2012 spring radio tour / 2012 summer tour journal

[J.Paul]

Wed Aug. 8th ~ Duschesne, UT

VENUE ~ fairgrounds grandstand

LOAD IN / SET-UP
~ one 12 x 12 hotel room to shower, camper, water, dinner
~ help was provided by county jail inmates in orange jumpsuits. Sorry...no pics my bad

cramped room

TEAR DOWN / LOAD-OUT
~ very complicated for me :
The strat and Tech 21 Blondie out of the vault and in the van in case I get an audition in Vegas next week
The acoustic from the trailer and my acoustic (from Steve) go in the Expedition
Protools, mac, hardrive, power, and cords (I recorded my monitor mix) to their case
.....as well as my usual guitar/amp breakdown, XLRs, and stage snakes to the racks

TECHNICAL
~ Jason's SVT is still out of commission (he's been direct since the Rock Springs show). He takes the head out of the vault (after the show) for repair in Vegas next week.
~ ground loop in Steve's acoustic guitar chain during soundcheck. Tony suspects the Fishman Aura.

FANS ~ saw a number of people singing the words to Gwen's originals

OTHER
~ Jason forgot his stage shoes in Vail and has to wear his load-in shoes (which are God-aweful) for the show
~ I go with Gwen and Louis in the Expedition (with the Taylor) to Salt Lake City. We have a 6:45 am morning show.The rest of the band tags along whenever to meet us for afternoon soundcheck for SLC.

bad shoes

GEAR STUFF : I ordered more (SIT) strings a week ago. Receiving is always tricky on the road.The shipping address is to my girlfriend's house in NE. (she is meeting me in Vegas on our week off and can bring them)...... they JUST shipped today. WTF?
NOTE : I ordered 24 packs.They shipped 24 individuals of each gauge. I had to take an hour of my time (including locating 48 rubber bands) to re-package them into "sets" (like they should have been to begin with)...perhaps this was disclosed to me when they were ordered. I don't know....doesn't matter. That's lame.

[sventvkg]

What are you auditioning for in Vegas, Maybe?

[J.Paul]

What are you auditioning for in Vegas, Maybe?

No one of I don't have some kind of gear with me
(once stuff is in the back of the trailer it's there until showtime).

Spending an off week in a major entertainment destination
W/out the ability to audition, sit-in, or open mic or ANYTHING - not a good policy
..... same principle as "always have your business card w you" or "always have your CD on you"
Always be ready.

[Leftcoast123]

That's excellent advice. And now we know why it was such a pain in a** to record that MP3 of your monitor mix...

Protools, mac, hardrive, power, and cords (I recorded my monitor mix) to their case

. Belated thanks BTW for posting that to the IEM Mix thread the other week. What about Louis and his drums for the week off?

[J.Paul]

Thurs Aug 9 ~ Salt Lake City, UT (opening for Kix Brooks)

Me, Gwen, and Louis arrived in SLC to check-in just after midnight.This was a show that had been booked as a result of one of our radio tour visits (months ago). Louis had been advancing it for weeks and no one could tell him ZILCH (even Kix's people didn't know the details). A social media guru chick
https://www.facebook.com/jessicanorthey had flown in (the night before) to do an "almost famous"- "day in the life of" type of feature on Gwen.

Jess

Me, Gwen, Louis, and Jess meet in the hotel lobby at 5:45 am to do a Fox TV spot. We swap hotels when we get back an hour later and sleep till noon. Now there are vehicle issues w/ the Expedition (which is hauling the trailer w/ our gear).... with the truck now in the shop Louis has to bribe the dealership to let him take a vehicle (w/ enough torque to haul the 12,000 lbs) so we can make 3pm load-in.
At load-in we are now told it will be an acoustic set (which would have been nice to know 11,800 lbs ago). We check, then run some problem areas at the hotel (there isn't a trailer or camper). Eat (courtesy of our record company since there isn't catering at the venue). We are told the acoustic sets are to keep the set turnarounds to a minumum so Kix doesn't lose momentum (it take us less than 5 minuetes to strike the stage)..... an hour and 20 minuetes after we are done (when the sun is down) Kix starts his set......would have been nice to have played a full band electric set.....has anyone seen my vasoline?

