#64 | Backstage at the 20th Annual CMA Touring Awards

For the 20th annual CMA Touring Awards, Giggs went backstage at The Pinnacle in Nashville and talked to over 20 winners, nominees, and industry leaders across one night.

We open with outgoing CMA CEO Sarah Trahern — her 13th and final Touring Awards — and SVP of Industry Relations Tiffany Kerns, on peer recognition, what this event means to the touring community, and what they're building for the next generation.

Winners featured in this episode:

• Meg Miller — Tour Manager of the Year | Lainey Wilson
• Allison Noah — Stage Manager of the Year | Carly Pearce / Lainey Wilson
• Ryan Dell — Front of House Engineer of the Year | Lainey Wilson
• Curt Armstead — Monitor Engineer of the Year | Lainey Wilson
• Caleb Garrett — Coach/Truck Driver of the Year | Luke Bryan 
• Kerri Edwards — Manager of the Year | KP Entertainment (Luke Bryan, Cole Swindell)
• Zac Coren — Lighting Director of the Year | Morgan Wallen
• Jen Conger — Business Manager of the Year | FBM
• Olivia Hanceri — Publicist of the Year | OH Creative
• Catherine Powell — Videographer/Photographer of the Year | Kelsea Ballerini
• Robert Bull — Support Services Company of the Year | Clair Global
• Trent Allison & Mike DuCharme — Venue of the Year | The Pinnacle, Nashville
• Diana "Lemonade" McBride — Unsung Hero of the Year | Grand Ole Opry

Also on the red carpet: Chris King, Sam "Sambo" Coats & William Coats (Eric Church), Chris Daniels (Luke Bryan), Brad Baisley (Blake Shelton), Josh Phillips (Hardy), Troy "Tracker" Johnson (Track Management), Evan Sander (ASCOT Travel Services), Aslan Freeman (Lainey Wilson), Megan Truesdell (Chris Stapleton), Margie (Chris Stapleton), Brittany Hitch (Bridgestone Arena), Dane & Lolo Kinser (Post Malone/Kane Brown).

What you'll learn:

• Why Caleb Garrett bought Luke Bryan's CD before signing on — and what 17 years of believing in your artist looks like
• What Kerri Edwards means when she says it was scarier not to take the leap
• Why Allison Noah says stage management is a service role
• How Meg Miller went from driving Lainey's van to Tour Manager of the Year twice
• What managing 23 mixes at Stagecoach taught Curt Armstead about staying calm
• Why Diana "Lemonade" McBride calls herself "whatever needs to be done" — and why that became an award
• What outgoing CMA CEO Sarah Trahern wants the next generation to stop doing to themselves

Sponsor: MOC is looking for new volunteers to help share the joys of live music. Volunteer Guides are the friendly faces who host the programs as volunteer musicians perform hopeful songs to put a smile on the faces of hospital patients, families, and caregivers. To learn more about becoming a Musicians On Call volunteer, visit https://www.musiciansoncall.org.

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Host: Nikki Sanz

Transcript

SPEAKER_18 0:00

Hey, I'm Nikki Sands, founder and CEO of Gigs, and we are backstage interviewing the winners of the 20th annual CMA Touring Awards. Let's get into it. If you work in live events, whether you're on tour, in production, or just trying to break in, Gigs is built for you. It's the largest community and career platform for the live event industry where you can learn from people doing the work, connect with others, or hire and find your next job opportunity. And if you're liking the show, please take a second and just give us a five-star review. It genuinely helps. And lastly, we just launched a brand new merch collection made for the road. Just like this one. And this one. And many, many more. Go to gigs.live and shop our whole merch selection. It's it's really fun stuff that's built for people who are actually on the road. Everything you can find at gigs.live. Through bedside and virtual programs, Musicians on Call has delivered the healing power of music to over 1.2 million people in hospitals across the country. And now, MOC is looking for new volunteers to help share the joys of live music. Volunteer guides are the friendly faces who host the programs as volunteer musicians perform hopeful songs to put a smile on the faces of hospital patients, families, and caregivers. To learn more about becoming a musicians on call volunteer, visit www.musiciansoncall.org. We are here with Sarah Trahern, the CEO of CMA. Thank you so much for being here. It's a delight to be here with you as always. I'm honored. Um so this is your 13th and final touring awards as CEO. It is. What's going through your mind right now? Oh.

SPEAKER_09 1:48

I mean, it's so ironic. We were supposed to do this event in January, and then the ice storm happened, and we had to make the last minute decision to pivot and move it. And in some ways, it's so much more appropriate for us this year to be here on the eve of CMA Fest, honoring the people who help us take the you know music out to the fans year-round. So I think there's an excitement kind of to be like the rest of the week is crazy.

SPEAKER_18 2:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 2:17

But for tonight, we're going to be together and all be present and celebrate what makes the behind the scenes part of the business so special.

SPEAKER_18 2:24

Was that the initial thought of starting this 20 years ago?

SPEAKER_09 2:27

Gosh, well, we we originally had the CMA or SRO, you know, standing room only awards. And then it kind of went by the wayside. I mean, certainly we all know that without the people from the tour bus drivers to the bus drivers to the uh back line engineers to managers, publicists, agents, the fans you know around the country would not get to see it. So I think things as a trade organization, us being able to figure a place beyond the CMA awards themselves. Like one of on our wall, our mission statement says one of our one of our key parts of that is honoring excellence in the genre. And we honor it by the CMA awards and people, you know, Laney Wilson winning Entertainer of the Year last year, Zach Top winning Top New Artist. But we also, and the creation of the Country Music Hall of Fame. But we also need to honor those people who bring that music to the fans, and that's what tonight's all about.

SPEAKER_18 3:25

And coming from the touring community, it's so appreciated because again, we're we're wearing black, we're behind the scenes for a reason. We don't need the spotlight, but it is nice to get that recognition.

SPEAKER_09 3:37

Because one of my favorite things about tonight is that people bring their parents. Yes. They get to be seen by that. They get to be on stage and accept and thank their husband or wife for all the nights that they've been alone because the person's been out on the road. And that's what to me makes this actually one of our my favorite parts of the awards that we do each year because it really is the people appreciate it so much.

SPEAKER_18 4:03

What's your favorite memory tied to the touring awards?

SPEAKER_09 4:06

Uh so over the 20 years that CMA has done that what's now the CMA Touring Awards, it's it's evolved. It was 10 awards originally, 10 categories, and now we have 20. And and some that we just created in the last few years, and one is the Tour of the Year Award, Crew of the Year Award. And the very first year it was won by Chris Stapleton. And what I loved is it has a big trophy. I'll get you a picture. A big trophy. And they take it with them the year that they won, they took it with them everywhere. They're taking it Saturday Night Live, they're taking it overseas and having it backstage. And so on occasion, we would get pictures of the trophy in different places all around the globe. Wow. And that to us meant so much because it meant something to them. And now it's put the bar up so every other crew that's one crew of the year is like, game on, man.

SPEAKER_18 4:57

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 4:57

And uh, and then then last year of the year before we created the unsung unsung hero award. And to me, that's also special to be able to say to someone who's the behind the scenes that is busy running around, like, I see you. Your peers see you and honor you with this recognition. And to me, that's one of the most special awards that we'll have tonight.

SPEAKER_18 5:18

It's always the most lovable people in that unsung, of like, oh yeah, we all know they're running around. I know all of the nominees are so deserving. Yeah. So congratulations on an incredible run with CMA. What did you set out to do when you joined the team?

SPEAKER_09 5:33

I think one of the things that was important was to help stabilize the organization. They'd had a number of leaders change over the 10 years before I came on board. So really try to give the staff a group to be able to uh know what they could depend on and then flourish. I'm really proud of the fact that we've grown and say professionalized the staff over the time I've I've been there and just uh really excited to see what's ahead.

SPEAKER_18 5:59

Because you come from a crazy background in TV and live production. What was your first gig?

SPEAKER_09 6:05

When I was right out of college, I made uh commercials for a firm that I'd interned with in college. Um, and then that, you know, at the end of the election year that went away. And so I freelanced, as everybody in the business has done at some point, and then I became a producer at C SPAN in DC covering politics. Spent uh about 35 weeks on the road, um, the first time I covered a presidential campaign, very much like the people here um on the road do, and I'm um glad to be on the other side of the camera.

SPEAKER_18 6:34

Yes, except for right now. How right now that's our mission right there. What advice would you have for the next generation of leaders joining our music community?

SPEAKER_09 6:42

I think, you know, two things. One is I always think we it's it's a wonderful thing about us because everyone who follows this crazy dream is passionate about it. And that means we don't give ourselves breaks very often. And so some of that is to not always be so hard on yourselves and realize we make mistakes, you've you know, you learn from it, you move on. I mean, I remember the time I first stopped a tape when it was we were live on the air and it went to black for, you know, half a second. And I'll always remember where I was sitting and all those things. And in the end, 35 years later, it doesn't even matter.

SPEAKER_13 7:19

Wow.

SPEAKER_09 7:19

But I also think as leaders, it's really important to be present, to listen and you know, understand where your staff and your team is coming from on any sort of PL, whether it's a production, whether it's the CMA, people are the biggest expense. And if you don't pour into the people, you can't expect to get their returns back.

SPEAKER_18 7:40

Right. And that's why you guys have an incredible internship program and academy, and I mean you guys have done so much outreach. So a lot of people might think of CMA for CMA Fest or the awards for the artists, but what does CMA do?

SPEAKER_09 7:53

Uh CMA is a 501c6, which is a trade association representing the music business. And we represent um all aspects of the music business. So people may think that we're primarily about artists, but actually our largest membership category is touring personnel, the people we honor here tonight.

SPEAKER_18 8:10

Incredible.

SPEAKER_09 8:10

Um and we have managers and we have business managers and we have Spotify and Apple and Radio and you know about any category that works in the music business, we have it.

SPEAKER_18 8:23

So what do you want this chapter, this 13 years with CMA as CEO, what do you want to be remembered for?

SPEAKER_09 8:29

Oh gosh, I've been so lucky. There's there's so many things that have grown during my time here and that we've gotten to celebrate milestones. So this year we celebrate the 15-year anniversary of the CMA Foundation. I got to be a part of 13 of those years. Wow. Uh 10 years of our Music Teachers of Excellence event, something that I think will will go generations into the future. Um, since I've been in the chair, we've got to celebrate the 50th anniversary of both CMA awards and CMA Fest. This year we get to celebrate the 60th of awards. So um in the end, I think I will look back on being able to be in the chair for those milestones just helps mark a great period of time. So, what's next for you? It's so funny. Since since I announced my retirement at the end of the year, I've gotten offered full-time jobs, you know. I hope you're okay with this, Sarah. That you know, and I'm like, this is my choice. I am very okay with it. And I promised my husband that for four months I would not say yes to anything. And really, my goal is to be present and enjoy time and be able to travel. We we've we've pretty much planned the first half of the year out pretty uh pretty silent, and then I am definitely gonna be back here next year at CMA Fest cheering on our team, particularly as they uh unveil uh CMA Fest in the new Titan Stadium. That'll be really exciting. So um I get to be uh cheering on on the sidelines and I'm really happy about that. Enjoying it.

