turns your engineer into a producer, and how routing a digital mixer keeps everything simple when the power flickers. He shares the gear that’s earned his trust, hard-won war stories from the road, his time subbing as a bass player in Nashville, and life on tour with a Phil Collins and Genesis tribute. By the end you’ll be listening to your own gigs with sharper ears and a hungrier inner critic.

    • 00:00:00 Gig Gab 539 – Monday, June 22nd, 2026
    • 00:01:32 Prepping for and playing Sub Gigs
    • 00:04:25 The benefits of splitter snake
    • Listener Questions
    • 00:20:25 Mark-Are fan-posted videos good or bad?
    • 00:24:36 SPONSOR: OneSkin. Get 15% off OneSkin with the code GIGGAB at https://www.oneskin.co/GIGGAB  #oneskinpod
    • 00:26:54 Guest Co-host: Jesus Hernandez
    • 00:28:20 Lady and the Tramp Start taught him to record multi-track
    • 00:34:27 A2 at a local theater
      • Then the A1 went on vacation, and Jesus became the A1
    • 00:35:38 Then a jazz club
      • Sound reinforcement at the most basic level
      • Ultimately what you’re trying to serve is people’s ears.
      • Use your eyes to serve that purpose.
    • 00:37:38 Recording was rough at first, but you learn!
    • 00:41:24 Ask the band: what do you guys want to sound like on the recording?
      • “Take a picture of the band, then paint on top of it!”
    • 00:32:36 For live sound: how do you find out what the band sounds like?
      • Before arriving: listen to the band’s records (or the band they’re covering)
    • 00:47:26 When doing sound, consider yourself a band member
      • “Playing the console” – The mixer is an instrument
      • I’m controlling the arrangement
    • 00:48:50 Singing the praises of bands that can set levels on stage
    • 00:49:20 A band whose levels are ALL over the place
      • So bad the band was sent home after the first set.
      • You have to be your hardest critic
    • 00:53:25 Learn to mix yourself, then your engineer can go from problem-solver to producer!
    • 00:55:26 “If the power goes out at the mixer, you’ll still sound good”
      • Fixing it at the source
      • The night the power-flickered and factory reset the mixer!
      • PreSonus StudioLive
    • 01:00:19 Keeping it as simple as possible
      • Soft-patching, routing, matrixes, oh my!
      • Learn how to route a digital mixer
    • 01:06:39 The downsides of strictly analog
    • 01:13:38 Bands vs. Reunion Gigs
    • 01:18:25 Bringing an analog mixer…and no snake!
    • 01:24:50 Soca Music
    • 01:26:00 Time for some war stories
    • 01:31:46 Subbing in Nashville as a bass player
    • 01:08:21 On the road with Face Value, Phil Collins & Genesis Tribute Band
    • 01:37:24 Jesus Hernandez Home Studio
    • 01:38:23 Gig Gab 539 Outtro

    The post Sub Gigs, Mic Mutes & the Art of Mixing Live with Jesus Hernandez – Gig Gab 539 appeared first on Gig Gab.

    22 June 2026, 7:05 am
  • 1 hour 4 minutes
    Three Rush Fans and Rush's 2026 Comeback Tour: From the Room and From Afar
    Three Rush Fans and Rush's 2026 Comeback Tour: From the Room and From Afar – Gig Gab 538 episode image

    Three Rush fans — a father, a son, and Spartacus — walk into a podcast. There’s no punchline, just the tape rolling on a conversation that was going to happen anyway, and you get to be the fly on the wall. Two of them just flew home from LA, where they stood in the room and watched Rush kick off the tour nobody was sure would ever come. The third has been taking it all in from a distance, which is its own peculiar thing when you once mixed front of house for the band for years. You’ll get the origin stories — a kite-flying contest in early-seventies St. Louis, an R40 playlist that turned a kid into a lifer — plus enough on the drummer question (yes, Anika Nilles) and show-count stats to earn the Rush-nerd badge none of them will quite cop to.