VENUE ~ I don't know...somewhere big

LOAD IN / SET-UP
~ good help, good ramp...neither of which we need since we are acoustic now.
~ no water
~ no catering
~ no camper or trailer (the other acts can chill in their buses)
~ the fire marshall orders us (and the other band before us) to relocate our merch while the first band is playing (the point person for the event has'nt thought about this bull{censored}?)

TEAR DOWN / LOAD-OUT
~ were ready to leave immediately afterwards but stayed to wait for merch (more than an hour). See "other"

MUSIC
~ good set from me (nice pocket, good harmonies)
~ good set from the others

TECHNICAL
~ Tony (and Louis) did not like the FOH sound or the wireless vocals (they both sounded like ass from Kix too IMO)

FANS
~ noticed a smattering of audience singing along to Gwen's songs
~ see "other"

OTHER
~ if darkness and lighting were the issue w/ Kix waiting so long before he started, the radio station / promoter should have moved the whole show back an hour. It robbed our chance for a full band electric set in front of a crowd that CAME to see a CONCERT (something we haven't seen much of this summer).... on the other hand by waiting so long in between bands Gwen sold exponentially more merch (and got to meet way more peeps) than she would have if it had been the standard 20-30 minuetes set-change.....OH! I found my vaseline, now bend over.
~ The next day the Expedition is still in the shop. Band and crew leave for a week off in Vegas in the Sprinter. Gwen and Louis wait on the truck.

stage left


stage right

NOTE: HC keeps logging me out (making these journal entries a pain to post)...... it is 10 days later before I have time and patience to try again to post while on the road.

[J.Paul]

Aug 11-17 off in Vegas

view from Stratosphere hotel

note : it is cheaper to stay in the region (in Vegas) that it is to go back home (for off days) and then back for shows.

~buy Craigslist Carvin PA
~rendevous with girlfriend (get strings that were shipped to her)
~do Vegas things
~work on acoustic solo stuff
~ buy douche baggy shirt for Jersey Shore show next week

Oh the irony

[J.Paul]

This week's schedule is brutal. Here's a quick snapshot :

Mon~ Gwen has been doing Blake Shelton shows all weekend. She flies in to meet us in Rapid City after soundcheck. Opening for Rodney Atkins. Tear down-load out and leave by 8:30, in bed by 10pm.

Tues~ up at 3:40 am. fly to New Jersey for a club show for a radio station. Drive an hour to the hotel

Wed~ leave at 9:30am. Drive 4 hours to West Virginia. Play a 3 set casino show for a radio station (most of this material we haven't played in a year).

Thurs~ leave hotel at 5:30am. Band flies back to Rapid City. Gwen and I fly to Nashville and drive (an hour) to Cookeville for a radio show at a winery....post this on HC while waiting on plane.

Fri~ fly out of Nashville at 7:10 am for Bismark, ND.

Sat ~ play with band in Lisbon, ND

Sun~ drive 2 days back to Nashville for a few days

Ready?
Ok here we go............

[jcpatte2]

 

2 questions:

 

1) What is the pedal in the bottom middle of this board?

 

2) I see the T.C. Electronic Flashback Delay and I have to wonder if he is just using this as some sort of set it/forget it slapback because I have the TC Electronic Alter Ego and while I absolutely love the small footprint and sounds that come out of this unit..... I cannot stand the "audio tapping" strum feature for setting the tempo and find it almost completely useless in a live setting, especially if I have to start the song (without click) or need to change the tempo mid-song [because it mutes the sound]. Argh! Angry Face.