SPEAKER_18 9:56

Yes, and not rocking 10,000 million miles a day.

SPEAKER_09 9:59

Well, and the other thing is to go back and see see shows just for fun.

SPEAKER_18 10:03

Yes.

SPEAKER_09 10:03

I got into this business as a fan, and that's how I'm gonna leave it.

SPEAKER_18 10:09

Well, I'm honored that you gave us the time and interview for this because I know what an impact you've had on CMA just by being a freelancer working with CMA. Honored to know you as a freaking powerhouse woman in Nashville.

SPEAKER_09 10:22

So I'm proud of you and your vision and where it's become. So more gigs to come. Thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_18 10:30

I'm here with Tiffany Kearns, the SVP of Industry Relations. Tiffany, congratulations. Hello. 20 years. I know. Wow. So this is the 20th year of the touring awards. What does that mean to you?

SPEAKER_14 10:44

Well, I think for me in particular, there is like this happiness, but there is also this reflection of this is exactly what the trade association is supposed to do. We are supposed to show up for all of our members. We are supposed to celebrate excellence, we are supposed to make sure that everyone who is in our industry feels seen, feels valued, feels heard. And there's no better way to do it than to pull everyone together and community and celebrate them. And that's what we're gonna do tonight.

SPEAKER_18 11:17

It's a beautiful night, and it's even more beautiful in the pinnacle. This is the first time it's in the pinnacle. Yes. Moved from January, it's in June. At the same week that you guys are all running around doing fests. You know, small festival happening. How is it working with your team of putting on both of these? I mean, massive, massive events.

SPEAKER_14 11:35

Well, I would say it's no different than the teams that we're celebrating tonight. Their artists are also performing this week. So I actually think we all have this like shared understanding when we see each other, like, we're in it. We're in it. So it kind of, I don't know. I I think that it actually has added this ambiance of we're in this together, and what a good industry to be in. Why? Look at how we look out for each other. Country, the country genre in particular is so unique in that way. Community is incredibly important to us. But I also think when you think of the touring personnel, and they're and by the way, that category and tonight what we celebrate crosses beyond just touring. You have publicity, you have the bus driver, you have manager, you have uh, you know, I I think for us though, all of these individuals are what makes things like CMA Fest happen.

SPEAKER_18 12:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_14 12:31

And the fact that we get to, again, be with each other this week, I actually think is the best way to kick off an incredibly big four days. But I would also say that we've worked really hard since the pandemic to make sure that the touring personnel knows that we're showing up for them. I think that was something we learned through that very uncomfortable two years, which was that we need to lean on each other. Um, and we also need to be thinking about how we have a pipeline to also develop the next generation of employees and personnel. And so I think this gives us a way to celebrate those that are currently in the business and also showcase to those that have aspirational goals to be in the business. I think we're doing a lot of different things in hosting this event tonight.

SPEAKER_18 13:26

Yes. I want to talk about that. How, why would someone who wants to get in the industry be a member? And why would someone who's already been in the industry, has a lot of connections already, want to be a CMA member?

SPEAKER_14 13:36

Community, community, community. I think that what we have learned is everyone is craving unique connection. Everyone is craving the ability to be seen, to be valued. Everyone, and by the way, this is not just touring, this is society as a whole. Humans are craving connection in ways that I think we have to pay attention to. So we're especially mindful in a community that can sometimes be isolated by sheer nature of what they do in their careers. So it's even more important that we say, please join us. Let us walk with you. But I think it's not just be a member for community. Let's educate you. Let's make sure that we're introducing into someone new. We have a touring mentorship program. Let's make sure that you're bringing that next generation along. But I think we all have a responsibility when we are in this industry to carry it forward. It is not just what are we doing today? It is what are we doing today to set us up for tomorrow? And I think that again, we can just say it's an event, but the reality is it goes far beyond tonight. It's a 365 responsibility we have, not only as a trade association, but as a as a touring community as a whole.

SPEAKER_18 14:50

That's amazing. What is something in the last 13 years you've been a part of CMA, which by the way, you and Sarah, 13 years, but crazy. Incredible. Yeah. Says a lot about the org. In the 13 years you've been a part of the touring awards, is there a moment that really stuck out to you?

SPEAKER_14 15:05

Honestly, I don't know that I think that there is one moment in particular, but what I will tell you is I love when you watch someone win it for the first time. I think about uh uh Mandolin, um, you know, Laney's manager when she won it, and Meg, her tour manager. Whenever you watch what they are experiencing, again, what what they're experiencing is being seen and being admired and uh appreciated by their peers. There is nothing that is, I think, more gratifying than your peers looking at you and saying, You deserve this. And I see you. I see how hard you are working. And so I think that's the part that stands out to me is that it is the peer uh group going, you deserve this. And when you watch someone get it for the first time, I I don't think there's anything like it.

SPEAKER_18 15:58

So this is peer-nominated and peer voted, right?

SPEAKER_14 16:01

Correct. So can you tell me about how that works? Yeah, so we are going out to um each of the categories of membership and encouraging them to vote based on the area of expertise that they are in. And I think again, that makes it very unique. You are being voted in and looked at by your peers who know what you do better than anyone else. So it's not a fan, and it's not even uh members who don't understand what you do. So again, when I say peer, I really mean your actual peer doing very similar work. Um and so I think that is what is so meaningful about it. When you look back at your work so far with CMA, what is something you are most proud of? I think one certainly um is what we've done in the mental health space. Again, acknowledging what we all went through um as part of the pandemic, having a moment to actually reflect and and say to each other, admit to each other that we need help and we need support. Again, it's the only way we're gonna move forward. So I'm very, very proud of what the organization has achieved with those efforts. And those efforts, by the way, are ongoing. That wasn't a a project or a moment in time. We have made a commitment, it is a priority for our organization. And so um that is incredibly fulfilling. But I would say the way that we are approaching mentorship as a whole, whether it's touring mentorship or women's leadership academy, CMA EDU, we understand that as an association, we have this responsibility to make sure we are bringing up another generation. And it really is a responsibility. The music industry is a so fickle, but it's also really hard to understand. And if you are not, if you don't have the privilege of having someone in your family or a friend being in the music industry or going to Belmont or MTSU or a Berkeley, you may not ever even know that this is a possibility. And so I do think that it is incumbent on us to build these little communities to create aspirational moments for our next generation, to teach, to educate, to inform. That is what centers an association and and brings value uh to our members. And I think that's what I'm most proud of is just to see us continue to strengthen and bolster what we do for the people we serve.

SPEAKER_18 18:18

Wow. What do you hope that the attendees of tonight at the Touring Awards take away?

SPEAKER_14 18:23

You know, I say this with any of our events. I I want people to walk taller. I want them to be really proud of the role that they individually play in our business. So whether they're getting an award or being showcased, I want them to see the potential in themselves. And I also want them to be really proud of the work that happens in our industry day to day.

SPEAKER_18 18:46

Lastly, how do you become a member?

SPEAKER_14 18:49

Girl, it's easy. Uh you can become a member by going to the website, um, calling our organization, emailing our organization, uh, you fill out a form, you meet membership criteria. It's $100 annually. We have done everything in our power to make it accessible. Yeah. So if for some reason you cannot uh meet the criteria to be a voting CMA member, we have another tier of membership. So that way you can at least be in community. So we have tried to foolproof it as best as we can, but it is very, very easy. All you have to do is get in touch with the organization. This is gonna be a beautiful night.

SPEAKER_18 19:23

Thank you so much. I'm here with Jen Conger, who won Business Manager of the Year. Congratulations. Thank you so much. How long have you been working in this whole industry?

SPEAKER_22 19:36

I don't want to date myself, but it's been over 20 years. All in business management? All in business management. Why did you choose that path? I didn't. I randomly came into this business management world and I had a knack for it, and I've been there ever since. At the same company? At the same company. Which is FBMM.

SPEAKER_18 19:56

Why do you love working with FBMM?

SPEAKER_22 19:58

Because we strive for the gold standard and we treat our clients' money as if it's ours, though we don't get to spend it, unfortunately. But we just really take a personalized approach to business managing our clients and keeping an eye on every financial aspect of their world.

SPEAKER_18 20:16

So you get to go to shows.

SPEAKER_22 20:18

Yes, I do.

SPEAKER_18 20:18

You get to go, you're not touring with them, but you get to go actually see your clients perform. Yes. What have been some of the favorite shows you've gotten to see?

SPEAKER_22 20:26

Oh, I mean, I don't want to just single out one artist, but there have been so many. Probably a highlight though is uh going to an award show and being in the front row and Loretta Lynn singing Coal Miner's daughter, and it felt like she was singing it directly at me.

SPEAKER_18 20:49

Wow. That's pretty amazing. It was pretty amazing. Is that a moment where you were like, all right, I can stay in this business?

SPEAKER_22 20:54

It was amazing. And then my husband, who was my boyfriend at the time, who knows nothing about the music industry, um, called me to ask me how the night was, and I told him, Loretta Lynn sang coal miner's daughter in front of me. It was amazing. And his response was, Loretta Who? He's not in the music industry.

SPEAKER_18 21:18

And this and this is why the marriage works. Come on. That's a huge Yin and yang. Yin and yang. There it is. What is a lesson that you've learned working in business management that you hope to tell uh anyone aspiring to work in business management?

SPEAKER_22 21:32

I think it's a life lesson to abide by in any line of work, which is being proactive, not reactive. I think that's a huge life lesson that can really set you apart from the rest.

SPEAKER_18 21:44

I've heard that this award goes out to your husband and to your Hell and kids.

SPEAKER_22 21:49

How old are your kids right now? My kids are seven and nine. Do they get what you do? Not really. My oldest asks me when she's gonna meet Taylor Swift, and I just keep avoiding answering. Her. Of course.

SPEAKER_18 22:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_22 22:01

I just want to say, congratulations. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_18 22:04

You should be so proud. Well, thank you very much. Thank you, Jen. I am here with Olivia Hanseri, Publicist of the Year. Congratulations. Thank you. We got a publicist now in front of the camera instead of behind the camera. Very natural. Congratulations.

SPEAKER_21 22:20

So, what um what made you want to get into publicity? I just believe so much in the power of storytelling, whatever form it is. Um, everything is changing so quickly. So I moved here in 2013 and it was all about print and long form media, and it's evolved so much, but at the heart of it, it is all about the story of an artist or a brand or or whatever it is, and that's crucial to build a true fan base. So being the heartbeat of that in the smallest way is really, really valuable. Did you always know that this was going to be the path for you, or did you think you were gonna do something else? No, I wanted to be a publicist long before I wanted to work in music. Um yeah, I I don't know. I think it translates across the board. If you just have a story to tell, that in itself is a beautiful thing, and we all have one. So if you can be a vessel to help people connect with who they're trying to speak to, that's amazing. Wow.

SPEAKER_18 23:16

So were you working in as a publicist before the music industry? No.

SPEAKER_21 23:19

I moved I moved here uh after an internship with EB McFarland. Yes, the GOAT. And after that, I worked for a publishing company that needed a publicist and then started my own thing in 2019, and then the pandemic helped build my PR frame into what it is, which is focused on developing artists and now all types of artists. But the thing about the pandemic is that it taught us that when everything changes, you still have to connect, and our jobs didn't change all that much.