    Then it gets real. This is a band that fans and insiders alike once quietly accepted was finished, now back out there proving otherwise, and that turns the talk toward something bigger than setlists. You get to do this. Whether it’s thousands of people or a Tuesday night for a dozen, that gratitude is the whole game — the reason to Always Be Performing no matter how rough the bus ride was. Stick around for a ten-year-old’s perfectly timed gut check that still lands two decades later. Press play, and join Lucas Hamilton, Robert Scovill, and Dave Hamilton for a tour through the opening of Rush’s comeback — from inside the room, and from afar.

    • 00:00:00 Gig Gab 538 – Monday, June 15th, 2026
    • 00:02:46 Rush Stats
      • All three co-hosts have seen Rush live with 2 drummers
      • Lucas and Anika are tied for Rush shows… as of this recording
    • 00:04:39 Robert Scovill was living in St. Louis when he saw Rush with Rutsey
      • KC Kite Flying Contest
    • 00:07:31 Lucas’s Rush origin story
    • 00:08:31 About that whole live concert sound thing
      • Spoiler: Rush always sounded good
    • 00:11:02 Favorite Rush heirlooms
    • 00:13:55 I want a Red Barchetta for my midlife crisis
      • Rush 2026 Tour started with 12 dates
    • 00:16:02 That opening song, that opening night
    • 00:23:40 Anika Nilles’ dropped stick recovery
      • Getting the first mistake out of the way moments into the first song of Rush’s 2026 Reunion tour
    • 00:27:21 Time Stand Still for those emotional moments
    • 00:33:11 Lights and video for 2112 – in the cave!
    • 00:34:00 Singing 2112: Presentation at the tops of our lungs
    • 00:38:50 Moving Pictures to open night 3 set 2
    • 00:40:13 Loren Gold’s keys and vocal harmonies
      • And Geddy Lee’s voice, too!
    • 00:44:29 The composition of YYZ
      • Alex Lifeson is the most underrated guitarist in rock and roll
    • 00:45:48 Anika Nilles is just a star
    • 00:49:25 Anika grooving during A Passage to Bangkok
    • 00:52:22 The physicality of playing Rush music
      • The wisdom of days off in between shows for the entire Rush Fifty Something tour
    • 00:57:41 You know what we get to do today? We get to go play music in front of thousands of people!
      • This is the best job on earth
    • 01:01:23 Who is Spartacus?
    • 01:03:33 Gig Gab 538 Outtro

    The post Three Rush Fans and Rush’s 2026 Comeback Tour: From the Room and From Afar – Gig Gab 538 appeared first on Gig Gab.

    13 June 2026, 4:45 pm
  • 1 hour 16 minutes
    Road Stories, Recording Secrets, and the Perfect Pop Song – with Rand Lempert from The Broken Rings
    Road Stories, Recording Secrets, and the Perfect Pop Song – Gig Gab 537 with Rand Lempert from The Broken Rings episode image

    This week on Gig Gab, Dave Hamilton sits down with guest co-host Rand Lempert of the Broken Rings, a two-piece recording project built on 15 years of musical kinship between Rand and guitarist Gio da Silva. You’ll hear how these two have crafted an intentional, travel-fueled recording process across cities, cutting live instruments and vocals together, passing files between New Orleans, Tampa, and now Denver, and why that friction and urgency is exactly the point. Rand makes a compelling case for keeping things analog as long as possible: real amps, minimal pedals, old-school mic placements like a modified Glyn Johns setup, and the conviction that nothing replaces the feeling of having a human being in the room when the tape (or hard drive) is rolling.

    The conversation ranges wide, from Rand’s vivid 9/11 tour story, stranded in St. John’s Newfoundland on one of the last planes to land before U.S. airspace shut down, to a deep dive into the art of the perfect pop song, with nominations for Tempted by Squeeze, Big Star’s Thirteen, Bryan Adams’ Cuts Like a Knife, and Fastball’s Out of My Head. Whether you’re a working drummer obsessing over beat placement, a songwriter who only writes when the muse actually shows up, or a road veteran who knows that idle days on tour are far worse than grueling ones, this episode has your number. Get out there, stay curious, and Always Be Performing.