 

These frustrations, coupled with my new Pedaltrain Nano + Mono Cases gigbag, has resulted in my quest as of late to find the absolute smallest footprint delay pedal with note subdivisions and either tap tempo or a tap tempo input like this mythical, magical Cusack Mini No-Tap-A-Delay Pedal that was rumored on the Interwebs but as of yet hasn't come to fruition.

 

 

Thoughts?

[J.Paul]

These frustrations, coupled with my new Pedaltrain Nano + Mono Cases gigbag, has resulted in my quest as of late to find the absolute smallest footprint delay pedal with note subdivisions and either tap tempo

 

 

Can't have everything....

If price isn't an issue it's easier to circumvent quality, and real estate.

I like my Time Factor - it taps in fine and has some funky sub division

options BUT it's big it's heavy and the power requirements are odd.

That Cusak is pretty smalllll.

[J.Paul]

Monday Aug 20th Rapid City, SD ( opening for Rodney Atkins)

VENUE ~
~I dunno....some big stage on dirt somewhere

LOAD IN / SET-UP
~ good crew, good ramp, trailer, water, catering, hotel
~ Rodney's band calls me out for soundchecking on "Bark at the Moon". Busted.
~ Louis never brought the hardcase for my pedaltrain (which makes tomorrow's flydate a bit more involved).

TEAR DOWN / LOAD-OUT
~ good help
~ This isn't a standard tear down for me. There wasn't room in the trailer to bring a dedicated flydate rig. I grab a number of chords and opt not to use AC power. I grab the bb+, timmy, tone press, a spare VP Jr., and tuner. I also get the Blondie as a spare and potential lead boost (although I've not heard it in this capacity, the Radial only accepts ac power and I don't have my RC booster w/ me ...so I guess we'll see at soundcheck tomorrow).
~ I am interpreted as douchey by the stage hands. At minuete 4 of tear down three or four of the hands want to start moving my stuff and chords. My teardown is typically done in 3 minuetes and then I start coiling snakes and xlrs....but today I am focusing on the aformentioned flydate stuff and it takes an extra 4 minuetes.....minuetes that I don't have to explain how and what to breakdown.

MUSIC
~ good set for not playing for a couple of weeks.
~ Gwen blows a "You and I" verse and scats until she recovers

TECHNICAL
~ no ground loop present in the Fishman today (see power from Duchesne, UT show)
~ Jason's SVT is out of the shop (from Vegas), has been re-tubed and now - sounds like Joey from Man-o-War.

FANS
~ a number of people mouthing the words to "Motel Room" as well as a few other originals
~ I'm told we got a standing ovation (I end the show with a quick wave and instantly transform into "stage tech tear down guy" so I have no concept or focus of what else is happening in or with the crowd).

OTHER
~ Shaker McQuarry is not visible all day and doesn't seem to be playing w/ Rodney anymore (deported back to Canada)
~ lots of compliments from folks
~ the promoter has now scheduled us to open for a headliner he hasn't booked yet
~ Gwen announces to the crowd that we've debuted on Billboard at 59 today
~ mucho gtr rig gear talk w/ Rodney's video/light tech Zak from Nashville. Nice guy.

soundcheck

[Potts]

Hey Man! I just wanted to tell you I just started reading these posts and I really enjoy your road stories. Keep it up and travel safe brother!

[J.Paul]

Hey Man! I just wanted to tell you I just started reading these posts and I really enjoy your road stories. Keep it up and travel safe brother!

 

 

Thanks man,

just trying to keep it real,

although there IS a little self promotion involved

it's MAINLY trying to give the behind the scenes perspective

(anyone can get the "hype version" from her website or Facebook).

 

There have been a number of things this year that would have been good in the journal (her relationships w/ Miranda, Raelynn, Juliet Simms, ....agency options, radio promo politics, security issues) but it's too public of a medium.

