Mixing It Up - Thoughts

Fair week is insane. It is a high energy, non-stop party. It is not some crazy frat party, but it is a gathering/party that only happens once a year for many people and they take advantage of it. I am not as tired as I thought I'd be, but I am pretty gone. I really enjoyed myself. I love engineering! So, to do what I love 14 hours a day for a week, is pretty awesome. I love the crew I worked with and Garon(owner of the sound company) is an awesome Christian guy that loves what he does as well. So here are some thoughts from the week...

-There are some great country tunes, but I still am not a huge fan of country music.

-Coors Light smells like pee

-Have you ever seen a cow take a shower and then get blow dried with an 18" comb and an air compressor? I have.

-13 year old girls can dress like sluts(does that sound harsh? Oh well, I am a Dad and I mean it.)

-I have never seen so much crack in one place in my entire life!!!

-If you ever have a chance, you have to try a deep fried candy bar. But don't say I didn't warn you.

-I hate "musician attitude"! I refuse to have that in our worship ministry.

-I really missed my wife

-I really missed my kids

-Carnies should have their own country...or should I say planet.

-Why is it okay for cows to crap wherever they want and no one cleans it up?

-What really happened in the 60's and 70's, cause everyone that really "lived" in that age, seem to not be able to remember anything.

-Are there no dentists in our valley???


I could go on forever, but maybe I should stop there. It could get even uglier. So I said I'd post a couple of pics, but I have one I want to post right now. Here is my bro running the stage on Saturday night with Joan Jett in the background. He's a stud!

Mixing It Up - Day 6

It is finished! That is all...

Mixing It Up - Day 5

I'm exhausted!

This was a long day. I think mostly cause my body is getting tired. I seriously leave my chair at the console a total of about 30 minutes in the 14 hour day. We have 6-7 bands a day and there is 20-30 minutes time between a band ending and a band starting. It's crazy.

We stayed late tonight to pack the main stage out. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts were on the main stage tonight. I am really proud of my brother. They roped him into running Monitors for the concert. After the concert, the manager(who was also the keyboard player) said it was one of the best monitor shows they have had and got my bro's phone # and gave my bro his business card. Very cool. Maybe some options down the road. My bro has worked hard and he is good and it is getting noticed...nice!

So, it is 1:15. My first band was this morning at 10AM. My first band tomorrow is at 10AM. I just walked in the door, had a glazed donut and now I am going to take a quick shower and go to bed.

I'll fill you guys in with more details and pics tomorrow!

Goodnight.....

Mixing It Up - Day 4

I can't believe day 4 is gone. Only 2 more days. It has flown by. We had a pretty quiet day today. No big events on the main stage. They had "Fair-A-Palooza". Kind of a big gig for local bands. My brother mixed FOH for them and had a great time on the main system. For any techies out there, the main system is...

18-L-Acoustics DvDosc Cabs
10-L-Acoustics SB28 Dual Subs
Monitors are L-Acoustics 12XT's
Lab Grubben power amps
FOH Console-Yamaha PM5d
Mixing Console-Soundcraft Series Five

Cool stuff!

Tomorrow night is Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. that should be a kick.

Mixing today for me was, a bluegrass quintet, Brass Band, 2-Blues bands and 2-Country Bands. Nothing fancy, but some solid groups. I had a lot of fun with one of the blues bands, "Masters of the Obvious". Funny guys, lots of jokes from stage and they had a great lead player, so that was fun. It was very sweet, Taylor Rose was back today. She was playing the small stage today and she and her family came over to say hi. Nice family.

Food was OK today, although the Mac-n-Cheese was good. And I had an awesome chocolate chunk cookie! No big bands, so they slacked off a little.

Alright, tomorrow I get to "herd cats" again. I cannot believe the "Old Time Fiddlers" are back for a 3rd time. I guess they've kind of grown on me. Tomorrow should be fun. I've got 2 loud rock bands! I like!

Mixing It Up Day 2

So today was fun! To start out, the food rocked today. For lunch I had Chicken Marsala, Salad and Fruit. For dinner I had, Beef Stroganoff, Baked Potato, Salad and for dessert...Tiramisu. Awesome. The main act tonight was Phil Vasser with opening act Josh Gracin(the American Idol dude). The crew had a great day with these artists and their staff. A lot different than last night's chaos with the Lynard Skynard crew.

There was a strange event today though. Behind the main stage area is a small pond. My boss(this week), brings his houseboat during the fair and just sleeps on it, because of his need to be around 24 hrs a day. He was sitting on the boat and heard someone screaming that a lady was drowning. Sure enough a lady was in the water behind his boat. He headed out to her, just in time to grab her as she was going under and pulled her to shore. The lady was blue and not breathing. The EMT's showed up and eventually she was doing well. Turns out she was high on Meth and she and her boyfriend were trying to cross to the other side of the pond and it was too cold and she almost drowned. Talking to my boss was interesting. He is still pretty shaken up, but really felt(because of a bunch of things leading up to the event) that God had placed him there today just to save that ladies life. Pretty cool.

