Covention Reports

Jerry Hayes R.I.P. · Post by **Jerry Hayes R.I.P.** » 7 Sep 2004 3:58 am

I had a great time this year with my new wife and seeing some old friends. About the young blind boy (Jonathan Candler) I was totally impressed with him. I was in the Fulawka room while he was playing one day. He did Stormy Monday and played some hot blues licks. Then he played "Girl from Ipanema" on the E9th neck no less and was very impressive. I'd love to hear him on his own guitar if he plays this good on a strange one. I understand he's only 12 years old. It was great seeing my old friends from the SoCal days, Blackie Taylor and Gene Fields. Ol' Blackie just doesn't ever age at all. He looks just like he did 40 years ago. I enjoyed Sara Jory in the Peavey room for her set especially the slide guitar thing she did on Amazing Grace, WOW, she used the slide from both sides of the neck. One of the players that impressed me the most was Mike Sigler. I'd never heard him before but on the HOF show on Thursday night he played the GFI Student Model guitar that they were raffling off. He played everything they threw at him and did it great. Also he sang "Statue of a Fool". I don't think I've ever heard a steel player that sang that well. This guy's going to be one of the heavies of the steel world if he isn't already. One of my favorite moments was in the Jimmy Crawford/Russ Hicks set when Doug Jernigan was up there with them. Jimmy Crawford said about Doug "When I thing I'm getting really hot on this thing, he comes along and cuts me down to size and prays for me at the same time"!!!! Ol' Jimmy is one cool player. When I got home I took out my old "Ton of Steel" album and played it again. I was dissapointed again that Maurice Anderson didn't get into the HOF but that's another story, and I guess a sore subject with some but I think he should have been one of the first in there. Have a good 'un....JH

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Livin' in the Past and the Future with a 12 string Mooney Universal tuning.

Charles Curtis · Post by **Charles Curtis** » 7 Sep 2004 5:34 am

It would be great if someone would post more pics of the artists.

Ron Page · Post by **Ron Page** » 7 Sep 2004 5:35 am

I just wanted to add my 2 cents to the sound discussion. I think the criticism is a bit out of bounds, choice of words aside. Joan Cox, for one, didn't have any trouble reaching beyond the back row. She put the steel right in our faces there Saturday night with a fine set.

I had trouble hearing the audio--not the steel--whenever I was at either SIDE of the room. I notice that down the middle of the room the audio sounding much more crisp and clear. I mentioned this to Bill Furguson on Saturday morning and, although Bill doesn't run the audio, something was changed shortly thereafter that improved the audio to the sides of the room.

It's a tough job to satisfy so many sets of ears and so many opinions. I had a great time again this year.

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HagFan

Joey Ace · Post by **Joey Ace** » 7 Sep 2004 5:56 am

I deleted several posts above because members were taking personal shots at each other.

Please abide by the Forum Rules or you will loose posting priveledges.

Jim Phelps · Post by **Jim Phelps** » 7 Sep 2004 9:23 am

. [This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 17 November 2004 at 07:50 PM.]

Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 7 Sep 2004 10:26 am

Just to comment on the sound. That's a very, very hard room to control. The PA needs to sit low because of back-wall reflection issues. That can sometimes make it loud up front and quiet in back. Many of the comments were about not being able to hear the Steel player speaking, but in my experience, that happens every year. There's an art to speaking into a mic clearly and that's not always a steel player's forte and it's also not always something a soundman can help. I heard Eddie Stubbs very clearly and could almost always hear the steel nice and clear. Voice talent! There were a few players who's steels were a bit hard to hear, but they were incredibly soft on stage so it's a bit tricky to balance the stage and PA in that situation. If you thought Bobby Caldwell was too loud, it's because he plays at a pretty full stage volume. If the steel player is too quiet, it's hard to get them balanced overall. I thought the sound was generally pretty decent, all things considered.

Brad Sarno

Walter Stettner · Post by **Walter Stettner** » 7 Sep 2004 10:50 am

No complaints about the sound from my side - I had my usual place right in front of the stage, on the floor (some of my body parts start protesting after a few hours but I don't listen to them

)

The musical quality was stellar, no matter if you like C-6th jazz playing, E-9th country stuff or non pedal Hawaiian styles, there was a good balance of everything.

