• 1 hour 30 minutes
    Re-Impressing the Room All Night: The Realities of Nashville's Lower Broadway with Tyson Hanes & Adam Barber
    Re-Impressing the Room All Night: The Realities of Nashville's Lower Broadway with Tyson Hanes & Adam Barber – Gig Gab 550 episode image

    Nashville’s Lower Broadway isn’t a gig, it’s a gauntlet, and Tyson Hanes and Adam Barber of The Tyson Hanes Band are here to show you how it actually works. You’ll hear why nobody’s from Nashville, why being the small fish in a giant pond forces you to level up fast, and what it takes to play four-hour shifts straight through with a thousand-song list, no set list, and no safety net. The crowd builds the show one tip at a time, so you go from Merle Haggard to Metallica in a single breath, learn a requested tune off a fifteen-second Spotify listen, and lean on shared Dropbox charts and big ears to nail the transitions together. And because new people walk in all night long, you’re not impressing an audience once…you’re re-impressing them for four straight hours. That’s what Always Be Performing really looks like.

    Then there’s the business side, and this is where it gets pointed. Tyson and Adam collaborated to their own QR-code song request system with a developer – two taps from scan to Venmo, straight to the band’s group text – and turned it into SongRequestHero.com for other bands. When JBJ’s management mandated a clunkier third-party app, killed their on-stage banners, and then ignored three weeks of professional questions from forty-five musicians, they walked.

    You’ll get the full story, plus the bigger lesson underneath it: treat your band like a real business or stay a bar band forever. Answer your email. Send your invoices. Don’t get drunk on stage. Build the infrastructure that lets you sell the Nashville experience to corporate buyers anywhere in the country. And take Adam’s advice: you’ll happily pay for lessons from a better player, so pay for a business coach or a mastermind too. Dave throws SCORE.org into the mix for the free version, with one catch worth hearing.

    • 00:00:00 Gig Gab 550 – Monday, September 7, 2026
    • 00:02:06 Being a band in Nashville
      • But no one is from Nashville
      • Talent is off the charts
      • The pond is much bigger
      • Nashville keeps you from getting stagnant
    • 00:06:42 Playing Lower Broadway on Nashville
      • Playing straight through
      • Multiple genres
      • Making money off of tips
      • From Merle Haggard to Metallica
    • 00:10:26 The talent
    • 00:12:16 The nerdy tech behind being a band playing lots of covers
      • Shared Dropbox
      • Audioengine
    • 00:16:53 Playing on Lower Broadway takes big ears
    • 00:18:01 Re-impressing an audience all night
    • 00:20:00 The crowd builds the setlist
      • Streamlining the process
    • 00:22:07 SPONSOR: Warby Parker – Our listeners can buy one pair of glasses and get 20% off any additional pairs at https://WarbyParker.com/GIGGAB — and using our link helps support the show. #WarbyParker #ad
    • 00:23:38 Dave asks the unintentionally loaded question
    • 00:25:57 Developing your own app
    • 00:28:31 What’s your app?
    • 00:31:50 JBJ’s management said you have to use a new app and no on-stage banners
    • 00:41:17 The relationship erodes
    • 00:45:36 Musicians bonding together…if they want to
    • 00:48:50 How do bands make money as a band in Nashville?
    • 00:52:27 Going from a “hey, we’d like to pay you in alcohol” band to a corporate band
      • Bringing the Nashville Request feel to Corporate Gigs
    • 01:00:38 Deciding you’re going to be a pro band before you can be a pro band
      • Communication!
      • Mike Schulte from Pork Tornadoes
      • “Nashville is not the flex you think it is.”
    • 01:06:51 Bringing Nashville to you and your event
    • 01:11:25 When your name is on the door
      • There’s a benefit and a risk
    • 01:19:53 Get a business coach
      • Join a mastermind, even if it costs you. Especially if it costs you.
      • SCORE.org
    • 01:28:00 Gig Gab 550 Outtro

    The post Re-Impressing the Room All Night: The Realities of Nashville’s Lower Broadway with Tyson Hanes & Adam Barber – Gig Gab 550 appeared first on Gig Gab.