 

It's odd because in some areas she is a star (now) and it's legit,

but in most places she's still just "the contracted talent that could be something someday".I've also done a bad job of emphasizing the unity and collective spirit of everyone involved (on the road), which is (as many of us in this forum know) hard to get x amount of people moving in the same stream for x amount of time.

[J.Paul]

Tues Aug 21st (Point Pleasant Beach, NJ aka Jersey Shore)

 

 

VENUE ~ Jenks Club

 

LOAD IN / SET-UP

~ food, water, upstairs changing room

~ good acoustic dude finishing up his afternoon set (using a Gigeasy, Ipad, and Ultimate Guitar tabs).

I sent him to the solo/duo forum here.

 

TEAR DOWN / LOAD-OUT

~ no problum mon (no production, just got pedals and guitars w/ me)

 

MUSIC

~ felt good for most of it.

~ zero blend or pocket with harmonies tonight. Being on club level monitors is a shock to our system and BGVs just get yelled and blurted out (note to self : earplugs dumbass). Sidefills would be nice.

~ brain fart by yours truly on the diamonds after the "Separate Ways" solo

 

TECHNICAL

~ 2 Mesa Boogie Lonestars as backline

~ Jason's synth pedal (for "You and I" intro) did not survive the flight and is down soldering surgery

~ backline by SIR New York

~ this is the pedal setup I ended up using (note: the Blondie did NOT work well as a lead boost)

 

 

FANS

~ very few at the club (not enough to warrant a rebooking) but great reactions from the peps that were there. The signing table was swamped for an hour afterwwards...

~ Jersey fisherman dude (Larry) hanging out with us after the show. Heard "Motel Room" on the radio that afternoon, liked the song and drove from Staten Island for the show. He has never been to that club before.

 

OTHER

~ I wear the most douchey shirt I could find in Vegas and fit right in tonight......ok that statement is not quite fair, no guidos are sighted tonight (but Friday is only a few days away).

~ the radio peeps are over the moon and are lifetime fans now. It would have been nice to come into a club we'd never played on a weekday, pack it, and rebook for a better slot BUT the goal was to please and appease the radio folk which was achieved. However, numerous local Facebook people respond to Gwen the next day saying that they didn't know she was playing. This area only has ONE country station.... perhaps the show was underpromoted?

~ drive an hour to tonight's hotel afterwards

~ good opening chick Rachel Allyn.

 

GEAR STUFF

~ the Taylor (acoustic) case is now ripping. 3 solid years of service......

~ The Zoom 3QHD is useless w/out the accessory pack (charger and windscreen). There has been too much wind at the outside shows and none of the areas have a place that have even heard of a Zoom so the accessory pack damn sure isn't in stock (YES I probably could have gotten one on my week of in Vegas but my girlfriend didn't fly in to do errands with me). I buy a .50 cent panty hose from a thrift store and solve the windscreen problem.

[Jcor]

I enjoyed reading your posts. Is there a fall tour?

[TIMKEYS]

Thanks man, just trying to keep it real, although there IS a little self promotion involved it's MAINLY trying to give the behind the scenes perspective (anyone can get the "hype version" from her website or Facebook). There have been a number of things this year that would have been good in the journal (her relationships w/ Miranda, Raelynn, Juliet Simms, ....agency options, radio promo politics, security issues) but it's too public of a medium. It's odd because in some areas she is a star (now) and it's legit, but in most places she's still just "the contracted talent that could be something someday".I've also done a bad job of emphasizing the unity and collective spirit of everyone involved (on the road), which is (as many of us in this forum know) hard to get x amount of people moving in the same stream for x amount of time.

 

 

The most valuable thing this thread has illustrated is just how hard an artist and the band works out there on the road. Many look at gwen and the band as overnight success stories. You guys have busted your butts to get to this level for years. Gwen is a great entertainer and has a super band backing her up. Thanks for sharing.

[J.Paul]

I enjoyed reading your posts. Is there a fall tour?

