August 1, 2015 editorial: comments

Raining on My Parade

“Rain, rain, go away,” has become my mantra this summer — an unusually wet one in the Northeast — as bad weather has disrupted a number of my gigs. A couple of times I played outdoor shows, in the rain, with the band set up under a tent. In one, the tent was open-sided, and we had to rig up tarps behind the stage to keep the windblown rain from getting on our gear. In another, the tent material was clearly not designed to withstand much rain, and eventually the water began dripping through it and down onto our heads.

Most recently, I had a show that was cancelled due to a forecast of thunderstorms. Although I don’t like losing a gig, I’ll take that over standing in a thunderstorm holding an electric instrument. Thankfully, you rarely hear of a musician getting struck by lighting on the gig, but we often face potential shock danger due to the electrical gear we use onstage and/or substandard wiring at clubs or venues. 

My worst onstage shock story happened many years ago. I was in a local band that was opening a show for a national touring act. We weren’t given the opportunity to do a soundcheck, all we got was a perfunctory line check. When we started our set, I noticed that I was getting nasty shocks from the mic when I touched it while my hands were on my guitar strings. Usually in those situations, switching the ground on your amp takes care of the problem. But that night, it made no difference which way I set the ground switch, I was still getting zapped.

Because we were just a local opening band, I knew I didn’t have the option to stop the show to figure out what the problem was. The only way for me to avoid getting shocked was to keep far enough back from the mic when singing, so that I could be sure of not touching it with my mouth. Unfortunately, that meant I was too far back from the mic be loud enough in the monitors, and when I listened later to a recording of the show, I had, shall we say, some fairly major pitch issues. All in all, not one of the better gigs of my career.

Have you had live shows where rain or electricity, or both, were problematic? I’d love to hear your stories. Just click on the Comment link at the bottom of this editorial.

On another subject, I want to recommend that you check out the story “A Studio Where Tape is Still King”, which was posted just yesterday on Audiofanzine. The story features a video tour of a very cool, all-analog studio just outside of Nashville, TN. It’s real throwback place, filled with cool old gear. It was built in a funky old building that was originally a pharmacy, hence its name: Fry Pharmacy Recording. The studio owner invited some musicians at the studio the day we were shooting the video, so that we could hear the studio in action. I ended up getting drafted to play bass (which I tried hard to do without sounding like a guitarist playing bass, if you know what I mean). A recording was made and the engineer mixed it for us, and we ended up using it in the video. Hearing that music gives you a good idea of the sound and vibe of the studio. Hope you get a chance to watch.