SPEAKER_18 23:48

What is one thing that you've learned in your career that you would hope to tell the next generation? It can be done. Just do it. Amazing. Congratulations, you better party tonight and really celebrate. Thank you. I'm here with Trent Allison and Mike Ducharme, the winners of venue of the year, The Pinnacle. Congratulations, y'all! I mean, we're standing in the pinnacle. This is truly one of the best venues I've ever been backstage. You can tell that it was built by people who really get it. So talk to me about the building of this place.

SPEAKER_16 24:21

It's been a labor of love for I've been here for eight years. I think the project's been in development for 11 years. So we had a long time to think about how to get it right, and I think we we really did nail it in most respects. Um, it's great to be recognized amongst so many other great rooms. I mean, I grew up in Denver. Red Rocks is hard, arguably the best venue in the world, but uh pretty excited that we won. It's a big win for us, and uh, we're super honored to be here. Yeah.

SPEAKER_18 24:46

Any any thoughts for you?

SPEAKER_02 24:48

Yeah, I mean, I echo some of the same all the mics. I echo some of the same sentiments. I mean, artist experience was was crucial for us here. Um, but also this was AG's first standalone venue in Nashville. So it was really important to get this one right in Music City. Um, and there was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears that went into making this venue happen, and um, we're just so, so proud and so blessed to be here.

SPEAKER_18 25:12

Talk to me about those blood, sweat, and tears. How many years ago did you open and what has it felt like since the opening?

SPEAKER_02 25:20

We opened uh a little over a year ago, 15, almost 16 months now.

SPEAKER_16 25:24

February 27, 2025.

SPEAKER_02 25:26

Okay, give them that microphone. That will live in infamy. Yeah, yeah. Um yeah, and it's just been really special ever since. I mean, uh the caliber and level of shows that this guy is booking and we're placing in this room, um, some of the very memorable special events, community events, fundraisers, and things that we've been a part of just in this first 15 or 16 months. Um, it's just been really, really incredible. Yeah, we feel really lucky. Anything to add?

SPEAKER_18 25:53

Yeah, please.

SPEAKER_16 25:54

I think you nailed it, but I uh I would say that it's we've really been, I guess, lucky to we've tried a lot of different things that haven't played Kansas or played, excuse me, Nashville before. So I do Kansas City as well. So, you know, we we did a lot of different things here that we haven't done in other uh in in this market before, and it's been great to see it well received. I think some of the bigger country artists like Eric Church sitting down and filming an IMAGS movie here was a big thing for us. Paul McCarty coming and doing a show. Um a lot of big name artists buying into the vision we had here and and doing some things that we haven't ever been able to do here in Nashville before.

SPEAKER_18 26:31

Yeah, talk to me about that vision. What is the vision of the pinnacle? Why do you think it really is now setting itself apart?

SPEAKER_16 26:37

I think I mean you have a lot of great rooms in Nashville with the with the rhyme and the Opry. You know, we don't we kind of set ourselves up to be a purpose-built uh GA live music venue. You know, the in the experience is kind of that of an arena, but in a very having the same scale of production, but in a very small setting. So it's been great to do this is your this is your rock room, this is your big you know, rowdy country room, this is your EDM room. It's able to do a lot of things that venues without seats can't do.

SPEAKER_18 27:07

Right, and I've seen all of those different genres here, and it's amazing. I mean, it truly is the the c sound quality and the experience as a patron of like actually going to the bar and not having the crazy line. So as a patron, I love this place. As a play person backstage, I love this place. What was the hardest part about getting this thing up and running?

SPEAKER_16 27:25

COVID. I think I think it threw a curveball into the whole thing and it kind of delayed it. We uh changed partners and it's all worked out really well in the end. But I think it was just uh it took a lot of time to get it out of the ground and get it built. And you know, when you're building in a development where you've got a parking garage that has to come up, you have all this infrastructure around you, it takes a bit of time. But you know, now that we're here, it's great. We got plenty of parking. We're we're in the middle of a ton of stuff. I like our location. Uh I think years to come things are gonna be good. Trent is crushing it on special events. I mean, I think being where we're at, with the proximity to hotels like that and things like that, he's been able to do a lot of great things this year.

SPEAKER_18 28:03

That was my question, and I'll give you, I'll do the mic here. Yeah, okay my question for you is yeah, what are y'all's roles? And just tell me about them a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 28:09

Yeah. Um, so Trent Allison, I'm the senior director of sales. So basically anything that's not a traditional concert falls under my scope. Um, so we do a lot of nonprofit fundraisers, galas, community events, as I kind of mentioned. We do a lot of corporate events, conference adjacent events, award shows, um, you know, big broadcast events too. I think that's the other special thing about this room is we're so set up so well for broadcast capabilities, you know, including our loading dock situation, front of house, uh, you know, Ethernet tie-ins everywhere. Like every little detail was thought about and it and it really made a big difference. How about you, Mike?

SPEAKER_16 28:47

Uh I'm the regional vice president for AEG for this region. Uh we I book shows. Yeah, I book shows and and try to manage these loaders. You know, good luck to you.

SPEAKER_18 28:58

Do a whole lot.

SPEAKER_16 28:59

I've got a great team. I mean, we've really been we've added so many people. I think when we Adam and I Weiser and I moved here, we had 15 people in office and we've got 60.

SPEAKER_18 29:08

Wow.

SPEAKER_16 29:08

So it's pretty crazy to see the growth that we've had in the past eight years.

SPEAKER_18 29:11

Yeah, there's so much more we need to talk about. I think that's when we just need to do a whole deeper dive into pinnacle uh with you guys. We can talk about it. Yeah, yeah, we aren't going anywhere. Good. Congratulations. Well deserved.

SPEAKER_02 29:20

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_18 29:21

Really happy to have you guys.

SPEAKER_02 29:22

Thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_18 29:25

We got Catherine Powell, the videographer and photographer of the year. My gosh, congratulations. Thank you. So it's for Kelsey Ballerina. Yes. Talk to me about this. How long have you been with Kelsey?

SPEAKER_32 29:35

Um her and I have been friends since we were 20, but officially working with her about four years since she really was subject to change. And how long have you been doing this art? Since I was 20. Um, yeah, with pop artists, and then I moved to town when I was working with Casey Musgraves. Um, did that, Dan Shea, Marin Morris, Miranda Lambert, and then thought I quit. Like really thought I quit. Uh and then Kelsey asked me to come out of retirement, and thank God.

SPEAKER_18 30:01

Why did you retire?

SPEAKER_32 30:02

I post-COVID was just kind of like my life changed over it. I met my husband during it. I started working at the Ryman, and I just felt like I didn't necessarily like need the road. Yeah. I was getting what I needed at home, and then she's back again. I was wrong. I was wrong.

SPEAKER_18 30:16

She's back. What is that magic for you when you're doing the job specifically for videography, photography? What is the magic for you?

SPEAKER_32 30:23

I like got into this because I loved music. I was like a warp tour kid. Uh, I was going to like all those types of shows growing up, and I could not like make music for shit. And but I wanted to be a part of it, and it just felt like an avenue that I could take, but it's like the only thing I was ever good at and wanted to do.

SPEAKER_18 30:43

So yeah.

SPEAKER_32 30:44

And what's next for you? I don't know. We're we have a quiet year with Kelsey. We had a very not quiet year last year, so it's been nice to like be home. Um, I'm the house photographer at the Ryman, so they keep me busy, which is great. And then yeah, CMA week is Hell Week, and yeah.

SPEAKER_18 30:59

We're all in this Hell Week together, baby. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Nice to meet you. You too! I'm here with Caleb Garrett, who just went entertainment coach driver of the year. Congratulations.

SPEAKER_31 31:12

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_18 31:13

I love the hat. You are absolutely in country music right now.

SPEAKER_31 31:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_18 31:17

How long have you been in the touring world?

SPEAKER_31 31:19

I moved to town in 2005, wanting to be a tour bus driver, and uh it's worked out, obviously. Yeah. But uh I sold everything I had in my little hometown and and moved down here in a 52 international pickup. A guitar signed by Dwight Yoakum, I still don't know how to play, and a sack full of clothes. And knew nobody in town and started networking on Broadway and Music Row, and back then you you had to know someone to get a a bus driving job. So just kept networking and did some rock and roll when I first started, and then started with Luke in 2009. So 17 years with Luke Brian, and I've been nominated eight times for this, and uh I thought I was gonna lose again for the eighth time tonight.

SPEAKER_18 32:06

And you did it, I didn't got that hardware.

SPEAKER_31 32:09

So a little shocked, not gonna lie. A little shocked.

SPEAKER_18 32:11

Well, there's a reason you've been nominated eight times. What do you feel like you bring to a tour that is has been recognized in this way?

SPEAKER_31 32:20

I mean, this sounds corny, but I I bel I gotta believe in what I'm doing. So when I first uh found out that I needed to uh maybe work for Luke Bryan, I went and bought the CD, I'll Stay Me at Walmart. That's how long ago it's been. Second CD hadn't been out yet. I listened through it and I heard uh We were roading trucks, which was his first or second single that died at 28, I think. I was like, I think I can get behind this. And I like this, I like his music, and so I went out the first weekend and saw the second show, and I mean it was a really great show for a little little crowd. And uh I was like, you know what? I I think uh this is the guy I moved to Nashville for. Wow. And so I doled in, and here we are all these years later, and you know, going from the beer joints to the uh to the stadiums is a hell of a ride.

SPEAKER_18 33:08

So you're doing it for the love music.

SPEAKER_31 33:10

I I love country music, but I can't ride, I can't sing, I can't play.

SPEAKER_18 33:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_31 33:14

But I got my CDL when I was 19. So I can I can drive.

SPEAKER_18 33:18

So you knew that was what you wanted to do.

SPEAKER_31 33:19

Yeah, so I kind of blended what I knew how to do and what I love country music and driving, and here we are.

SPEAKER_18 33:24

Well, you're doing exactly what you're supposed to do.

SPEAKER_31 33:25

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's pretty awesome. I can't believe this. It's pretty awesome, yeah.

SPEAKER_18 33:29

Congratulations. Thank you so much. You better celebrate tonight.

SPEAKER_31 33:31

Um we're gonna drink some Mectur's Mark and uh, you know, maybe some shotgun and beers. I don't know if we'll have enough time. Yeah, I love it!

SPEAKER_18 33:38

I wish we could right now, then come on, let's go.

SPEAKER_31 33:41

We're hockey talking right now.

SPEAKER_18 33:45

I'm here with Zach Corin, the lighting director of the year. Congratulations.

SPEAKER_10 33:49

Thank you, thank you.

SPEAKER_18 33:50

How does this feel?

SPEAKER_10 33:52

Uh it's pretty cool. Yeah?

SPEAKER_18 33:53

Yeah, yeah, yeah. How long have you been in uh doing lighting?

SPEAKER_10 33:56

Uh since I was in high school, so yeah, probably about like 10-ish years ago, something like that.

SPEAKER_18 34:00

What what got you into it?

SPEAKER_10 34:01

Uh just kind of fell into it in high school and just kind of never really looked back.