    7 September 2026, 7:05 am
  • 1 hour 10 minutes
    Ask for the Gig You Want: Kevin Glendinning on SNL, Super Bowls, and 25 Years on the Road
    KG on Gig Gab 549 episode image

    Monitor engineer Kevin “KG” Glendinning joins you live from a Roman amphitheater in Pula, Croatia: eight countries in seven days into the Lorde world tour…and he’s got the receipts. You’ll hear how fifteen trips through the SNL stage started with a Carson Daly taping, why the rooms that treat you well are the rooms you remember, and what happens when a 32-year veteran finally plugs in a source expander and realizes the “new guys” were right. That’s the through-line: always be learning, always be open-minded, and never let a get-off-my-lawn attitude about new tech be the reason your phone stops ringing. Then it gets into the real in-ear monitor conversations: recreating a Celestion cab with a 2.6mm armature, the one-ear trick that quietly costs Adam Levine and John Mayer another 25% of volume, and why ear fatigue deserves the same respect a pitcher gives his arm.

    The road stories land hard from there. Super Bowl XLV in Dallas with snow, the Black Eyed Peas, and a lesson in letting the pros run their own show. Red Rocks (aka “Wet Rocks”) and why a mountain full of shuttle trucks is worth every minute. A locked-up console mid-residency and telling Christina Aguilera the audio will come back, all while genuinely hoping it would. A charter plane struck by lightning over the Amazon, an emergency landing at a decommissioned airfield, and waking up to the news about Taylor Hawkins. Plus the covert phone call that became seven years with Justin Timberlake, and the soft ask years earlier that made it happen. Rehearse enough that nerves turn into muscle memory, thank the people who opened doors for you, ask for the gig you want…and Always Be Performing.

    • 00:00:00 Gig Gab 549 – Monday, August 31st, 2026
    • 00:02:38 Pula, Croatia. 8 countries in 7 days
    • 00:04:36 SNL stage for The Deftones with the Carson Daly show
    • 00:06:20 Making an impression on touring musicians with
    • 00:08:35 Always be learning about the new tech
    • 00:13:55 Always be open-minded
    • 00:18:57 Mixing ears and the respect of it all
    • 00:21:02 Chris Rabold mixing monitors for REM
    • 00:22:06 Now some REM stories
    • 00:24:23 Helping get Adam Levine & John Mayer through ear fatigue with one ear monitor
    • 00:26:46 OzFest System Engineers and hearing fatigue
    • 00:27:45 Sometimes it just doesn’t sound right
    • 00:30:44 Super Bowl in 2011 in Dallas…with snow!
      • And The Black Eyed Peas
    • 00:35:45 Being rehearsed enough to just do the gig (and fix what goes wrong when it goes wrong)
    • 00:36:25 Lorde’s large-and-resilient fanbase
    • 00:39:21 Working Red Rocks..”Wet Rocks”
    • 00:44:33 Christina and the reboot
      • “Don’t worry…the audio will come back.”
      • Dave’s issue with the Mackie DL32S losing input signals
    • 00:49:58 Batteries Matter
    • 00:52:31 Miley Cyrus, Taylor Hawkins, Lightning-stuck aircraft, oh my!
    • 00:56:28 Getting paid to see the world
      • The pros and the cons
    • 00:59:11 The “covert” phone call… and Justin Timberlake
      • Get to know ML who works for ShowCo
      • Ask for the gig you want (and, specifically, ask Anthony Giordano)
      • The Victoria’s Secret Awards!
      • Watching Muse with Justin
    • 01:06:11 Have gratitude for everyone who you’ve worked with
    • 01:08:14 Kevin wants to answer your questions!
    • 01:09:52 Gig Gab 549 Outtro

    The post Ask for the Gig You Want: Kevin Glendinning on SNL, Super Bowls, and 25 Years on the Road – Gig Gab 549 appeared first on Gig Gab.

