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[A Man]

Hey, it can't all be rock-n-roll with line arrays and digital consoles!  



My friend owns a small PA company in St. Augustine FL and asked if I wanted to go do a little bluegrass fest with him. I said sure as I have known Bill for ages and, quite frankly, I could use the cash. I'm glad I did as (most of) the players were awesome pickers and it was a very laid back gig. Everyone there were really nice and a pleasure to work with.
We did 5 vocal mics (Heil Pro40...awesome!), 5 Shure 57's and 5 DI's. Not your typical 'everyone gather around one mic' bluegrass but the players would step in and out of their mics to control their dynamics and only 3 players used the DI's.

I used no gates or compressors and don't think I ever exceeded 89dBA.  


The stage. Yes the 'roof' is off center but the organizers wanted the PA stacked where it is. 2 EAW 650's over 2 proprietary 2x18" subs with Showco 450's for infill.


I felt bad for the guy in the Smokey the Bear suit. It was 98F with 96% humidity.


After we got the PA stacked someone decided some hay and pumpkins were needed. At least they didn't put it right in front of the sub or hang a banner in front of it like they did the other side.    


It was a fun gig and I think I have a new found appreciation for bluegrass. (I used to hate it)

[Stavross (Sam Buck)]

[Tim Weaver]

[Tim McCulloch]

"What has 50 legs and 5 teeth?"

The front row at the banjo player's workshop.

Badda bing!

Actually, one of my favorite gigs is a 4 day bluegrass fest.  Great players, some incredible performances and good songwriting.  A fair number of young players still come into the genre with major chops.  It's great to see and hear.

Glad you had a good time, Jon.  When you come through here on your next rock gig we can trade banjo jokes.

Have fun, good luck.

Tim Mc

[Tom Reid]

I was brought up on bluegrass from my dad's side of musical taste.
Foggy Mountain Breakdown still gets the hair on the back of my neck to stand up ...I go looking fer my shotgun.

[Dick Rees]

My preferred warm-up before playing bluegrass would be to jay-walk on the freeway to get my adrenalin up.  I once slapped the fingerboard right off my bass on the first # from being a bit over-amped.  Finished the job by tying the fingerboard back on with my bootlaces.......two frets.......

[trace knight]

Trip, sometimes slummin' it ain't that bad, now is it?

tk

[Don Boone]

I wouldn't woory to much about Smokey the Bear. Most folks that wear thick suits use Ice Vests.

Don

[Rob Ottaviano]

Stavross (Sam Buck) wrote on Mon, 12 October 2009 19:54

He's my fav

[Robert Sims]

[John Norris]

Yew got a purty mouth.

[Tom Reid]

Awww dudes, an outside gig with bluegrass is a sweet alternative to gain some audio chops.

Okayyyy ...there's no kick input, what now Earl?
Kick may be supplied by foot stompin'.
No foolin.

No problem, your overheads are going to be used for a different job today too.

Bass is coming from the niether regions with acoustic bass.

Stage noise is very visible since nothing is coming into a microphone from extreme SPL cabs.

Every singer can sing.
Period.
Yodels are singing too.

Also, there's almost no need to notch out one instrument to make it fit in the mix. Every voice in the spectrum is made to fit together naturally.

A good percentage of the crowd will be musicians too.
A two day affair is usually a good party in between shows on the grounds with more music.  Ya can't help but like people at a bluegrass fest.

[Jay Barracato]

Tom Reid wrote on Mon, 12 October 2009 22:29

A good percentage of the crowd will be musicians too. A two day affair is usually a good party in between shows on the grounds with more music.  Ya can't help but like people at a bluegrass fest.

+1 Thats where you'll find me.

Jay

[mark anderson]

I made the switch from rock to Bluegrass 15 years ago. It's a different beast for both the musicians and the sound crew.

The musicians have to know how to mix themselves as the fills jump in and out too quickly to have a sound person make the changes.

The sound person has to know to set it and forget it. Once the system lets everyone be heard, let the band do the mixing. I often hear from sound people who are new to bluegrass that it's "boring" because they don't get to actively "mix" the band.

I think it would be good if rock musicians and bluegrass musicians crossed paths more often. Maybe bluegrass musicians would learn to trust the sound person more and the rock musicians might learn dynamics and a proper stage mix. I would save problems for a lot of people.

[Dick Rees]

Mark Anderson wrote on Wed, 14 October 2009 12:34

I made the switch from rock to Bluegrass 15 years ago. It's a different beast for both the musicians and the sound crew.

I made the transition from bass to accordion 30 years ago.  Now instead of standing up and playing with both hands I sit down and add the bass part with the middle finger of my left hand.

[Jack Arnott]

I think it would be good if rock musicians and bluegrass musicians crossed paths more often. [/quote]

Which reminds me....
Q) What's the difference between rock bands and bluegrass bands?

A) The rock band can play all night without tuning, and the bluegrass band can tune all night without playing.

Regards, Jack

[Winston Gamble]

John Norris wrote on Tue, 13 October 2009 04:10

Yew got a purty mouth.

DOHHH!!!
We have a local band called Purdy Mouth and all these years it never hit me where the name came from till now.

I may be slow, but I'm dumb too. Winston