So, I mixed a solo acoustic act today. He was actually one of our weathermen a couple years back. Nice guy, strong personality, I'll leave it at that. After that, we had a group of about 25 senior citizens called "The Old Time Fiddlers". I was warned that mixing this group would be the equivalent of "herding cats". Great analogy...dead on! There were a couple in the group that were very talented, but, only a couple. I get to open with them again tomorrow. The next band was called "The Screaming Gulch". These guys were a scream. They are a rockabilly band with an emphasis on crazy. Very funny guys and great musicians. Kind of a treat was that Dave Maddox of the original Maddox Brothers sat in for a couple of songs. This guys is a legend. Johnny Cash once opened for the Maddox Brothers. Check them out.We had a great country band today. Nice mix of modern and traditional country. The vocalists were great and the band was tight. Next to last were the "Rhythm Kings". These guys are amazing. They are a blues band. they are tight, loud, and Dave, the lead singer has got a great deep rich blues voice. Very fun. I have to say now that as the day went on, the PA got a little louder as each band got up and as each band got better. At the end of the blues set, I thought I couldn't go louder, but the last band was amazing! It was a solo act with a great band. Her name is Debra Arlyn. I would say she is a cross between Maroon 5 and Alysha Keys. If you haven't heard of Debra, I really believe you will. She has an amazing voice, she's a great keyboard player and I can't say enough about her band. I would expect to hear her on the radio at anytime. I hope they make, it, cause there is a niche for them. They sounded great!

So tomorrow brings some new bands and new adventures. I will try and get more pics up tomorrow. We've got a bunch.

Mixing It Up Day 1

I believe that most people who write blogs are always looking for a story. After a day at the Jackson County Fair, I have 100's. That place is crazy. Constant activity, people of all types, teenagers trying to hook up with other teenagers(this is really funny to watch!) and cows. Lots of cows and pigs and goats(oh my...).

I had a blast today. The "job" was pretty easy today I will be mixing 7 different acts a day. Today I only had a bluegrass duo, a blues duo, 2 guys with acoustics, a clown, a dance troupe and a country band. I was bummed there was only 1 band, but tomorrow I have 7 bands, starting with a bluegrass/fiddle group consisting of 12 "seniors". that should be fun. The closing band tonight went 20 minutes past there time, but the crowd from the Lynard Skynard concert had just let out and they were beer'd up and rowdy, so the band kept playing. It was pretty fun. Lots of Hank Williams and a little Garth to close it up. I'm not much of a country music guy, but after seeing it live, I think I get it a little bit.

Some bummers though. the fair board has been making really poor decisions...in my opinion...over shows coming in, marketing and there is just a general "biting the hand the feeds you" thing going on. My brother was policing the FOH engineer for the Lynard Skynard concert and there was almost a brawl over volume regulations(the Lynard Skynard crew was not too nice!!!). After doing his job, my bro found out that the Fair Board had asked them to do one thing and had told the Lynard Skynard crew another. They fed my brother to the lions...NOT COOL! I do believe there will be some things going down between the sound company and the fair. It's too bad. Garon Lee Sound(who I am working for this week) is run by a great crew of guys with complete integrity. If you ever need anything for live sound and rental...call Garon Lee Sound in Jacksonville Oregon!

Alright, back to the good. Here are some pics...

Here is my ride for the week...


Notice what it says...CEO and VIP Shuttle...Pimpin'


Dinner...Salmon...Green Room...Skynard knows how to eat, or at least they know what to ask for.


This is my offcie for the week!

Mixing It Up

So I am on vacation this week (kind of) to do something I love. Many of you know that before I was a Pastor, I worked as an audio engineer. I did mostly studio work, but spent quite a bit of time mixing live bands. I miss it, but my responsibilities at TRF let me keep my hands in it.

So this week I will be mixing the dinner stage for the Jackson County Fair. I am really looking forward to being outside all week (looks like we will have cooler weather) and also meeting people from around our region. It will be a great opportunity to tap into the Southern Oregon music scene and see what's going on. Even if it is a little "Southern Oregon"...it should be fun.

I'm basically working from 10-10, so I will post up each evening with some pics of what the day looked like. You should have something in your email or reader when you get up each morning.

I am also reading through this weeks book for "Reading Rainbow". I've got a couple chapters down already, and it's a smaller book, so I'm not stressing about this one, even with my fair schedule.

Wish me luck...and I am sure I will need a little patience dealing with some of the infamous "music" crowd.