    31 August 2026, 7:05 am
  • 1 hour 14 minutes
    From Broadway Swing to Principal: Eight Shows a Week...with Victor Carrillo Tracey
    From Broadway Swing to Principal: Eight Shows a Week – Gig Gab 548 with Victor Carrillo Tracey episode image

    Your voice is the most temperamental instrument you’ll ever own, and this week Victor Carrillo Tracey – original company member of Broadway’s The Outsiders – walks you through what it takes to keep one working eight shows a week. Hydration and sleep swap places at number one, alcohol and caffeine cost more than you think, and inspiration doesn’t get a vote when downbeat is 8pm. You’ll hear how a single college voice lesson with a head cold taught Victor to navigate around a compromised instrument years before he needed it on Broadway, and why nerves usually answer to preparation rather than talent. Book the room. Play your opener as the last song of soundcheck. Always Be Performing starts well before anyone’s watching.

    Then it gets nerdy. Victor breaks down what a swing actually is (think relief pitcher), and how he covered nine tracks at once before working his way up to playing Paul full-time. You’ll pick up forced perspective, the staging trick that tells an audience exactly where to look and translates straight to your own stage. Plus the band sealed in the pit under the apron, monitor wedges in the floor and sidefills in the wings, a rig that tracks each voice around the house, watching a Broadway book get written in real time, and Dave’s case for mixing your in-ears in stereo instead of piling everything up the middle. Victor’s last Outsiders show is October 11th, right around performance number one thousand…and he still tells himself this is the best job ever before every show.

    • 00:00:00 Gig Gab 548 – Monday, August 24th, 2026
    • 00:02:45 The voice is the most temperamental instrument
      • 00:06:04 The benefits of an education
      • Always Be Learning – Beginner’s Mind
    • 00:08:54 Learning to navigate around your voice when things are non-optimal
    • 00:13:28 Taking care of your voice
      • The most important thing is hydration.
      • Except Sleep is the most important thing.
      • Be aware of alcohol and caffeine
    • 00:17:01 Inspiration won’t always strike
    • 00:18:35 And taking care of your body
    • 00:20:55 Preparing yourself for success
      • Play your opener as your last soundcheck song before the house opens
      • You can visualize this, too!
      • Book the room to rehearse in advance
      • Always be preparing
      • Having a preparation mindset
    • 00:28:40 SPONSOR: Hims. With Wegovy® at Hims, lose up to 20% of your body weight when combined with diet and exercise. Visit https://hims.com/giggab to get a personalized, affordable plan that gets you.
    • 00:30:08 Being a Swing
      • Kinda like a relief pitcher
      • Nine tracks at once!
    • 00:33:33 Ok, a detour into musical theater and The Outsiders
    • 00:39:02 Forced Perspective
    • 00:43:12 Missing playing a non-voice instrument
    • 00:45:19 Playing with the band in a theater show
      • …without seeing your bandmates
    • 00:50:46 Watching the Broadway book being built
    • 00:56:11 Mixing a musical…and hearing it on stage!
      • Monitor wedges in the apron
      • Sidefills in the wings
      • Cody Spencer
    • 01:04:55 Previews are grueling, and great!
    • 01:05:45 Mix your in-ears in stereo
      • Nothing up the middle: kick one degree right, snare one degree left.
    • 01:07:43 Victor’s leaving The Outsiders after 2.5 years
      • Choosing your destiny…follow your gut
        • And make it happen!
      • Gratitude!
        • “This is the best job ever” before going on stage every time.
    • 01:12:37 Gig Gab 548 Outtro

    The post From Broadway Swing to Principal: Eight Shows a Week – Gig Gab 548 with Victor Carrillo Tracey appeared first on Gig Gab.