SPEAKER_18 34:04

All right. What what's your favorite part of the LD role specifically?

SPEAKER_10 34:09

I think it's like a really cool balance of like it's musical, it's technical, and it's creative. But if you get kind of creatively bored, there's a technical challenge. If there's a technical challenge that's kind of beaten you up, there's a creative outlet. Like there's always something kind of keeping it interesting.

SPEAKER_18 34:21

Interesting.

SPEAKER_10 34:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_18 34:22

So you kind of ride that balance of tech and creativity.

SPEAKER_10 34:26

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_18 34:27

And you're performing in the show too.

SPEAKER_10 34:28

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_18 34:30

So what's next for you?

SPEAKER_10 34:31

Uh I mean, we're on tour right now, so we're just with Morgan Wallen.

SPEAKER_18 34:34

Morgan Wallen.

SPEAKER_10 34:35

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_18 34:35

That's a big ass show.

SPEAKER_10 34:36

Yeah. Dude, congratulations.

SPEAKER_18 34:39

You're currently on tour right now, aren't you?

SPEAKER_20 34:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_18 34:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_20 34:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_18 34:41

Goodness gracious. That's one of the largest tours in the world. And you're so sorry, but you were so young being in the LD for this. Like, do you ever stand in or like how how did this happen?

SPEAKER_10 34:51

Oh, for sure, every day. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_18 34:52

Wow.

SPEAKER_10 34:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_18 34:53

What company do you work for?

SPEAKER_10 34:55

Uh I mean, I work for Morgan.

SPEAKER_18 34:56

You're worse you're straight with Morgan.

SPEAKER_10 34:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_18 34:58

How did you get in with that?

SPEAKER_10 34:59

Mutual connections throughout, you know, coming up in the industry and yeah, just right place, right time, and just got lucky enough to get in when it was easy to get in and you know it was smaller, and now uh just been fortunate enough to stay with it.

SPEAKER_18 35:11

And you're clearly earning your stripes good.

SPEAKER_10 35:13

That's pretty amazing.

SPEAKER_18 35:14

I hope to get out to a show to see your work because that's definitely amazing. Congrats.

SPEAKER_10 35:18

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_18 35:21

Let me read it now.

SPEAKER_12 35:23

See, that's what I'm talking about. Okay, laugh it up, Fuzzball.

SPEAKER_18 35:26

What is your name?

SPEAKER_12 35:28

My name is Robert Bull.

SPEAKER_18 35:29

What's up, Bull?

SPEAKER_12 35:30

What's going on?

SPEAKER_18 35:30

So Claire Global just won Support Services Company of the Year. Congratulations.

SPEAKER_12 35:35

Thank you. And I love that we had to read that. That's a lot of words. It's a lot of words.

SPEAKER_18 35:38

But it's a big deal. It's not just audio company, it is the support service. It's the vendor. I mean, it's a really big deal. How does that feel for you?

SPEAKER_12 35:45

I'm so proud of the people I get to work with. Um, you know, watching everybody day in and day out, thankless hours in the shop, doing really hard jobs, um, turn out really great gear to see our staff on the road, um, you know, when you go out and visit and see they just uphold uh the morals of the company and provide a service. I mean, you can buy black boxes and everything anywhere, but you you don't have the people. And so I'm just for me, this award I humbly accept on behalf of Claire Global, just because of the people that I get a chance to work with.

SPEAKER_18 36:15

What is your f besides the people, what is your favorite part of the company?

SPEAKER_12 36:20

Probably the family. Uh the owners, you know, um Troy, Sean, and Matt. And I know that might sound a little cliche, but you know, the company has grown so big, but I can still make a phone call to any one of those guys. I can ask a question. They allow you to create, but they also allow you to fall. They don't allow you to fail, right? The team's too big for that. But um it's just incredible that it's still a family-run company and that they support us in that way.

SPEAKER_18 36:44

Home base out of Livitz, Pennsylvania.

SPEAKER_12 36:46

Correct.

SPEAKER_18 36:47

But now has another home base in Nashville at Rock Nashville. So what what do you think that has done for the camaraderie and the success of Claire this year?

SPEAKER_12 36:56

Um I think it's brought the industry together. You know, it's so fun to walk through the hallways and whether it's Kenny Chesney doing a fish fry and uh today we just had shaved ice. It's just, you know, all different genres of music, all different opportunities for people in Nashville. I think it lifts the community as a whole and the companies that are around here. You know, I know in our last gigs we had talked at one of our interviews, we talked about how it lifted the whole community. And I think that's really important. So um really proud of that.

SPEAKER_18 37:22

Beautiful. What's your least favorite thing about your job?

SPEAKER_12 37:27

The drive.

SPEAKER_18 37:28

Right.

SPEAKER_12 37:29

I mean, I live like a when school's out it's at like an hour and 27 minutes each way. Oh now that school's out, I can do it in about 52. But I chose that. I mean, when I was on the road, all I had to do was get to an airport or a bus. So then I got off the road.

SPEAKER_18 37:41

So being in an office. Yeah, yeah. What do you miss about the road?

SPEAKER_12 37:44

I miss mixing a little bit. Um I I miss the camaraderie, I miss the people. Yeah. Yeah. And the thing of it is is on tour, and that's interesting. Uh obviously I've had coffee, but the interesting part is is when you're on the road, your Navy SEALs, like nobody penetrates you, right? And you do everything as a group. And so when I got off the road, that was the biggest thing I was gonna miss. I was really scared of that. But I found out that that's not the case, that we are still a team there, and that we get to help uplift the people on the road that I got to do for 20 some years. And then when I finally, you know, you think about sales, and I mean, granted, my last name is Bull for a reason. Um my only job is to help people, and when you just boil it down to that, what a blessing that is.

SPEAKER_18 38:22

Wow, that's a perfect place to end. Thank you, and congratulations. Thanks a lot. I'm here with Ryan Dell, who just won Front of House Engineer of the Year. Congratulations. And we got your daughter here as well. What's your name?

SPEAKER_19 38:36

Lila DeMarshall.

SPEAKER_18 38:38

Wonderful to meet you. Thank you for being here. All right, so how does this feel to win front of house?

SPEAKER_27 38:43

It feels great. This is uh uh unexpected. I was on a list with a bunch of way more experienced engineers, guys that have been doing this forever. Uh Robert Scoville's a legend. Todd Wines, uh one of my absolute homies, is like the sweetest man alive. And uh he's on the same list too. I couldn't just being on the same list with him as uh with both of those guys uh was incredible.

SPEAKER_20 39:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_27 39:07

Ian too, Ian Zorbaugh, he's a phenomenal engineer. Uh I had the pleasure of doing a couple gigs with him earlier this year. Just can't believe that uh everybody chose me. That's insane. Yeah.

SPEAKER_18 39:17

And who are you out with right now?

SPEAKER_27 39:18

Laney Wilson.

SPEAKER_18 39:19

Well, that's a fire camp, man.

SPEAKER_27 39:21

It's a good camp. It's the best camp. It's the best camp.

SPEAKER_18 39:24

So uh what's your favorite part about being on the road?

SPEAKER_27 39:27

My favorite part about being on the road is definitely the people that I'm on the road with. Yeah. Um, without them, I don't think it would be bearable at all. Um like I said up there, um, the people that you spend that time with are your second family. It's the um it's the people that you see more often than sometimes you see your family.

SPEAKER_20 39:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_27 39:45

Um so every single person that's on that tour is uh absolutely one of the best and most incredible people that I've ever met in my life. Uh this tour has enlightened me as a person in so many different ways. Uh it's elevated my career, done so many things for me, and I only hope that every night I can do Laney a service and bring that same respect right back. So uh I'm truly grateful for this opportunity. This is my second year ever doing country music.

SPEAKER_18 40:11

Wow.

SPEAKER_27 40:11

Mixing country music. It's my I've only done Laney. Hello.

SPEAKER_18 40:15

That's a good that's a good gig to get. Can I ask you, what do you think your dad does for a living?

SPEAKER_19 40:21

I know he does front of house.

SPEAKER_18 40:23

What does that mean? I have no idea. Is it audio, video, lighting, or carpentry?

SPEAKER_19 40:32

I have no idea.

SPEAKER_27 40:33

No, you know it's audio. So yeah.

SPEAKER_19 40:35

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_18 40:37

What is your favorite job part about him having this cool job?

SPEAKER_19 40:42

Him spending time with me when he gets home.

SPEAKER_18 40:44

Yeah. That's really sweet. Well, it's it's like the family that really understands that he's getting to live his dream and really doing something big. So you are a soldier working with him in this. What's next for you?

SPEAKER_27 40:58

We are in that uh time of the year when we're kind of weekend warrior. So we're doing a direct support uh opening slot with Stableton right now, which is great.

SPEAKER_18 41:08

I was there.

SPEAKER_27 41:08

Doing some stadiums, it's gonna be fun. Uh, we're doing more festivals and then kind of a light end of the year. Next year's supposed to be hot and heavy. So uh yeah, definitely look out for a lot more Laney in 2027. That's cool. Uh you're not gonna be able to go anywhere without seeing her face somewhere, as if it's not bad already down here, especially. Like it's gonna be crazy. Good to be everywhere.

SPEAKER_18 41:30

So do you have a favorite Laney Wilson song?

SPEAKER_19 41:33

Probably Watermelon Moonshine.

SPEAKER_18 41:35

Love it. I love it.

SPEAKER_19 41:37

Or four by four.

SPEAKER_18 41:38

Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Well, thank you guys so much. Congratulations. Thank you. Thanks for doing this.

SPEAKER_27 41:43

Thanks so much.

SPEAKER_18 41:43

Awesome. All right, I'm here with Kurt Armstead, Monitor Engineer of the Year. Congratulations. Thank you.

SPEAKER_29 41:51

Thank you.

SPEAKER_18 41:51

And you're out with Laney Wilson? Yes. How long have you been with Laney?

SPEAKER_29 41:54

Ooh, uh almost four years. Coming up, like, yeah, this summer it'll be four years.

SPEAKER_18 41:59

How long have you been doing monitors?

SPEAKER_29 42:00

Well, I've I've done monitors and front of house a lot. I've been doing all of like audio-related work for probably like 14 years as like my main job. And you know, some of it touring, some of it working at venues, and yeah.

SPEAKER_18 42:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_29 42:17

Whatever pops up.

SPEAKER_18 42:18

Did you know as a kid that this is what you wanted to do?

SPEAKER_29 42:22

No, uh, I I don't think so. But I but in high school, when I was playing in bands, it was like there was always someone that had to be the guy that like bought a small PA system so that whatever, you know, whatever you were doing in the garage you could hear, and that was me. And for whatever reason, all of it just always clicked with me. Like, as I've learned more, it's never been like, oh, I feel like I'm dealing with like learning a foreign language. It's just like for some reason it's always just kind of like clicked. Someone chose you something, and so I just took that eventually to be a sign that I was like heading in the right direction, more or less.

SPEAKER_18 42:55

Yeah, and then this happens. And then this happened. You gotta feel so proud.

SPEAKER_29 43:00

I am still kind of just in shock. Yeah. But it's really cool.

SPEAKER_18 43:04

What do you think makes a monitor engineer special?