    • 00:00:00 Gig Gab 537 – Monday, June 8th, 2026
    • 00:01:38 The Broken Rings are a 2-man band
      • Drums, guitar, vocals all handled by Rand Lempert and Gio da Silva, his bandmate
      • They consider themselves musical kin: They agree on 95% of all music
      • Met in Houston, played in bands, then moved to different corners of the USA
    • 00:04:48 Songwriting duo starts with a long distance relationship
    • 00:07:03 Recording remotely doesn’t have the muse of travel
      • So many different avenues to approach recording
      • Finding a way to record with technology in a less sterile way
    • 00:15:08 Preserving analog recording to digital “tape”
    • 00:17:07 The process of recording drums
      • Don’t mess up the end of the track!
    • 00:21:14 Country music
    • 00:23:25 Drummer kinship: Tris Imboden saves the day!
      • Learning by visual
    • 00:31:41 SPONSOR: Claude.ai – Ready to tackle bigger problems? Sign up for Claude today, which includes access to Claude Cowork, too, when you visit https://Claude.ai/giggab
    • 00:33:37 Surviving the road
    • 00:34:45 Road story: hanging out in St. John’s Newfoundland for 5 days
      • Sonny James and the Centers in Europe in 2001
      • “There’s nothing wrong with this airplane, but this plane is being diverted because of terrorist attacks in the United States.”
      • Canadian authorities: “What do we do with these people? Bring them to a hockey arena!”
      • Memorial University of Newfoundland
    • 00:44:35 Opening up for Bo Diddley in 2004
      • In Beaumont, Texas
      • Touring is a lot of driving, and you’re doing the driving
      • It’s a lot of lugging equipment, and you’re doing the lugging
      • You get a hotel room…for the entire band!
    • 00:48:55 When touring, days off are worse than the grueling days on
    • 00:51:02 It’s important to travel
      • Touring is the way to do that for a lot of us musicians
    • 00:51:25 Making touring maps as a kid is a good sign Rand needed to do this as a career
    • 00:52:50 First concerts, sound nerding, and getting lost in the music for the first time
      • Rand got lost at four years old!
      • Nerd out about sound and recording
      • First concerts!
        • Weather Report for Dave
        • Air Supply for Rand
    • 00:58:05 The Best pop songs
    • 01:12:22 Gig Gab 537 Outtro

    The post Road Stories, Recording Secrets, and the Perfect Pop Song – Gig Gab 537 with Rand Lempert from The Broken Rings appeared first on Gig Gab.

    8 June 2026, 7:05 am
  • 1 hour 21 minutes
    AI and Music for Working Musicians: Tool, Threat, or Bandmate?
    AI and Music for Working Musicians: Tool, Threat, or Bandmate? – Gig Gab 536 episode image

    This week Stu Dias joins Dave from a slightly different corner of Durham, New Hampshire, and after a quick detour through barefoot drumming, sweaty-hand fixes, and oversized triangle guitar picks, the conversation locks onto the question every working musician is wrestling with right now: what does AI mean for music? You’ll hear why Dave reframes it as Assistive Intelligence (and the best procrastination-killer and writer’s-block-buster going) even as you stare down the harder stuff: Suno-generated tracks, Jack Tempchin’s AI-assisted album, and the ouroboros of machines learning from the music we make. Should AI art be labeled? What happens when it conjures someone’s likeness? And does any of it move you the way a human in a room can?

    That last question is the heartbeat of the episode. Dave and Stu weigh AI music against the cover-band hustle, remember what COVID lockdowns taught us about humans craving real humans together, and get honest about whose jobs are actually on the line and where AI mixing fits in your workflow. The kicker for every gigging musician: if the machines are going to use your voice and your playing, take a long-term cut of the sales. It’s a sharp, funny, occasionally unsettling look at the line between tool and threat…and a reminder that however the tech shakes out, you Always Be Performing. Hit play for the full conversation.

    The post AI and Music for Working Musicians: Tool, Threat, or Bandmate? – Gig Gab 536 appeared first on Gig Gab.