Of course it was great to meet a lot of forumites in person (Donna, David, Roy, Travis, Brad, Tony and, of course, the "Irish Gang"!), from the posting I also see that I missed a lot of you, well, probably the next time...

I too noticed that the crowd seemed to be a bit smaller than in the last years. If that had something to do with Lloyd and Buddy not playing, I simply don't understand that. Keep in mind that we all have to support the community by attending those shows and honoring the people who invest months and months of work to put everything together - without them we would not have the chance of complaining about this and that here because there would not be a show!

Thanks to Scotty and the family for putting it all together!

Kind Regards, Walter

www.lloydgreentribute.com
www.austriansteelguitar.at.tf

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Larry Sasser · Post by **Larry Sasser** » 7 Sep 2004 11:15 am

I had a GREAT time at the convention this year. I always enjoy hearing everyone play and most of all I get to visit with old friends. About the new push-pull emmons guitar; Ron found some bodies from the 70's & 80's and a few other parts and made this guitar and MAYBE more to come. I thought it was the real deal. I liked it. It is hard to say who had my favorite set, BUT I will say Buddy Charlton was great!
Thanks, Larry

Mike Brown · Post by **Mike Brown** » 7 Sep 2004 12:45 pm

I would like to provide another viewpoint concerning the "sound" at the convention this past weekend. First of all, I would like to provide a viewpoint from the FOH desk position as I have been in that spot many times at the St. Louis show.

For those of you who haven't been to the St. Louis show, the room is of an oval shape with the stage located on one of the long walls. The ceiling is very high as well. I don't know when the hotel was built, but if you have noticed, there is a small array of speakers that are suspended permanently above the stage. This particular array of speakers was most likely placed there when the ballroom was constructed('60ish?). This is a very small speaker array that would in no way be suitable for the steel show as we know it today. But, maybe this array was satisfactory for the acts that may have used this hotel in the early days. Now to my point.

When a show with a full backup band with a possibility of up to 8 members is assembled in a large stage area, much power is needed so that all bandmembers can be mixed properly. Case in point, Ron Elliot doesn't play very loud, whereas Herby Wallace and Doug Jernigan play very LOUD onstage. Ron Elliot is easy to mix with a backup band, but when the steel is very loud from the bandstand every other instrument has to increase in volume. Then, you have attendees complaining that the overall volume is too loud! Believe me, because of the seating arrangement this does happen and this is just the tip of the iceburg of some of the problems that arise. When the volume of the steel guitarist is louder than the rest of the band, then you have to turn him/her off completely in the FOH mix and hope that he/she doesn't get any louder. It kills the attendees in the first few rows. Basically, they are uncontrollable from the mixer position.

From my perspective, the mix is at its best from the FOH mixer position(and I think that every person would have to agree to this). However, there are times when you have to compensate(volumewise) according to the artist.

As you might note in the following posts, some attendees heard the mix fine, while others stated the some of the players onstage don't play as loudly, therefore making it hard for the other bandmembers to hear.

If you've ever tried to mix a show where there are twenty or more performers with different preferences in their monitor mix, it can get pretty hairy to say the least. You can experience a bad direct box, microphone, microphone cable, etc. that can cause the performer to not hear the mix that he needs to perform to his/her potential.

The bottom line is that, that particular shaped room is a very difficult venue to mix. At the console, the sound was great and that is the position from where the sound is mixed.

Mike Brown
Peavey Electronics Corporation

I think that Brad knows how hard this room is to mix and his opinion is appreciated. [This message was edited by Mike Brown on 07 September 2004 at 01:47 PM.]

Jim Peters · Post by **Jim Peters** » 7 Sep 2004 12:59 pm

This was only my 3rd show, I enjoyed every minute. The sound was just OK, there is a really nasty echo in that room that is nobody's fault. I met lotsa forum guys, and thought it cool that R. Beavers played through a NV112 for me! One thought, maybe have an afternoon of the country rock stuff that a lot of us grew up on, NRPS,Poco,etc. Without trying to start the big discussion, maybe an afternoon of B.Cage,R. Young, are others from that generation. Thanks to Scotty's for lettin me be a small part. JimP

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 7 Sep 2004 1:03 pm

Mike, what does FOH mean? "Front of Hall"? Naaah... ??

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 7 Sep 2004 1:29 pm

'Front of House' is a theatrical term - as old as theatre itself, I believe.