SPEAKER_29 43:08

Being able to not lose your cool is a big part of it because you're dealing with a lot of high stress situations and you're dealing with a lot of people. You're usually doing handling a bunch of different mixes at once, and there's a lot of psychology involved. And you know, you're you're dealing with musicians who like sometimes might get a little worked up about something, but like they're in a very vulnerable spot on stage performing and needing to hear things the right way. And so you have to be open to that. And like, if you think something's not right, that doesn't matter. Like you're serving uh, you know, the job and remembering that, remembering that you're working with other humans that are going through their own thing and staying cool during all of that. And then when there's an issue, just being able to fix it without losing your mind is I think that's really the stuff that. That like all of the monitoring engineers that I know that are really good at it, like have that going for them.

SPEAKER_18 44:05

And you got a multitask, man. You got literally a lot of that. How many uh last question is how many uh mixes, I guess, have you managed at one time?

SPEAKER_29 44:15

Ooh, uh so recently at Stagecoach and uh a little bit sort of at Jazz Fest too, but definitely Stagecoach with additional performers on stage and then guests. At one point, I was doing 17 different mixes for performers, and then I think six other mixes for like crew. So yeah, like yeah, talking about 23-ish individual mixes, um, and I think around 110 channels coming in.

SPEAKER_18 44:44

So it was like I think you earned that trophy, man. Thank you. Congratulations. Well done, and I'm excited to see your career just continue to blossom, man. That's amazing. I'm here with Carrie Edwards, y'all, who is won Artist Manager of the Year. Please tell me who you're managing.

SPEAKER_24 45:02

I manage Chase Beckham, Dylan Scott, Cole Swindell, and Luke Bryan. My goodness. How long have you been doing this? We will say 22 years. Oh my gosh. So did you met Luke? I think it's been 22 years ago. Was it at the beginning of Luke's career? Very beginning. Tell me about that. Well, I was oh I came from AR and publishing, and I was working at a publishing company that he had got his first songwriting deal with. So then we just kind of started developing, and next thing I know, we had a record deal, an album made, and then he was like, You should just be my manager, and I'm like, No, I do songs. And then but then honestly, like it was I think probably five years of doing that that it was scarier, it was scary to take the leap, but it was scarier to not take the leap. Whoa. Five years of developing and then not to be a part of it just sounded terrible.

SPEAKER_18 45:56

So well, as as we're building this company and we're still in that kind of startup phase, it's you're doing the same thing with an artist. What has been your favorite part of the the arc of an artist?

SPEAKER_24 46:08

Gosh, that's uh honestly is hard to answer because I I remember vivid moments of watching uh multiple of the artists I've had the privilege to work with. Like you when you like you'll see it click. And I mean I probably I mean I'm sure hopefully somebody said that about me at some point. But like at some point, like you'll just see different moments along the way that like I remember specifically I'll just use Lou, because obviously the longest um with him, but I remember him standing at a show and watching another artist that he that was a headliner and him going, That's what I need to be doing. And I I do remember moments like that, and that those are the training phase. Yeah.

SPEAKER_18 46:47

And you get to be a part of that. What is your favorite part of your job?

SPEAKER_24 46:52

Well, I may be a little different because I am still about the songs. Okay. And so I like I say different from a management standpoint, but I I think that's because of where I that's where I started. So I don't know, like every day I get songs in my inbox and in my text. And it's probably my favorite part still to listen through and try to help my artists make their albums and build their careers from it. So and they also let me play in the sandbox so far.

SPEAKER_18 47:19

Okay. I don't know. What is your advice to anyone wanting to get into artist management?

SPEAKER_24 47:25

You know, obviously it's changed a lot, and it's it's you know, it's it's broader, which is a good thing. Yeah, there's a lot more managers than even when I started.

SPEAKER_20 47:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_24 47:35

Um, but I I think it's just finding someone you really connect with and believe in, and then I always say this, but it's kind of like just outworking, outworking everybody.

SPEAKER_18 47:45

There it is. I love that. That's the only way I survived. That's it. But also, you're still outworking everybody. Congratulations. Well deserved. I'm so glad to meet you and um too. Can't wait to see what you keep doing. Well, thank you.

SPEAKER_22 48:00

Yay!

SPEAKER_18 48:01

Dude! Hi! We got Alison Noah, who won Stage Manager of the Year. I'm so proud of you. And dude, we had you on the pod when you were nominated. I wonder. We're like, oh, we can't wait to see it in January. Congratulations. Thank you. What does this mean for you?

SPEAKER_08 48:18

It means so much to me. I don't think I need to say it to anyone in the industry, but there are not a lot of female stage managers out there. And to be nominated up against some of the men that have really mentored me through some of these things was just an honor in and of itself. And then to win this tonight means everything to me. It's it means the world.

SPEAKER_18 48:40

Your advice did seriously so well across all of our channels, our podcast got such great, great response and viral moments, also. So, I mean, people love what you're teaching as well. You're already mentoring.

SPEAKER_08 48:53

The gospel of bacon cup?

SPEAKER_18 48:54

Literally. We don't have to. We're actually gonna like be making merch about bacon cup.

SPEAKER_08 48:59

It's hilarious. So many people have like sent me their bacon cups in the morning, and it it's honestly an honor. I'm really I kind of love it. I'm I'm really happy.

SPEAKER_18 49:10

I don't need that trademark, it's okay. We already know so much what you shared on the podcast before. If you haven't seen it, go back and look at it. But right now, going into this year, I know next year you guys are gonna have a really big year as well. By the way, you're cleaning up at the touring awards. What are you really looking forward to?

SPEAKER_08 49:25

I'm just looking forward to getting back out there with my crew. Um, we've we have an incredible crew of mostly women, by the way. Last year I had a woman in each department, which was amazing. Our production office is mostly women, and I'm just thankful to have that kind of support around me. I'm thankful to have those people around me. And our crew is up for crew of the year tonight, and it's always an honor to serve good people. I feel like being a stage manager is kind of a service role, and um I'm just I'm looking forward to getting back out there with my people and and making one hell of a show.

SPEAKER_18 49:57

Dude, and can I ask why you think it's a um or why you say it's a service role?

SPEAKER_08 50:01

It's about serving your crew, it's about knowing your crew, whether that's what kind of stage hands they need or what kind of space they need or what kind of day they're gonna have based on the venue. It's it's just about caring about those people and and being there for them and trying to serve them the best way you can when you walk in the building in the morning.

SPEAKER_18 50:18

Well, you're amazing. Congratulations. Well earned. Thank you. We all were cheering because we're like, ah, it's our good! So congrats, dude.

SPEAKER_08 50:26

Thank you. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_18 50:29

We got Meg Miller, Tour Manager of the Year for Laney Wilson. This is a second win. It is you won two, three years ago? Uh yeah, 2024.

SPEAKER_06 50:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_18 50:40

Okay, so a good friend of mine from when we were just PA start now, babies, and it's so cool, insane to see your rise, and I've just been unbelievably proud, the most proud because everyone that you are leading on this tour just says what a fabulous environment it is, and you need to be so proud of yourself there. This is your first tour managing gig that you ever had. Ever. What did you want to bring into this role?

SPEAKER_06 51:06

I feel like a lot of times the magic that happens outside on stage with the fans gets lost behind the scenes. And people take it so serious, and like it's it's serious, there's serious parts, or safety and all that, but like it's so cool. This is a weird job. Yeah, it's a weird job, it's a really cool job. A lot of people would kill to be here. So I think we never take that for granted and we always try and remember that this is supposed to be fun.

SPEAKER_18 51:30

Yeah, well, and one thing I've noticed about you is you were the biggest yes girl. The job that you had when you started with Laney, driving the van, selling the market everything is not a gig that I would have wanted, but you rode with it and it has gotten you this insane success. So other than saying yes to everything, what else do you attribute like this willingness and this um the the energy that you brought into this?

SPEAKER_06 51:53

I kind of just feel like if I don't try everything, or if I didn't say yes to everything, I would never get here. And I always thought Tormaging would be like a 20-year goal, yeah, not the first one. So when it came up, I was like, yeah, hell yeah, I'm gonna do that for sure. I'm gonna try. And if I fail, then I just do something else until I can get back out there. So it's kind of never really been a question mark in my brain.

SPEAKER_18 52:13

You are already achieving so many goals, personal, professional, everything, and you're getting married. I am in October. I love it. So, you know, you're still living your life while achieving all these goals. Do you have the next goal? Do you have something else that you're excited for?

SPEAKER_06 52:29

Honestly, the thing I'm the most excited about is serving on the CMA board. Like we had our first actual board of directors meeting. Wow. Sounds crazy. And uh it was in New York, it was super fun, really insightful, and I feel like on the road we don't get to, you know, deal with a lot of metrics and statistics, and I love that. It was really, really interesting. And and uh I definitely have developed a interest in like the international touring aspect of country because we get over there and the fans are so hungry. Like they're so excited and they really want us to be there again. They keep asking. So, like I love serving on that committee and just being a part of it.

SPEAKER_18 53:00

Yeah, I'm so proud of you. Congratulations, thank you. I'm here with Diana McBride, aka Lemonade, who won Unsung Hero of the Year. Congratulations. Thank you so much. And you got a the coolest jacket on, and there's lemons all over it.

SPEAKER_07 53:17

Did you make this yourself? No, a friend of mine made it for me. Yeah, Emily Williams, she uh hand painted it.

SPEAKER_18 53:24

Oh my god, let's just turn around one more time. That is too cool. All right, so I'm assuming you're from the Grand Ole Opera, yeah. Yeah. And I just want to say, first of all, the Unsung Hero Award is uh my favorite award of all this because it is pointing out people that are not seeking recognition. And so I'm so glad we get to celebrate. How does this make you feel?

SPEAKER_07 53:45

Very overwhelmed, but I love it.

SPEAKER_18 53:47

Yes. Why do you think you were nominated and won this award?

SPEAKER_07 53:52

Well, probably because the team I work with, the programming, Dan, Nicole, Gina, they're always telling me how much they appreciate me, but they do know that I come in early and I stay late, and I do things for artists that I don't have to do. I hold babies if they need to be held, sew on buttons.

SPEAKER_18 54:10

Um, yeah, so and what is your role at the Grand Opera?

SPEAKER_07 54:14

Whatever that needs to be done backstage.

SPEAKER_18 54:17

And that's it. That's on Sun Hero. Whatever it needs to be done.

SPEAKER_07 54:19

Or I do make lemonade. Right now I'm making strawberry lemonade, which is pretty delicious. So why okay, where'd you get the nickname Lemonade? One night Mike Snyder came in and he saw me, and he loves my lemonade. So instead of saying, calling my name, he hollered out, hey, lemonade. And I said, Yes, Mike, the lemonade's out. And it just stuck. And it's easy to remember. You know, when you have debuts coming in, stage manager introduces himself, the film crew, all of these people are throwing out names, and I throw out, Hey, I'm Lemonade, and they say, Oh my gosh, a name that I can remember. They will not forget, and they just get to be around.

SPEAKER_18 55:00

You already, I'm already feeling just a beautiful, easy, light spirit that you have, and so I know that that's what you bring in, and that's why you get this award.