    24 August 2026, 7:05 am
  • 1 hour 13 minutes
    Matt Beck on Matchbox Twenty, The Outsiders, Hot Cocoa and a Green Tartan Suit
    Matt Beck on Matchbox Twenty, The Outsiders, Hot Cocoa and a Green Tartan Suit – Gig Gab 547

    Matt Beck taught himself guitar strung upside down and backwards and has never once found a reason to stop. He joins you this week from the pit of The Outsiders, where he’s played since opening night three years ago, and from a July that had him running Jon Anderson, the B-52’s, and Matchbox Twenty in the same month: seventies, eighties, and nineties, back to back to back. You’ll hear why a guitar player who can actually read on a staff gets calls other players never see, how orchestrators bury Easter eggs in a score, what it does to a band when the pit is closed and the audience only sees you on camera at the curtain call, and why the plight of the freelancer always comes down to the same thing: your calendar, and what you said yes to eight months ago.

    Then it’s the road stories. Matt traces twenty-three years with Matchbox Twenty back to a Lisa Loeb tour with Dweezil Zappa standing next to him, and the Zappa family connection that put his name in the right room. He talks about building parts alongside Bono and The Edge for the Spider-Man musical, writing live arrangements for Rod Stewart, and finally getting Sugarjar out the door with Richard Hammond and Sammy Merendino. You’ll also get a Matchbox soundcheck shut down by something nesting in the rafters, three cups of hotel cocoa and a green tartan suit that taught Matt everything he needed to know about a pre-show routine, and the discipline underneath all of it: on Band Geeks off-days, he ran the entire Jon Anderson show every single morning. Always be performing and, as Matt adds on his way out, always be practicing.

    • 00:00:00 Gig Gab 547 – Monday, August 17th, 2026
    • 00:03:48 Musicals trying to make it on to Broadway
    • 00:04:50 Theater work in NYC
      • Playing, orchestrating
      • “Play like Steve Gadd”
      • “Play like Steve Vai”
      • “A la Larry Campbell”
    • 00:09:45 Acknowledging the band
    • 00:11:56 Reading guitar on staff music
    • 00:14:36 Knowing your castmates
    • 00:15:59 Managing the schedules of multiple projects
      • Going from Jon Anderson to B-52’s to Matchbox Twenty…in a month!
    • 00:22:07 Logistics of travel on gig day
    • 00:24:37 Matchbox Twenty…23 years!
      • Got the call for…Lisa Loeb, alongside Dweezil Zappa.
      • And the Zappa family connection delivers, along with great networking.
    • 00:30:38 Studio vs. Live
    • 00:32:28 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
    • 00:34:15 Working with Bono and Edge on the Spiderman Musical
      • Creating those signature moments
    • 00:35:32 Live arrangements with Rod Stewart
    • 00:37:03 Creative collaboration is the key
    • 00:38:06 Playing in original bands as an informative piece of the career
    • 00:39:27 Learning how to be in a band
    • 00:40:24 Sugarjar, Matt’s 3 piece band
      • Richard Hammond
      • Sammy Merendino
    • 00:42:30 Learn to play every style authentically
      • And play with as many people as you can.
      • Diversify!
    • 00:45:01 Growing up with professional musician parents
    • 00:47:09 The risk of a day job
    • 00:48:21 As if a swarm of bees
    • 00:50:44 Slipping through the crowd in a green suit!
    • 00:54:47 Pre-show routines and biological imperative
    • 00:57:30 “If You’re Gone” – matchbox twenty
    • 01:02:08 Band Geeks and Jon Anderson…and Matt Beck
      • Off-day routine: run the show
    • 01:11:15 Gig Gab 547 Outtro

    The post Matt Beck on Matchbox Twenty, The Outsiders, & Hot Cocoa and a Green Tartan Suit – Gig Gab 547 appeared first on Gig Gab.