    1 June 2026, 7:05 am
  • 32 minutes 40 seconds
    Loaded Out, Rolling Home, Rolling Tape
    Loaded Out, Rolling Home, Rolling Tape – Gig Gab 535 episode image

    Ride shotgun with Dave as he records GigGab on the drive home from a Casual Gravity gig, finally living out the show’s original mission. You’ll hear why packing your own mixer saves the night when the venue only wants a single feed from the band, what it’s like when an in-ear band plays its first fully sober gig, and why counting songs in to a click track changes everything once adrenaline stops driving your tempo.

    Then dig into relearning vocal harmonies for the Underground Band: using the Moises app to isolate vocals, pulling sheet music, and plunking out intervals on piano to lock stacks into your ear. Buddy Gibbons sparks a drumming debate on single strokes versus marching-style sticking through the Foreplay/Long Time triplets, and Dave gets honest about throat fatigue, Lyme disease aftermath, dust mite allergies, and the sublingual immunotherapy bringing his voice back. Listen to your body, learn the parts, and Always Be Performing.

    The post Loaded Out, Rolling Home, Rolling Tape – Gig Gab 535 appeared first on Gig Gab.

    25 May 2026, 7:05 am
  • 1 hour 1 minute
    What's Your Band's Definition of Success?
    What's Your Band's Definition of Success? — Gig Gab 534 with Paul Kent episode image

    OG co-host Paul Kent rejoins Dave Hamilton to talk about how The Houserockers have stayed booked into their 27th year, and what your band can steal from their playbook. You’ll dig into the social media reality of 2026 (Reels are currently king), why your mailing list is the asset you actually own, and how to grow to 10,000 followers without losing your soul. Paul makes the case that if you want gigs, your band has to be a business, which means alignment on mission, passion, and musical style with the partners or employees standing next to you on stage. There’s nothing wrong with playing for fun, but go in eyes wide open about what you’re chasing.

    From there you’ll dive into the value of scarcity, Kevin Kelly’s thousand true fans, and why mixing up your setlists is one way to keep audiences coming back. Paul breaks down the current Houserockers formula (civic concert series, experiential marketing, and ticketed off-season events) and why aging-up audiences mean you have to market harder and talk to fans like Springsteen does: a lifetime conversation, all with individuals. You’ll also get the real talk on finding bandmates (Craigslist included), the Gig Gab bookable-band checklist, and Paul’s (joking?) pitch for two new show segments. Whatever your lane, Always Be Performing, and start treating every touchpoint like the gig it is.

    • 00:00:00 Gig Gab 534 – Monday, May 18th, 2026
    • 00:01:27 Guest co-host: Paul Kent
    • 00:04:21 Did someone call you an old man?!?
    • 00:08:46 The Gig Gab social media approach
    • 00:10:29 Your band can get 10,000 followers
      • Reels are it…today.
    • 00:13:37 Gain a mailing list
    • 00:16:41 It’s about the music business.
      • Is your band willing to be in business?
    • 00:19:00 There’s nothing wrong with doing what you want to do.
      • Just go in eyes wide open.
    • 00:20:49 Getting alignment within your band. You now have business partners or employees
      • Be aligned with mission, passion, style of music … the alchemy of it.
    • 00:26:48 The value of scarcity
      • Does success equal quantity of gigs?
      • Some people want to play five times per month
    • 00:30:43 Finding Your Thousand True Fans
    • 00:32:05 Mixing up your setlists is another way to keep people coming back
    • 00:36:00 Marketing 101 – you have to have something to say
      • Hopefully unique!
      • And then deliver.
    • 00:37:13 The Houserockers formula for today
      • Civic Concert Series
      • Experiential Marketing
      • Ticketed Events in the off-season
    • 00:39:13 Use your mailing list!
    • 00:41:28 Ticketed events required more marketing this year
      • Audiences are aging up
    • 00:43:04 How do you talk to your audience?
      • Springsteen: my career is a lifetime conversation with my audience
      • It’s about you, your personality, and each individual audience member
    • 00:50:11 Finding band members is an imperfect science
    • 00:56:41 Paul’s show ideas for Dave
      • Dave reads mean comments
      • Dave reads band ads from Craigslist, et al
    • 00:59:47 Gig Gab 534 Outtro

    The post What’s Your Band’s Definition of Success? — Gig Gab 534 with Paul Kent appeared first on Gig Gab.