SPEAKER_07 55:08

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_18 55:09

What is your favorite part of the job?

SPEAKER_07 55:12

Just meeting people. I love meeting people. And and I hope that when they come in backstage at the Grand Old Aubrey, that they they feel like their family there, they feel like they're home, and that's that's the feel I hope they have.

SPEAKER_18 55:24

Well, you're a huge part of that culture being the way it is. So thank you. Congratulations. Thank you so much. Well earned. Thank you. We're on the red carpet at the CMA Touring Awards, and we are gonna be talking to the very best in the industry in country music in the touring world. Let's get into it. What is your name?

SPEAKER_05 55:44

Chris King.

SPEAKER_18 55:45

And Chris, who what do you do?

SPEAKER_05 55:47

Uh I'm a business manager, Citron Cooperman.

SPEAKER_18 55:50

Fabulous. How long have you been doing that?

SPEAKER_05 55:51

Uh so I've been doing about 17 years now.

SPEAKER_18 55:54

What do you love the most about it?

SPEAKER_05 55:55

Uh, just meeting the clients, meeting the artists, touring artists, they're all down-to-earth people. So just getting to know them as a human versus the way everyone else sees them.

SPEAKER_18 56:03

What do you hate about it?

SPEAKER_05 56:05

Um, the midnight phone calls aren't fun, you know?

SPEAKER_18 56:07

Why do you get midnight phone calls?

SPEAKER_05 56:09

You know, credit card companies sometimes don't want to work.

SPEAKER_18 56:13

Oh, yeah. What do you do in that situation?

SPEAKER_05 56:18

Um, just kind of figure it out, see what happens, you know. Work for a couple hours and figure out how to get them around.

SPEAKER_18 56:23

Would you say the biggest characteristic, the trait that you need as a business manager is to be a problem solver?

SPEAKER_05 56:29

Yeah, I think so. Yeah, that in communication. Just being able to, I mean, we're talking when people don't understand a tax return, and we have to help them understand it.

SPEAKER_18 56:36

So huge. What are you excited about tonight?

SPEAKER_05 56:39

Um, just seeing all the nominees up there. They're all great people. I know them all really well, so I'm excited for them.

SPEAKER_18 56:44

Thank you, Chris. Appreciate you. Enjoy your night. Stage water! Y'all get you some stage water. This is the best water in the world. Okay, I got Sambo and William Coates right here. I got to tour with them years ago with Eric Church. I guess we got some nominees tonight. What are y'all nominated for?

SPEAKER_25 57:05

Stage manager of the year and back line technician.

SPEAKER_18 57:08

How does that make you feel?

SPEAKER_25 57:10

Just to be nominated, knowing that there is one for everybody, it's an honor all in itself.

SPEAKER_26 57:16

Yeah, it's very cool, especially, you know, this is the second year. I'm gonna brag. Second year we've both been nominated. So to actually do it as brothers is really cool too.

SPEAKER_18 57:26

How long have y'all toured as brothers?

SPEAKER_25 57:29

I've been with church 16 years. He's been with him for 14 and a half, so with just Eric, 14 and a half, but we grew up in a business.

SPEAKER_18 57:38

What was your first gig?

SPEAKER_25 57:39

Jonathan Singleton and the Grove.

SPEAKER_18 57:42

Together?

SPEAKER_26 57:42

Yeah. I was his drummer. You were the drummer.

SPEAKER_18 57:46

What is your favorite part about being out there at church?

SPEAKER_25 57:51

The family environment that it is, everybody has problems. There ain't no lie about that. But we got a great family.

unknown 57:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_25 58:00

Wouldn't change it for nothing.

SPEAKER_18 58:01

To close, if you were not doing what you're doing right now, what did you grew up thinking you were gonna be?

SPEAKER_25 58:08

I was in school to be a band director.

SPEAKER_18 58:10

Yo!

SPEAKER_25 58:11

But the anatomy of a pig kept me from teaching a kid how to play tuba. Imagine that.

SPEAKER_20 58:17

Imagine that.

SPEAKER_26 58:18

I was gonna be a ninja. I was a drummer, that's all that's all I had to do. A ninja drummer, yeah. It's either that or a ninja. Fat ninja.

SPEAKER_18 58:28

I love you guys so much. Alright, what is your name?

SPEAKER_23 58:31

Chris Daniels.

SPEAKER_18 58:32

Chris Daniels, and what camp are you out with?

SPEAKER_23 58:34

Luke Bryan.

SPEAKER_18 58:35

Tell me about it. What do you do with him?

SPEAKER_23 58:37

Uh mix monitors and have a blast.

SPEAKER_18 58:40

And you're nominated this year.

SPEAKER_23 58:42

Nominated. Congrats.

SPEAKER_18 58:44

Congrats. How does that how does that feel?

SPEAKER_23 58:46

It's awesome. It's cool. I've never been, so I'm psyched.

SPEAKER_18 58:50

And what uh how long have you been doing this?

SPEAKER_23 58:53

Uh 13 years.

SPEAKER_18 58:54

Did you always know that you were gonna do this?

SPEAKER_23 58:57

Yeah, kind of. I didn't really know in what capacity, but um here we are, kind of rolled into it.

SPEAKER_18 59:04

What do you love the most about it?

SPEAKER_23 59:07

Camaradery, um, waking up every day feeling like I'm not going to work.

SPEAKER_18 59:12

What do you hate the most about it?

SPEAKER_23 59:14

Leaving the house. Yeah, leaving the house.

SPEAKER_18 59:17

How do you get over that?

SPEAKER_23 59:20

One day at a time and good communication.

unknown 59:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_23 59:23

Yeah, it's it.

SPEAKER_18 59:24

If you weren't doing this right now, what did you grow up thinking that you were gonna do?

SPEAKER_23 59:28

God, I don't know. Probably be a fireman or doing something like outside with my hands, probably.

SPEAKER_18 59:36

But now you're doing it with your ears.

SPEAKER_23 59:37

Yeah, that's it.

SPEAKER_18 59:39

Do you have any advice to give to the younger generation of people?

SPEAKER_23 59:43

Be consistent, show up early, leave late, um, and always be ready to learn something new.

SPEAKER_18 59:50

Congratulations on the nominee. Thank you so much. I'm very excited to watch! Thank you. Great to see you. What's your name?

SPEAKER_30 59:56

Brad Baisley, hey.

SPEAKER_18 59:57

Great to meet you, Brad. What are you nominated for?

SPEAKER_30 59:59

I'm nominated for Monitor Engineer of the Year.

SPEAKER_18 1:00:01

How long have you been running monitors?

SPEAKER_30 1:00:03

I have been doing monitors for about 25 years. I've been with Blake Shelton for 14 years.

SPEAKER_18 1:00:09

Who were you with? Who was your first game?

SPEAKER_30 1:00:11

Uh, 2002 was Clint Black. Dang! Actually, I worked for Clint again this year recently, uh, filling in, helping out with him. I love that guy.

SPEAKER_18 1:00:20

How did that feel, that full circle moment?

SPEAKER_30 1:00:22

It was really cool just to go back and hear those same songs from back in the day. He's got so many amazing songs, so it was really fun to work with him again.

SPEAKER_18 1:00:29

And so right now you're with Blake.

SPEAKER_30 1:00:31

I'm with Blake, yep.

SPEAKER_18 1:00:32

What is your favorite part of that job and that camp?

SPEAKER_30 1:00:36

Oh, Blake's a great guy. Chris, the production manager over there, he's a great guy. And uh just the whole crew. We're all big family, so we've all been with him for a long time, and we just know each other, we know how to do our jobs, and we get the job done and we put on great shows.

SPEAKER_18 1:00:51

What's the worst part of the job?

SPEAKER_30 1:00:54

Oh, being away from home, I guess, is the worst part. I think I guess you probably hear that a lot.

SPEAKER_18 1:00:58

No, yeah. How how do you hey of course, how do you handle the leaving?

SPEAKER_30 1:01:03

We've been doing it so long, we just know how to it just we just do. We don't do anything special, we just get through life and get back home and figure everything out.

SPEAKER_18 1:01:14

Growing up, if you weren't doing what you're doing right now, what did you think you were gonna do?

SPEAKER_30 1:01:19

I had no idea, but I was involved in music from a pretty young age, so I I guess I was just destined to do this.

SPEAKER_18 1:01:26

You got the ears for it.

SPEAKER_30 1:01:28

Yeah, I people say that.

unknown 1:01:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_18 1:01:30

Well, congratulations on the nomination. Excited to watch.

SPEAKER_30 1:01:33

Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Nice to meet you.

SPEAKER_18 1:01:35

Great to meet you. Alright, what is your name and who are you out on tour with?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:38

Hi, my name is Josh Phillips. Uh, I was Pyro for Hardy this past uh Jim Bob World Tour.

SPEAKER_18 1:01:44

And you are nominated for Crew of the Year, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:46

Yes, we're so excited. So excited.

SPEAKER_18 1:01:49

Hardy is a big tour, so I can imagine a lot of pyro. Talk to me about how much pyro y'all have.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:55

Pyro was definitely a challenge this year. Um, this is actually my first gig doing pyro. Um so I got to learn a lot on this tour. Um, lots of fun, didn't get burnt, so all well.

SPEAKER_18 1:02:06

That's the measure is not getting burned on pyro.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:09

That's uh that's the biggest thing. Working with fire marshals, making sure we have everything we knew to keep our fans safe. Yeah. Um we're uh very uh on cue with everything, and uh it's been a blast. Uh, Jim Bob was probably one of the funnest tours I've been on.

SPEAKER_18 1:02:20

What made it so great? And do you have a moment that you remember from the tour?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:24

I think the moment that made it great was the fact that Giggs is the one that got me that tour.

SPEAKER_18 1:02:29

Are you for real? Wait, I didn't know that. Tell me how.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:33

Well, so uh me and you met at an Echo Live event a year and a half ago. Yeah. And I met Chris, why? All right. So now that got me into CMA, which got me into Hardy, and now I do pyro. I could cry. That's so cool. I have a lot to say, thank you. So I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for you.

SPEAKER_18 1:02:52

That just made my whole day.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:54

You have no clue.

SPEAKER_18 1:02:55

Congratulations, and this is just the first of a long career. What is the worst part of the industry for you so far?

SPEAKER_01 1:03:03

The worst part of the industry is um a lot of this deal with um coming home after tour and saying, now what? What do we do now? It's so go, go, go that first day after tour. You're used to being around many, many people, right? So when you come home, it's it can get lonely. So you have to stay busy, you gotta keep your mental health in check, eat healthy, go on a run, and just take care of your priorities at home.

SPEAKER_18 1:03:27

Thank you so much for doing this. This just made my whole day. Oh my gosh. Congrats. I will be watching and reading for you guys. Yes. Amazing. What is your name and who are you out with?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:37

Uh I'm tracker and I own track management. So I manage Hardy, Jake Worthington, Laney Garner, McCoy Moore, Dallas Smith, and Default. Well, damn, when did you start this company up? Uh about a year and a half ago. I was uh with Big Loud for the longest time, and uh I was FGL's tour manager for the longest time. And then yeah, decided to do track management. So here I am.