    17 August 2026, 7:05 am
  • 1 hour 22 minutes
    Hired From an 11-View Video: Sean Mullaney on Opportunity and Owning the Stage
    Hired From an 11-View Video: Sean Mullaney on Opportunity and Owning the Stage – Gig Gab 546 episode image

    Guest co-host Sean Mullaney joins Dave Hamilton to prove that the gig you want is usually hiding inside the gig you almost skipped. A video with eleven views got Sean hired, the same way a YouTube clip landed Alexandra Mullaney in The Book of Mormon, so the lesson is simple: put the work out there, then be ready to say yes when someone finds it. You’ll dig into managing your niche without getting trapped by it, and the bigger question every bandleader eventually faces: who do you want to be as a frontman? You can’t make a face unless you’ve seen it, so study the greats, then get authentic to who you actually are. Preaching from the stage is hard. Performing as yourself is harder, and better.

    Then things get deliciously specific. You’ll hear what it’s like to chase Robert Plant with Mr. Jimmy, where nobody’s speaking English, everybody’s in full costume, and the details are so meticulous that imposter syndrome becomes something you manage rather than something that eats you. Sean said no. Then Sean said yes…and ended up on a sold-out stage at the Whisky a Go Go, a little petrified because the stakes were higher. That’s the point. You’ll get the upcoming Whole Lotta Heart show, why theater runs are a fun grind, what happens when you make that first mistake in front of everyone, how to honor your influences by studying the film instead of copying the notes, and how to manage your voice so you can keep doing this. Always Be Performing! Even when nobody’s watching yet, because view number eleven might be the one.

    The post Hired From an 11-View Video: Sean Mullaney on Opportunity and Owning the Stage – Gig Gab 546 appeared first on Gig Gab.

    11 August 2026, 1:43 am
  • 1 hour 38 seconds
    Nobody Bought a Ticket to Watch Load-In
    Nobody Bought a Ticket to Watch Load-In – Gig Gab 545 episode image

    It’s just you and Dave this week for a full mailbag episode, with road stories up front: Matt Musty behind the kit with Train at Great Woods, three nights of Phish and Rush at MSG, and the Rush policy worth stealing: when a mistake is a one-off, don’t talk about it. Then into your questions. Should the front-of-house feed live in your in-ears? Here’s pre-fader versus post-fader, and why the answer’s usually no unless you’re a drummer. Maybe. Bass distorting in your IEMs? Start with gain structure, work down the chain one variable at a time, and suspect your earphones. Plus the cable fix for that hummy mono click, and the Zoom Q2n-4K for filming your gigs.

    Nobody bought a ticket to watch load-in. That old adage – you’re not paid to play, you’re paid to haul gear – gets retired here, because the performance is the product, and that’s exactly why we Always Be Performing. From there: sitting ahead of, behind, or dead on the click and why none of it’s wrong, how to stop cringing at your own stage videos using the Alter Ego Effect, and why demand for small-act live music has softened: drinking age, drinking habits, and the couch you’re competing against.

    • 00:00:00 Gig Gab 545 – Tuesday, August 4th, 2026
    • 00:01:20 Matt Musty with Train, then Phish/Rush/Phish at MSG
    • 00:03:31 Rush’s rule: don’t talk about a one-off mistake
    • 00:04:51 Frankie Valli tribute nights with The Underground
    • 00:05:46 Drums mushy in the wall the sound
    • 00:06:36 Issue Mackie DL32S
    • 00:10:49 Jeremy-What about adding the FOH mix to my IEM mix?
      • Pre-Fader vs. Post-Fader
    • 00:16:49 Glynn-Why is my bass distorting in my IEMs?
    • 00:23:42 Steve-Solving the mono click hum problem?
    • 00:27:42 Drew-Recording Your Gigs with a Zoom Q2n-4K
    • 00:31:50 Adam-Playing for free vs. being paid to load gear
    • 00:37:10 SPONSOR: Hims. With Wegovy® at Hims, lose up to 20% of your body weight when combined with diet and exercise. Visit https://hims.com/giggab to get a personalized, affordable plan that gets you.
    • 00:39:00 Joe-Playing with the click vs. ahead or behind
    • 00:44:54 Kim-How do I learn to control my body on stage?
    • 00:52:34 Noah Kirkeide-Why is demand for live music down?
    • 00:57:46 Drinking laws morphed during World Cup
    • 00:59:28 Gig Gab 545 Outtro

