My debut as an audio technician is October 23, 2014 with Jesse Robinson and the Hip Waders at 7 pm in the Omnova Theatre. I’ll be monitoring levels and helping run a camera.
The evening went pretty well, the band played for over two hours for a standing ovation. We had drinks and food in the boardroom afterward, where I got some music history and theory from lifelong jazz and blues musicians.
According to Jesse and Adib, musicians with perfect pitch are temperamental sometimes. Their sensitivity to musical perfection is intolerable or painful when music is off key. They knew and performed with several famous musicians with perfect pitch, Etta James for example.
They also gave me pointers as a sound tech. Performance, as I have learned, is hard work, and a full time job to a lot of performers that visit the CAC. They recommended making a sound check as polite as possible. Musicians have bad days like everyone does, give em a chance to warm up to the venue, don’t make em get technical and prove that they know what they are doing. Listen to them and be honest with them, don’t try to pretend you know what you’re doing. The audience will find out you don’t soon enough.
Luckily: Jesse, Adib, Jim, and Bob are kind hearted experts and lead me through my first fire walk patiently and kindly. Like I said, the audience gave them a standing ovation in spite of my inexperience.
I gotta thank Carrie, Bev, Katherine, and Angie as well. They give whole hearted support to the arts and the CAC and have done this a lot more than I have. They make every show in the Omnova awesome.
We have Sacred Harp performances and the New Agrarians coming up in the next few months. Sacred Harp is some of Americas oldest kind of music, a form sung by the Pilgrims, tickets are free as well as the potluck dinner, bring canned goods to donate to charity. The New Agrarians are also lifelong musicians with southern music and stories for you. Individually they have written for Garth Brooks, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and other famous artists. Tickets are 15 at the door and 10 in advance. Be sure to hook up with the Columbus Arts Council on facebook or online and get the details.
See ya at the RAC!
Mark N Huerkamp 