 

Hi..cool, thanks.

No there isn't a fall tour.

There is a video, an album, 1 or 2 band dates, some radio shows here and there.....

This time of year is normally filled with clubs, casinos, and showcases but the business model has changed (since The Voice) and so has nature of the work. I (most probably) will not do anymore tour journals (if and when there is another another one) but will continue to post stuff that I'm doing, playing, or going through (fails and victories) just like everyone else here.

[J.Paul]

In the past couple (?) of weeks we have been home for a few days then out on weekends for spot dates, then back home for weekdays then out for a weekend (which were still considered "summer tour" dates). The times I've tried to make these journal entires (in the past couple of weeks) the forum hasn't been accessible (maintenance? webmasters cleaning earwax and scratching balls?). Some of the purpose for this journal is to document and remember as well as share stuff w/ the forum peeps

[KindredDuo]

Yeah, I've enjoyed this too. Thanks. It really struck me how grueling the whole touring thing is, and how little help you guys get along the way. I toured Europe once with the Buffalo Philharmonic and we were pampered like you wouldn't believe. Just show up at the bus at 9AM, walk where they pointed, and play when the conductor hit the downbeat.

[FitchFY]

INow that I am home, I don't have nearly as much expendable time to screw around w/ this stuff for hours at a time, but the log is incomplete so I'm hoping to complete these entries (now that the server is working again) sometime in the next few days.

 

 

Looking forward to them!

[nchangin]

Yes very interesting reading all of this, I'd be curious to see pictures of your drummers kit and what he uses for equipment, tuning, transport and storage, Thanks again!

[Christhee68]

I saw Gwen on ABC TV last night singing with Blake Shelton at some huge football stadium. I said to my wife, "Hey, look! There's Gwen!"

 

She says, "Who's Gwen?"

 

"I'm friends with her guitarist, J. Paul."

 

She says, "How do you know him?"

 

"I've never actually met him, but we're friends on this thing called...oh never mind."

[Yer Blues]

Just curious if when you are back home do you have a coverband you play with or anything? Or do you just relax and take some time off?

 

This thread has been great reading.

[J.Paul]

Yes very interesting reading all of this, I'd be curious to see pictures of your drummers kit and what he uses for equipment, tuning, transport and storage, Thanks again!

 

 

Louis has a Pork Pie endorsement and plays a custom kit they made for him.

It sounds stellar (when miced up). The snare seems to actually disperse much of the sound differently (as stated in their promo). He has a drum vault that is similar to our guitar vaults. I think everything goes in there (except for the rack which travels against the trailer wall......or maybe that was last year. I don't remember.). He uses all internal micing for the live shows .... not sure about tuning . I can't remember if he still uses the double bass pedal and I'm not sure why you need one in a country band. He's got lessons and stuff on youtube at drumlouis

 

We were supposed to get a few promo pics and some quick video for Pork Pie but everything was so dirty everywhere we went he didn't want to send them dirty pictures.

 

There might be some pics of the kit and the inside of the trailer at

http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b96/underthecovers2005/summer%20tour%202012/

pass word

harmonycentral

[J.Paul]

I saw Gwen on ABC TV last night singing with Blake Shelton at some huge football stadium.................... "I've never actually met him, but we're friends on this thing called...oh never mind."

HA ! ....

[J.Paul]

Just curious if when you are back home do you have a coverband you play with or anything? Or do you just relax and take some time off? This thread has been great reading.

 

 

I do an acoustic solo thing called "Paul FM"

http://jpaulmusic.com/paul_fm

 

and I have a little 80s-ish cover band that does occasional local weekends.

It use to be called Stereohype and then was MarsHill. They changed the name while I was gone and I didn't know (until we loaded in for last week's club) that it is now called Big Bamm Boom.We use the drummer from Whiteheart, the original Rick Springfield keyboard player and the 2nd Chapter of Acts bassist