    The post Nobody Bought a Ticket to Watch Load-In – Gig Gab 545 appeared first on Gig Gab.

    4 August 2026, 7:19 pm
  • 1 hour 27 minutes
    When Your Worlds Collide...and the Drummer Becomes the Sound Guy
    When Your Worlds Collide — and the Drummer Becomes the Sound Guy – Gig Gab 544 with Dan East episode image

    Daniel East is back for a no-agenda episode that turns into Gig Gab therapy. You’ll hear about Brit Drozda’s fifth record in pre-production, unannounced pop-up gigs built from cajon, guitar, and keys, and the Rayvel grand opening on Florida’s Space Coast, where a rocket went up over the stage during Starman. Then Daniel gets into those moments of bliss you can’t fish for…the ones that arrive because you prepared enough to stop thinking. If you’re feeling it, they’re feeling it. And when a piece of the puzzle is missing, that’s your cue to admit a gig isn’t the right fit for you and be willing to walk.

    Then Dave takes the couch: three gigs in a row where he became the accidental sound savior. A theater where nobody knew how Dante was routed. An outdoor stage hard-panned left with monitors EQ’d to the disco smile. A club that handed him the iPad at line check. Daniel’s prescription: an expectations agreement when you don’t have a contract, an audio tech who also speaks IT, and permission to say no. Always Be Performing is real, but you set a standard, you don’t meet one.

    Plus: find your clock first, and Gear Gab on Earthworks drum mics, the Kompakt 421, and why a high-pass filter beats deep EQ cuts every time.

    The post When Your Worlds Collide…and the Drummer Becomes the Sound Guy – Gig Gab 544 with Dan East appeared first on Gig Gab.

    27 July 2026, 7:05 am
  • 1 hour 9 minutes
    The Wrong Audience Is Still an Audience: Freddy Vinehill-Cliffe on the Gigging Life
    The Wrong Audience Is Still an Audience: Freddy Vinehill-Cliffe on the Gigging Life – Gig Gab 543 episode image

    Episode 543 lands on National Fortune Cookie Day, and guest co-host Freddy Vinehill-Cliffe of NUGEN Audio opens by demystifying how your masters actually translate across streaming. You learn that MasterCheck lets you audition one master against every platform before release day blindsides you, because you should still submit a single master everywhere, not a separate file per service. From there you dig into possible reasons why Spotify felt so flat for so long, the crucial difference between data compression and dynamic compression as a way to tame your audio, and how compression ratios shape the result.

    Then Freddy flips to the gigging life: guitar and vocals in Thank, bass in the gleefully unappealing Solderer, touring Europe and the UK on DIY tours he’s been booking since 2014. You’ll chew on his theory that drummers can fake their way through a set more easily than anyone else, the cover-band mentality (Tommy Igoe’s gospel: he’ll teach you to play other people’s music, not your originals), and playing for the nerds who clock every groove (like the white-knuckle eleven-beat break in Steely Dan’s Josie).

    The throughline is reading the room, even when it’s the wrong room: sometimes the crowd’s on mushrooms, sometimes you just throw them a party regardless, and either way you Always Be Performing.

    The post The Wrong Audience Is Still an Audience: Freddy Vinehill-Cliffe on the Gigging Life – Gig Gab 543 appeared first on Gig Gab.

    20 July 2026, 7:05 am
  • 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
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    • 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
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