You're almost right

!

Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 7 Sep 2004 4:17 pm

You typically have two mixing boards. The FOH, front-of-house main mixer, and the on-stage monitor mixing board. You'll hear people refer to running front-of-house or running monitors.

Brad Sarno

Bowie Martin · Post by **Bowie Martin** » 7 Sep 2004 4:34 pm

Sarah Jory has to be the biggest and best crowd pleaser of the show. She had complete control of the sound, the guitar, a great variety of music, and showmanship (showwomanship)? Who else had people lined up at the booth for 2-2 1/2 hours after each performance? and on top of that two standing ovations...And then Randy Beavers!! Super job, playing, performance. Sometimes the touch has to be passed, and with these two players, it is in good hands.

Mike Weirauch · Post by **Mike Weirauch** » 7 Sep 2004 6:07 pm

Mike, remember how pristine Lloyd Green's sound was last year? Well it would not have been this year. I'm not pointing fingers in any direction but something changed this year and it wasn't for the better. I have never complained of the sound in the past because I could distinguish tone and sound between the different players. I could not this year and I was all over the auditorium with the exception of in front of the stage.

Jody Sanders · Post by **Jody Sanders** » 7 Sep 2004 6:13 pm

Come on guys, lighten up on the sound. In most acts, the same musicians do the show. Very easy to mix. At a show like St. Louis, with 30 or 40 different steel players,each having a different touch and tone, it is probably a "nightmare" for the sound crew. I think they done good. Sure enjoyed the show. met a lot of nice people. Was sure nice talking with Neil Flanz and Johnny Farina. Thanks to Scotty and his family for once again putting on a great show. See you down the road, Jody.

Jerry Overstreet · Post by **Jerry Overstreet** » 7 Sep 2004 7:06 pm

Just a comment on Larry Sasser's reply.
Buddy Charlton's set was also one of my favorites along with Larry's. Larry is playing better than ever and just sounded great. We are indeed fortunate to get to hear him play the Convention.

Geoff Cole · Post by **Geoff Cole** » 7 Sep 2004 8:46 pm

Hey guys, any truth in the romour Tony Davis and Warren Nielsen were arrested and locked up for being drunk and dissorderly in the Dugout,missed thier plane back to OZ and you guys are stuck with 'em?. We're laughing.

Chuck McGill · Post by **Chuck McGill** » 8 Sep 2004 2:54 am

I thought the sound was good. Everyone has
an opinion about tone. Just ask a Steel Player.

Alan Pagliere · Post by **Alan Pagliere** » 8 Sep 2004 4:29 am

I couldn't make this year's convention, but if anyone is interested, I have a couple of photos of Gonzalo and his daughter during the 2003 convention. It was a pleasure to meet him and talk to him and his family.
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~pagliere/photoalbums/iscg2003web/iscg2003web.html

Mike Brown · Post by **Mike Brown** » 8 Sep 2004 5:02 am

Mike, I wasn't in the ballroom all of the time and I'm sure that there were some sound problems. I apologize for this as it is part of my responsibility to make sure that the Golden Roads Production crew is providing the best mix possible. But, again, that room is hard to mix in. I take your input as the constructive kind.

By the way, there was no delay being used in the room during the entire show. Also, it occurred to me that maybe it was partially because of somewhat smaller crowdsize?

Charles Curtis · Post by **Charles Curtis** » 8 Sep 2004 5:19 am

Hi Alan,

I think the photos are great. Thank you for posting them. It looks like Buddy is playing an all pull and using a white bar of some type. Is this the famous "blade"?

Mike Weirauch · Post by **Mike Weirauch** » 8 Sep 2004 5:39 am

Mike, my input is in no way mean spirited and the variables mentioned could have played a part in this years difference in sound. In years past, the sound was booming and crystal clear all over the hall. This year was just a noticable change and if it were not meant to be, I feel you would want to know about it.

Mike Brown · Post by **Mike Brown** » 8 Sep 2004 12:14 pm

No offense taken.

Don Lampley · Post by **Don Lampley** » 8 Sep 2004 2:16 pm

Mike I thought the sound was very bad but I didn't like it last year. At least I thought there were more younger people there this year and we need them to keep this alive. We have a show in Benton,Il. and so far itlooks good hope to see you all there in april check our web site at www.southernilproductions.com thanks.

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