    18 May 2026, 7:05 am
  • 1 hour 1 minute
    Relentless Consistency and the Scarcity Premium with Mike Schulte from The Pork Tornadoes
    Relentless Consistency and the Scarcity Premium with Mike Schulte from The Pork Tornadoes episode image

    Guest co-host Mike Schulte joins Dave with 15 years of Pork Tornadoes social media wisdom, and the message is blunt: relentless consistency wins. You literally can’t post too much in 2026—nobody sees everything anymore, so repost that same flyer as a fresh post (not a share) and keep going. Give it 45 days before you judge results. Why invest? More fans mean more bodies at the gig, plus the social proof that signals to newcomers that other people already love you. And remember—you’re not competing with other bands, you’re competing with people’s couches.

    From there, Dave and Mike dig into the live-show craft. Build a sound check formula so it stops being a nightmare, then cook up a Suno-generated theme song to walk on to—Always Be Performing means the show starts before the first chord lands. Treat your setlist like art: the opener’s a throwaway, but song three is the most important slot of the night. Then think about your saturation—the Pork Tornadoes cap themselves at two ticketed gigs per year inside a 30-mile radius, and the minute they got scarce, their pay jumped tenfold. Simple, not easy.

    • 00:00:00 Gig Gab 533 – Monday, May 11th, 2026
    • 00:01:10 Did you ever watch Night Court
    • 00:05:06 Managing your band’s social media
      • Relentless Consistency is the key (right now).
      • “You can never post too much” – Mike Schulte, May 11, 2026
      • Mike has been running social media for Pork Tornadoes for 15 years
      • Everyone doesn’t see every post (anymore)
      • It’s money-driven
      • Repost the same thing, the same flyer, the same idea (as a new post, not a “share”)
    • 00:09:49 Getting “started” on social media in 2026
      • I tried to follow your model and nothing changed. In two weeks.
      • You’ve gotta spend a month or more (Dave says 45 days)
    • 00:14:05 What’s the benefit of investing in social media
      • The more fans you have, there WILL be more people who come to your events
      • Also: social proof. Showing people that other people like you.
    • 00:18:55 Social Proof + Bullheaded Persistence = Success.
    • 00:22:00 People don’t go out like they used to
      • You’re not competing with other bands, you’re competing with people’s couches
    • 00:24:39 A band retreat!
      • If 2020 hadn’t happened, Pork Tornadoes would’ve probably gone full time
    • 00:26:04 SPONSOR: Claude.ai – Ready to tackle bigger problems? Sign up for Claude today, which includes access to Claude Cowork, too, when you visit https://Claude.ai/giggab
    • 00:27:42 Recent Gig(s) Gab
    • 00:34:19 Orchestrate your sound check
      • Sound check used to be a nightmare, until we created a formula
    • 00:38:27 Create a musical lead-in for your show
      • For the wranglers in the Gig Gab audience
      • Use Suno to create a theme song for your band
    • 00:42:57 Writing a setlist is an art
      • Your first song is a throwaway
      • The third song is the FIRST most important song in the set (according to Dave)
      • Develop business-like rituals for your band
    • 00:48:32 What’s Your Band’s Saturation?
      • Self-imposed proximity clauses
      • Pork Tornadoes Proximity Clause: No more than 2 ticketed events in a 30-mile radius per year
      • Plus one free-to-the-public festival gig to pull people in
      • To the venues who don’t have proximity clauses: why do you not?
      • The minute we started getting scarce, was the minute our pay increased 10-fold
    • 01:00:12 The Pork Tornadoes formula: simple, not easy.