SPEAKER_18 1:03:58

Congratulations. And you are up for crew of the year.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:01

Uh crew of the year, I'm up for manager of the year. Uh I believe are we got Tanner Gallagher who is up for uh camera guy? Yeah. Uh and a couple other people. We got Bean, my Beaner over there is for uh the uh he's our backstage manager. I don't know what they call it now, but yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_18 1:04:19

Congratulations! You how does that feel for you right now, being in the industry for so long, being a tour manager, and now standing here however many, how many years later?

SPEAKER_03 1:04:28

I started tour managing in 98. So touring drives the music industry. Touring drives the music industry. So uh it's amazing that CMA would do something like this to show that touring people uh how much we appreciate them. It's not even about the managers, it's about the crew guys. So we we get to tag along, but uh crew guys don't want us here anyway. But it's it's it's hopefully they get their moment. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_18 1:04:51

Yeah, as a manager now in the new role, what is your favorite part about managing?

SPEAKER_03 1:04:57

Just having uh an opinion, maybe you know, like being able to uh collaborate with an artist on uh ideas and and really seeing it through. And I love building a team, so building stage manager. That's one of my favorite things is starting from the ground up, the bus companies, the the crew itself, the everything, the music, the you know, it's it's what do we know? I love it.

SPEAKER_18 1:05:22

Do you think it's important that an artist manager tours first?

SPEAKER_03 1:05:26

Yes, every manager in my office that I have has tour managed.

SPEAKER_18 1:05:30

Genius.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_18 1:05:31

They get it. What's your least favorite part about touring?

SPEAKER_03 1:05:36

Nothing.

SPEAKER_18 1:05:38

You heard it here first.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:40

I love touring.

SPEAKER_18 1:05:41

Did you know that this is what you wanted to do growing up?

SPEAKER_03 1:05:43

Yeah, it was either this or work at Target. So uh I'm really good at doing this. I'm not that good at doing a lot of other things.

SPEAKER_18 1:05:51

Well, you're doing the right thing. Thank you so much. Congratulations. Appreciate it. We'll be rooting for you. Yeah, thanks. Awesome, thank you. What is your name?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:58

Evan. Evan Sander.

SPEAKER_18 1:06:00

Evan Sander, and what do you do?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:01

I own Ascot Travel Services in Nashville.

SPEAKER_18 1:06:05

Amazing. So uh you were uh nominated. What were you nominated for?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:08

Um it was Support Services Company of the Year.

SPEAKER_18 1:06:11

Congratulations! I mean you're going up against Claire, my goodness gracious. And you own this company?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:17

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_18 1:06:18

Tell me more about this.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:19

Yeah, um I started it uh a couple years ago or from our parent company. So got into Nashville probably about like seven or eight years ago, and still very green, still just honored to be here, be nominated, and just be with our colleagues and support them.

SPEAKER_18 1:06:36

Support services, let's go. What's your favorite part of the job?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:41

Probably just being involved in the music industry. I've always just loved music and to find that niche of like incorporating travel into it and getting everybody where they need to go for for the shows and just being able to bring music to people in a a very like niche way and just being involved in that and being able to, yeah.

SPEAKER_18 1:07:02

What's your least favorite part about the job?

SPEAKER_00 1:07:05

Finding uh places to park tour buses, whether it's at a hotel in a downtown area, you say bus parking, and a lot of people, a lot of people at hotels and different like places in the city, they just act like they've never heard of a like a bus before.

SPEAKER_18 1:07:21

That's great. That's not and your favorite part of the job.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:25

Yeah, um, favorite part is just getting to work with everybody we do with the cruise and we're sort of we like we like to say we like we get the trauma bonds with each other, entertainment baby. Yeah, laugh, cry, you know. It just it really does feel like a family after a while, just because you're you're in it together, so amazing.

SPEAKER_18 1:07:45

Well, thank you so much. Congratulations! Thank you for the city. You should feel so proud. In 2022, I was helping sub with you guys on the road with Lani Wilson. Crew of the Year. Unbelievable. Please tell me your name and what you do.

SPEAKER_28 1:07:58

Uh my name is Aslan Freeman. I'm band leader and one of the MDs. I play guitar, sing VGV, and um, I'm not really in the crew, so I want to give huge props to our awesome crew members. We had some really good wins tonight, and I'm very proud, in particular, of Dalton Brown, who is uh Laney and as guitar tech and our backline chief. And um, yeah, he's he was on his way back from New Orleans and didn't quite make it, but um, yeah, we we love our people.

SPEAKER_18 1:08:23

Tell me about your relationship with like backline techs as a musician, as MD, tell me about what that relationship looks like and how you communicate and how you get close.

SPEAKER_28 1:08:33

Uh well, it's a lot of trust because it was it was quite an adjustment from us coming from doing clubs and doing our own, essentially teching for ourselves or whatever you want to call it, uh, around the time that you were probably there. Uh-huh. Um handing that over uh is is stressful at first because you go from being hands-on with your gear top to bottom all day, every day, to not touching a single thing until the moment you walk on stage sometimes. Uh and so just having people that you can rely on and trust in that back line crew is absolutely essential. And not to mention the fact that once the shows get bigger, there's so many movements on stage that just can't happen without them. Like, even with a small amount of backline guys, like one guy is running out and moving Laney's mic from here to here, and somebody else is doing the guitar change, and somebody else, you know, there's just so many things that like we couldn't effectively get across in the presentation that we want without these guys like hustling gear back and forth, which is perfect movements every night. Yeah.

SPEAKER_18 1:09:29

Well, as a touring musician that has had the massive rise with Laney, what's your favorite part of the job? Is it touring? Is it performing? Is it writing? Is it producing? Where is it?

SPEAKER_28 1:09:41

It's totally still touring for me. Yeah, I moved to Nashville from North Carolina because I'd been producing a lot and writing a lot, and I missed being on the road, and nobody I knew in North Carolina wanted to tour. So I moved out here, and Laney was literally the first person I met. And um, yeah, hitting the road. Really hard since 2021, basically May of 21 until May of this year. We we were booked almost every week, just you know, crushing it, and as exhausting as that can be, as stressful as that can be, it's still, I think, where we all want to be because of the people that we surround ourselves with. I think there's a lot of people in our crew that maybe wouldn't be doing this for anyone else, um, but but we do it for Laney, with Laney, and for each other because um it's just a great team.

SPEAKER_18 1:10:22

It ain't easy.

SPEAKER_28 1:10:23

No, it's not. Yeah.

SPEAKER_18 1:10:25

What is your least favorite part of the job?

SPEAKER_28 1:10:28

My least favorite part of the job red eyes. Yeah, probably, yeah. Yeah. Even if it's like a nice red eye home, it still means I'm getting back at four or five in the morning, and sometimes it's just like it's rough.

SPEAKER_18 1:10:43

I hear you have a very, very big year next year coming up, and you're doing, I just saw you guys at um Nissan with Stapleton. Well done. Oh, yeah, well done. Like that was so fucking good. Anyways, um, I hear you have a big year. What are you most excited for coming up?

SPEAKER_28 1:10:58

Um, I'm always most excited to put together the new show because uh the whirlwind tour that we did, it was easily our best show to date. We all like didn't want to stop playing that show. Uh it was so much fun. And so I'm really looking forward to putting together the next one, uh, getting some new music out, and then um being able to tour on a on a new album for the first time potentially would be very fun.

SPEAKER_18 1:11:20

Okay, so wait, I didn't even mention you're nominated. This is not for Crew of the Year nomination, right? This is for something else?

SPEAKER_28 1:11:27

No, I I was yes, I was nominated for musician.

SPEAKER_18 1:11:30

You're nominated for musician of the year! Come on! Congrat what does that feel like for you?

SPEAKER_28 1:11:36

Uh that feels very surreal. Obviously, I didn't didn't win and didn't have to give a speech. Thankfully, I was uh getting a little nervous there. But um man, oh Kurt that won is just such a good friend and and and I'm such a fan of his. He's such a sweet guy. Um that yeah, it was it was very surreal being in the category with with guys like him that that I legitimately look up to, that we've gotten to open for so many times. And yeah, I I'm blessed that as band leader, I have surrounded myself with musicians that are way better than me, and I feel great about that. It's such a blessing to be able to walk on stage uh and and just learn from everybody else there.

SPEAKER_18 1:12:12

So it's an honor to know you and have gotten to work with you very briefly, uh kind of towards the start, and it's been amazing to watch you absolutely rise. I can't wait to see more.

SPEAKER_28 1:12:22

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_18 1:12:23

Thank you. Okay, who am I here with today? Megan Trusel.

SPEAKER_17 1:12:27

What do you do?

SPEAKER_11 1:12:27

Cam rap, LED tech, uh professional yapper. Uh out here this evening. And who are you out with? Uh Chris Stapleton. Bruh, I just saw you at Nissan! Yeah, I was there, if you can believe it. We got rained on. Uh I didn't even care. Yeah. I didn't care either. How was how is this for you? What the hell what did you do before Stapleton? This, nothing. This is my first tour. Yeah. It's insane that I was able to come out. I'm so very thankful for everybody at Moo TV. Um, they've been great, they brought me in, they trained me up, made sure I knew what I was doing to really hit the ground running with with such an institution. Um and everybody, Moo, Stapleton, top to bottom has just been like I have chills. Love you all. So thankful for it.

SPEAKER_18 1:13:16

What has been the biggest like lesson right now that you've learned in this first tour?

SPEAKER_11 1:13:21

Wear good shoes. Um, I am still wearing my blendstones from Loden at CMA Fest today. Cannot plug blendstones enough if you need something just quick and easy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_18 1:13:34

What pants do you like to wear?

SPEAKER_11 1:13:36

Um, I have been a very big fan of Old Navy's athletic line lately. Hot take, um, cannot stress it enough. They've got an athletic pant, button-up, uh little belt loop situation on the front, too, to clip your creds onto. It's great.

SPEAKER_18 1:13:53

Thank you, Old Navy. Get the old Navy! What a crazy tour first tour to step into. A stadium, a lot of steps. Of course, you need a good pair of shoes. What are you looking forward to learning and kind of achieving at the end of this tour?

SPEAKER_11 1:14:07

So, starting with them last year, I kind of came into it and was like, you know, I just want to learn how to be a good teammate in this environment. I come from a corporate background, I come from a photography background, I come from everything but this. So the travel I understood, the everything else I understood, but what I really wanted to get out of it was just being a better person, and each and every person that I've interacted with on my day-to-day basis has just been so critical to get me to this point today. That's amazing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_18 1:14:39

Well, I did cameras for Bonaroo and LED, and dude, you're strong. Like it's it's not as off. To be a woman holding that heavy ass camera and LED walls, like, what did it take the physical to get prepared for this role?

SPEAKER_11 1:14:56

Um, and a lot of it for me was mental over physical. I knew I could throw my big front of house lens up over my shoulder and set it in there. I knew I could slay them LED with the rest of them. Um, but just really setting myself up mentally to go out and do such a physical job was the biggest thing of the whole part of it. You know, getting in the gym never helps. Big on cardio, big on like trying to get like some type of movement going in my shoulders on a daily basis. But it was really the the mental over the physical aspect that was really hard for me to get into.

