What is it about Nashville acts and their crews? It's like there must be something in the water, because I have met my share, and they are all accommodating, humble and just a joy to be around. And the Brad Paisley crew – Kevin Freeman (FOH, PM), Mark Gould (monitor engineer), Alex Moore (monitor tech, Pro Tools), Jim Miller (system tech) and Mike "Moses" Beck (fly guy) – are no exception.
They hit Las Vegas for a Saturday night show after being in L.A. the night before and with Phoenix looming the next night, and still found time to sit down (all of them) for a pre-show chat.
The boss's laid-back attitude extends to the tech crew and everyone is very comfortable with each other and the trust level is high. And the comfort thing? When the boss is into fishing, a boat company provides custom chairs for the studio guys that literally came out of a fishing boat. They're made to sit in for hours at a time and are not only comfy but look wicked cool. Added bonus…
FOH: So what are we carrying, rig-wise?
Kevin Freeman: VerTec. Mark's got the D-Show and I've got the Midas Heritage 2000.
Still on an analog console?
KF: (Points to gray hair and laughs) If I'm winning the war with the Heritage – and I took it out of the crate myself eight years ago. So I've had the same console all that time and I win the war with it every day. There is nothing out there that I can afford – that I want to afford – that is any better. Those guys (pointing to Alex and Mark) have the digital and the Pro Tools, so we can go either way.
Mark Gould: I switched from a PM5000 to the D-Show, and it was a little bit of a letdown, because there are not as many outputs. I ended up being a little limited on my outputs. I used to have three or four guest mixes – now I have one guest mix. But in the tradeoff, now I have virtual sound check, which is huge for me. The transition wasn't as hard for me as I thought it would be. It was harder to convince myself to do it than to actually do it. You know I just locked myself in a rehearsal hall at Sound Image and mixed the show four times a day for four days, came out and presented it to Brad, and until last week, there was no looking back. (There had been an issue the night before, and the client was less than happy with the monitor mix.)
You know, even though you automate, you can still have "hiccups." So it was great to be able to sit there with him and ask for a show where he had been happy. He said, "San Antonio," so I reloaded San Antonio, and away we went. That part of the digital thing is really cool.
Everyone is using Westone IEMs. We use three mono mixes of sidefills and subs for feel and then eight stereo IEM mixes. Feel is really important. He'll comment that when he steps away from his guitar amp, he loses the feel of it because he is used to it being behind him, so we have some wedges placed with some guitar kick and snare in them so he can get the feel. When he goes out onto the thrust, it thins out for him, but he doesn't comment on that. He knows that once he gets in front of the stage, it's no-man's land.
So is the act open to new ideas and approaches?
Jim Miller: It's cool to be able to experiment with new things and we're allowed to do that.
KF: We've been experimenting with the subs and stuff. And one thing that Sound Image does that I am 100 percent in favor of, because it really works, they take all these guys – everyone from the Nashville office, everyone from the Phoenix office, everyone who is an employee of Sound Image – fly them all to San Diego for a week, put them up out there and just do seminar after seminar after seminar. And these guys come back with a head full of ideas and they all work. Some are right for us and some aren't, but they all work. It's cool.
Tips for loud guitars and soft vocals…
KF: Brad sings about as loud as I'm talking. He doesn't sing real loud. He never has voice problems because he's not pushing it, but…
Hugh Johnson told me he has a similar issue with Vince Gill, who plays much louder than he sings.
KF: Brad and Vince are pretty similar, except Vince sings louder than Brad and Brad plays louder than Vince… We use a Shure Beta 58A which works for him. We have mics on the sides of the stage that are directly under the main PA hang and one at the end of the thrust that is 48 feet in front of the PA. It's touchy. He can move his head a little to one side, and I can feel the feedback wanting to start.
MG: I put a de-esser on it, which is funny. Brad's vocal won't set off a de-esser much. It doesn't have that sibilance. But the PA will set it off, so when he moves his head a little bit, and the PA hits that mic, you'll se the de-esser clamp right down on it. That saves me. I have always used a de-esser on his main vocal, because the Telecaster through two amps comes blasting through. so when he moves his head, the de-esser just catches that top 8K and gets rid of it without hurting you.
It sounds like you guys are all about consistency…
KF: Until a little while ago, when Brad hired his guitar tech to be in the band, the new guy had five years. And these guys (pointing to Alex, Jim and Moses) have it so dialed-in that the PA sounds just like it should all the time. I just go out there and take the credit, they do all the work.