    The post Relentless Consistency and the Scarcity Premium with Mike Schulte from The Pork Tornadoes – Gig Gab 533 appeared first on Gig Gab.

    11 May 2026, 6:19 pm
  • 1 hour 7 minutes
    From Wedges to In-Ears: A Monitor Engineer's Playbook with Paul Klimson
    From Wedges to In-Ears: A Monitor Engineer's Playbook with Paul Klimson – Gig Gab 532 episode image

    Ready to make the leap from wedges to in-ear monitors? Or finally get the stage mix you’ve always wanted? Dave Hamilton welcomes back monitor engineer Paul Klimson, the man who mixed 32 stereo IEM feeds for Justin Timberlake, for a working musician’s deep dive on monitor world. You’ll learn how to build a default mix from scratch (start yourself at 0dB, your instrument at -5, everything else at -15), why drummers have an easier transition to in-ears than most assume, and how a split snake lets you take care of yourself when the gig demands it. Paul digs into hi-hat pitfalls, drum overheads as stage wash, and why bands who mix themselves on stage make life better for their FOH engineer, too.

    Then it gets practical. Paul walks you through IEM fittings (pain is always bad, the seal is everything, and yes, drop an AirTag in your case) plus the universal-versus-custom decision, vetting vendor customer service before you buy, and the repair costs nobody talks about until they need to. You’ll get honest talkback etiquette (keep the drama off-stage, give everyone a voice, remember that your monitor engineer is a short-order cook), the post-mortem habit every band should adopt, and a peek at SoulSeed.tv. Wherever you sit on stage, this is the episode that sharpens how you Always Be Performing.

    • 00:00:00 Gig Gab 532 – Monday, May 4th, 2026
    • 00:03:24 Start with headphones in your practice space
      • Start with earplugs
    • 00:05:09 Drums are a dynamic instrument, which may be why drummers have an easy transition to IEMs (usually)
    • 00:08:33 What do you want in your wedge?
      • What’s your reference?
    • 00:09:11 The artist/engineer relationship
    • 00:11:03 Building a default mix
      • Start yourself at 0dB
      • Instrument at -5dB
      • Everything else at -15dB
    • 00:12:58 Using a Split Snake
      • When possible, take care of yourself
    • 00:14:47 Timing of a mix
      • Don’t forget about hi-hats
      • Work with your engineer to dial-in your own mix
    • 00:19:18 Drum overheads for stage wash effect
    • 00:22:21 In-ears help you listen better
      • Bands who mix themselves on stage makes your ears AND the FOH engineers job ears
    • 00:23:54 Learn where you and your instrument fit into the mix of your band
      • And change it if you don’t fit. You’re not the most important thing!
    • 00:26:40 What’s going to make you stand out when someone comes to see you at clubs of any size?
      • Do you hear the lyrics?
      • Do you hear the intent of the story of the song?
      • Watch your instagram videos and evaluate honestly
    • 00:30:28 Knowing when the studio mix is done.
    • 00:33:27 Fittings for IEMs
      • Things to look for:
        • Pain is bad
      • Is the seal functioning correctly?
        • Listen for sound leakage (including when you open your mouth and move around)
        • Are the ports aimed down the canal wrong
        • Do you hear high-end better when you rock the mold around?
    • 00:37:36 Put an AirTag in your IEM case!
    • 00:39:28 Figuring out which model to order
      • Try universal fits first to learn the musical qualities
    • 00:41:16 Test the customer service of vendors before you choose
    • 00:42:55 The origin of IEMs
    • 00:44:44 Find out repair costs
    • 00:48:20 Talkback Use
      • Keep the drama off-stage
      • Give everyone a voice
      • Monitor engineers are like short-order cooks… be kind!
    • 00:58:23 Always post-mortem the problems from the gig
      • And also “what happens if?” conversations
    • 01:03:22 Soulseed.TV
    • 01:06:05 Gig Gab 532 Outtro

    The post From Wedges to In-Ears: A Monitor Engineer’s Playbook with Paul Klimson – Gig Gab 532 appeared first on Gig Gab.

    4 May 2026, 7:05 am
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