SPEAKER_18 1:15:32

That's huge. Just mentally preparing for the physical strain you're gonna have.

SPEAKER_11 1:15:35

Yeah. Um, I I'll wake up in the morning, whether we're on the bus, on a hotel, I'm walking into a venue, and I'm just kind of like setting myself up for it, doing my some affirmations, really doing some just like internal reflection before I step out and you know, and the filter leaves my mouth the second I hit the stage, and and they've heard it, and I'll complain about it till the cows come home, literally at Moo TV. Uh but um it's really just getting my myself set because I know my attitude is gonna impact the guys that I'm working with, it's gonna impact the hands that are out there that are doing stuff with me. So if I'm not set up to do that physical job up here, I'm not gonna get that job done well.

SPEAKER_18 1:16:16

Girl, well, congratulations. And you're gonna crush it.

SPEAKER_11 1:16:21

Thanks for saying that. Really means the world coming from you.

SPEAKER_18 1:16:25

Thank you. You are awesome.

SPEAKER_13 1:16:27

First, tell me your name, what you do. My name is Margie. I am the Stableton's production assistant for the TWAR. For the for the All-American Roadshow? Yes. How did you get the gig? Well, I had graduated college and I've always wanted to do something with music, and you know, luckily the opportunity fell into my lap, and I took a flight out to Virginia and started the first show in Charlottesville, Virginia with them, and immediately just started having great mints wars, learning everything from what a daily schedule was like, but also learning that each day and show is different.

SPEAKER_18 1:17:05

What has been the biggest surprise in starting out with one of your first gigs as a production assistant with Chris Stableton?

SPEAKER_13 1:17:11

I would definitely say, I mean, you can never ask too many questions, and since each show and place is so different, you know, I'm just always expecting something new or okay, I've got to be ready for this. You know, you never know what you're gonna get and you're gonna meet so many people. Yeah. And you're doing stadiums to start, dude. Yes. How are your feet? What was that? How are your feet doing? Oh, I had to get some good art chapter tennis shoes.

SPEAKER_20 1:17:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_18 1:17:42

What would you tell your college self? What, a year ago that you just graduated, that you're now on tour with Chris Stapleton? Your whole entire plan has changed. And do you want to keep doing this for a while? Absolutely. Yeah. Amazing. 100%. Well, thank you for doing this and congrats on a great first gig, dude. Stick, keep with it. That's a great camp to be with. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_15 1:18:06

Can you please give your full name and what you do? I am Brittany Hitch, and I am the senior manager of Contracts and Booking at Bridgetone Arena, the Nashville Predators.

SPEAKER_18 1:18:14

And the Nashville Predators, let's go! And we serve on the CMA Touring Awards Committee together for next year. It's gonna be a blast. Um, and we met a year ago, I guess, at this point. Um I don't even know it officially, but we've seen each other in the community at different events. So let's talk about your role at Bridgetone at one of the best venues in the country, I think. And you guys just do such a phenomenal job.

SPEAKER_15 1:18:40

Yes.

SPEAKER_18 1:18:41

Talk about your role and why you wanted to go venue and and what you love about working in a venue.

SPEAKER_15 1:18:45

Yeah, for sure. Um, so I started part-time at the arena and just kind of kept working my way up, but in college I worked festivals and I learned that I really enjoyed the live event side of things, and so I just wanted to get into it. Um and what I love the most is just every day is something different, and then I get to work with so many people, especially in this country music community uh community here. There's so many people that I get to work with daily basis. So at a nights like tonight where everybody's recognized, the people behind the scenes, it means a lot because there's so many friends and clients that are nominated for things. So everybody that makes all the shows happen, and I'm just happy to be part of the venue to host the people and show the hospitality.

SPEAKER_18 1:19:23

Uh yeah, and it's interesting, this past weekend you got kind of like the mecca of sports, music, crazy shit with the rodeo. Talk about that. How was loading and all the dirt and like what was that like?

SPEAKER_15 1:19:36

Yeah, so this was the second year of the Music City Rodeo, so last year we had it for the inaugural year. Um that was really cool to see happen. Um so since I'm in booking, I have to filter through all the requests for events I want to come through and host um at our arena. And you know, it was just like we want to have a rodeo with concerts. We're like, cool, but then like as we kept building that relationship, knowing more about them, um, and then with Tim McGraw's team joining in as well, it became this very special thing. So it truly combines both elements of those live events. You have the rodeo and a full concert for the price of one ticket, essentially. And so then we had three days of it. Um, but yeah, the load-in process, they load in the day before, they load out the day after. Lots of trucks carrying in dirt, um, and it's certain types of dirt that I learned that's good for the animals to walk on compared to like when we have monster trucks and stuff, that's a different kind of dirt. So I don't know what kind, there's probably some expert out there, it's not me, but I've learned things like that that makes sense of hosting rodeos that we're starting to do more often, you know. What are you excited for for the rest of this year? Of course, we have a lot of concerts coming up. Um, so country, Megan Moroni, she's headlining first time, two sold-out shows in August, so definitely looking forward to that. Um, and Casey Musgraves as well in September. Um, new album. I will be there. Came out. I can't stop listening to it, so I'm gonna definitely be a fan one of the nights and go go listen to her.

SPEAKER_18 1:21:04

So fun. Thank you so much, Brittany. You're the best. Appreciate you doing this. Alright, I'm here with Lolo Kinzer and Dane Kinzer. We got a beautiful married touring couple.

SPEAKER_17 1:21:14

Come on! They do. I've talked about him on your show. And we actually get to meet him in real life.

SPEAKER_20 1:21:20

It's fine.

SPEAKER_17 1:21:21

We're in the same room. Right now? We are in the same room. He came to support me. Isn't that awesome? Oh I know.

SPEAKER_18 1:21:28

Last time I saw Lolo, we were in Barcelona at uh whatever venue that was with whatever that was.

SPEAKER_17 1:21:33

I don't even know. I don't remember.

SPEAKER_18 1:21:38

True that. Everyone's dressing up as Post Malone. I know. So, what tour did you get just get off, or what are you on, and same with you.

SPEAKER_17 1:21:45

Um, I am currently with Post Malone, um, and we are about to go out for about a month from some festivals also to our stadium tour part two. So, yeah, how about you?

SPEAKER_04 1:21:57

Currently out with Mr. Kane Brown.

SPEAKER_18 1:21:59

Just had Nikki Boone on the podcast.

SPEAKER_04 1:22:00

Nikki's a living legend. Yes. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_18 1:22:04

And you are a guitar player, yeah?

unknown 1:22:05

I am. Yep.

SPEAKER_18 1:22:06

How long have you been with Kane?

SPEAKER_04 1:22:08

Uh, five years now, just hit it.

SPEAKER_18 1:22:09

What do you love about the job?

SPEAKER_04 1:22:11

I love the camaraderie. I I sucked at every sport I was ever put into. This is the only team I've ever had, and I freaking love my boys out there. And and ladies.

unknown 1:22:18

And ladies.

SPEAKER_17 1:22:20

How did you guys meet? Oh, in college. I was I was the jock that he never said he was, and he's the musician that I also wanted to be. So we uh he stole my heart through music and songs. Not his jump shot, but precious. No way. But precious.

SPEAKER_04 1:22:38

He tries to have one of those. Where do you buy them?

SPEAKER_18 1:22:41

So you were together in college growing up, and then did you guys go your separate ways on tour while you were starting your careers?

SPEAKER_04 1:22:48

I ironically, the first uh tour that she did on the road uh was I was playing for Ray Lynn. We needed a merch girl for the summer, and lo and behold, if you will.

SPEAKER_17 1:22:57

I sold t-shirts. I started at t-shirts, it was incredible. Yeah, I can count. Like at least a 10.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:04

Then we went our separate ways.

unknown 1:23:05

We did.

SPEAKER_17 1:23:06

So yeah, 2015 is when I got on the road and we were had six months together. Uh, and then after that, life took us two separate ways in terms of jobs, um, and it's been a wild, amazing adventure ever since, and we just have our home base at home, and it keeps us humble and it keeps us grounded, and um, we had a lot to talk about and a lot to catch up on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_18 1:23:28

Distance makes the heart grow fonder. Sure does. So you're about to go out for a month. Yeah. How do you guys see each other?

SPEAKER_04 1:23:35

FaceTime.

unknown 1:23:36

Hey!

SPEAKER_04 1:23:37

It's great.

SPEAKER_18 1:23:38

When are you going out?

SPEAKER_04 1:23:40

Uh weekend warrioring through the month. Yep.

unknown 1:23:42

Got it. All right.

SPEAKER_17 1:23:43

FaceTime and seeing each other at the end of the month. Yeah, and we also have like, we try to look ahead to see if there's not necessarily shows that we cross, like sometimes that happens, which is like few and far between. But if there's fun cities where we might have off days that he can come and visit and we can make a little mini vacation out of it. So it it does break it up. Like we we very much try to be like crucial of like if it's three to four weeks of trying to have something. So we're I'm kind of right at that where our when we come back, our show is in Nashville, so it's it's a nice kind of break to like lead us back and have a few days home and have a show, and then we go back out for about three to four weeks. So it well, it's it's doable, whereas it's not always been that way. Last year it was much longer. So I'm very thankful to have a few like breaks to where we can see each other.

SPEAKER_18 1:24:28

I mean, it's rare to have a couple support each other's dreams as much as you guys are, but it's nice that your dream is the same and that you live the same lifestyle, you get it. Yeah. Um, what are you guys most looking forward to this year?

SPEAKER_04 1:24:41

I don't know, man. I'm a roadie, like I can only think about five days ahead or so. Okay.

SPEAKER_18 1:24:47

Alright, so CMA Fest, yeah?

SPEAKER_04 1:24:49

Absolutely, yeah. Yeah, catches a Spotify house on Saturday.

SPEAKER_17 1:24:53

I'm looking forward to his birthday being Thursday, and we're actually in town for it. So that's actually legend. That's not really like, but so we get some time at home on his birthday. Last year we were in New York, so that's fun. And then I leave Friday to go on this new adventure again with Post and with a great team. Um, and we're hitting some cool spots like Charlotte, Toronto, um, Indianapolis, uh, Connecticut. We're doing some festivals and stuff, so it'll it'll go back quick. You know how that always happens. It's like head down, get going, but uh, you know, the the in-betweens of like those little XL moments are the ones I look the most forward to where there's music, where there's you know uh connection um outside of the chaos. So y'all are awesome. Um happy birthday. Thanks for cool, yeah.

SPEAKER_18 1:25:38

Have fun on the Spotify house and good luck with everything.

SPEAKER_17 1:25:40

Yeah, good luck to you and see Makes.

SPEAKER_18 1:25:42

Thank you. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners of the CMA Touring Awards, the 20th annual, and we just found out that the crew of the year that won was Lady Wilson's camp. Huge deal, and we got to interview so many of Ladies' Camp individually. This is such a special night for the gigs team for me particularly because we're getting to honor the people that work backstage, that wear the black t-shirts, that are all behind the scenes of the biggest shows in the world, and we get to honor them and put the spotlight on them and recognize them, and that is the whole purpose of gigs. And so congrats to all of our country music crew out there, and we'll see you next year.