One Thing Every Lighting, Audio, and Video Tech Should Know in 2014

by Richard Cadena

If you’re a tech and you want to learn something new, try this. 

First, connect two or more computers to a network using a wireless router or network switch. Then go to the configuration page of the router or switch (open a browser page and go to www.routerlogin.net for Netgear routers or 192.168.1.1 for Linksys routers) and find the IP address and subnet mask settings. Change the subnet mask to 255.255.255.128. Then change the IP address on one of the connected computers to anything between 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.127 and change the other to anything between 192.168.1.130 to 192.168.1.254.

Now you should have two different subnets on the same network, neither of which can see each other. To test your two network, try pinging from one computer to the other by going into the Terminal app in Mac or Command Prompt in Windows, and type the command “ping” and the IP address of the other computer. If you have everything set up properly, then you should not be able to ping each other. But if you change the subnet mask to 255.255.255.0, then that will create a single network and you should be able to ping from one computer to the other.

Subnet masks allow you to subdivide network so that you can have, say, lighting and audio on the same network but separate from each other. They are also used to set up classes of networks, which determine the size of your network. There are three classes of networks; a class A network can over 16 million computers connected to it; a class B network can connect over 16,000 computers; and a class C network can connect up to 254 computers. Most of the networks we build in live event production are class C networks.

When a subnet mask is set up properly and it’s converted to binary numbers, it consists of a string of binary 1s followed by a string of binary 0s. For example, the subnet mask as written in the familiar quad-dotted decimal notation might look like 255.255.255.0, but in binary notation it is 11111111.11111111.11111111.00000000. 

The subnet mask also determines the class of network by designating which part of the IP address is common to the entire network, which is called the network portion, and which part is unique to each computer on the network, which is called the host portion. It does that by using a string of binary 1s to denote the network portion and a string of binary 0s to denote the host portion. Where ever there is a binary 1 in the subnet mask, that corresponds to the network portion and where ever there is a binary 0, it corresponds to the host portion. For example, if the subnet mask is 255.255.255.0, then the network portion of the IP address 192.168.1.24 is 192.169.1 and the host portion is 24. That means that every computer on the network has an IP address starting with 192.168.1 and ending in a unique number between 2 and 254.

The IP address is 32 bits long. If the network portion is only eight bits long, then the host portion is 24 bits, which allows 16,777,214 unique host addresses, and that’s a class A network. Class A networks are typically used by only very large organizations. If the network portion of the IP address is 16 bits long, then the host portion is 16 bits, which allows 16,382 unique host addresses, and that’s a class B network. If the network portion is 24 bits long, then the host portion is only eight bits, which allows 254 unique host addresses (there are really 256 unique numbers but one is reserved for broadcasting and one is reserved for the router or switch). That is a class C network, which is most commonly used for entertainment networks.

But here’s how we subdivide a network. If we add one or two more binary 1s to a class C subnet mask, then that allows us to subdivide it as we did at the beginning of this article. The subnet mask 255.255.255.128 translates to 11111111.11111111.11111111.100000000. Now it’s a class C network but the network portion is actually 25 bits long, not 24. That means that we can create a subnetwork with an IP address with a host portion in the range from 1 to 127 and another with a host portion in the range from 130 to 254.

This can come in handy if you want to minimize the wireless traffic because you are using only one router, and rather than having two routers competing for the same frequencies, now you only have one.

Computers and networks are becoming a much bigger part of the live event production industry and those techs who know how to set up, test, and troubleshoot them will have more options in the job market than those who don’t. So get some networking gear and go have some fun.

Greener Lighting for Greener Stages

by Richard Cadena

The typical 100-watt household incandescent lamp uses about a dollar’s worth of electricity to produce less than a nickel’s worth of light. The rest, about 97.4%, is radiated as infrared or pure heat, completely invisible to the human eye. Its overall luminous efficacy – the visible light output compared to the amount of power it takes – is about 17.5 lumens per watt compared to about 45 to 60 lumens per watt for a compact fluorescent lamp and slightly less for a typical LED profile luminaire. 

Coal Byproducts
About half of the world’s power plants are coal-fired, and they are the single largest source of carbon dioxide emissions on the planet. Some scientists believe that CO2 emission is the primary cause of global warming. Burning coal also releases other pollutants into the air. In addition to CO2, coal combustion byproducts include sulfur and many heavy metals like arsenic, barium, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, radium, selenium, vanadium, and zinc. The sulfur reacts with oxygen and water to produce sulfuric acid, which falls back to earth as acid rain, and the mercury released into the atmosphere is the single largest unregulated source of mercury. 

To power a 100-watt incandescent lamp from a coal-fired power plant an average of three hours per night every day for a year, which is approximately 1000 hours, it takes about 110 pounds of coal and produces about 200 pounds of CO2. If, instead, we replaced that 100-watt lamp with a 24-watt equivalent with a luminous efficacy of 50 lumens per watt, it would take about 26 pounds of coal to operate and it would produce about 48 pounds of CO2, a savings of about 84 pounds of coal and 152 pounds of CO2. 

But wait, there’s more…
In a closed system like a building or a room, all of the heat generated by a lamp has to be removed by the air conditioning system if the temperature is to remain the same. Doing so requires the use of even more electricity. 

For example, a 100-watt lamp gives off 341 British thermal units (BTUs) for each hour of use, which increases the heat load by the same. The impact of that heat and the amount of air conditioning needed to remove it depends on the efficiency of the air conditioner. An air conditioner with a seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) of 7.5 will use 34.1 watt-hours of energy to remove that heat. In effect, it increases the energy consumption of this lamp by 34%, adding to the cost, CO2 emissions, and pollution.

Efficiency Pays
A church in Houston was originally built in the early 1970s and the lighting was upgraded in the mid-1980s. It had three stained glass windows that were backlit with 190 1000-watt cyc lights and there were 168 1000-watt PARs used for the house lights. By replacing cyc lights with 109 324-watt T5 fluourescent fixtures and the house lights with 575-watt ERS fixtures, the energy consumption was cut by 55%. In addition, the lower power consumption results in a lower air conditioning load, saving even more energy and money. With a conservative estimate of 20 hours per week of use, an electrical cost of $0.0986 per kilowatt-hour, and a SEER of 10, in a year’s time, the building owner will save about $28,600.

Before:

Total energy consumed: 392,080 kW-hours

Total thermal load: 1,286,377 BTUs

Annual cost of electricity for A/C: $13,191

Annual cost of electricity for lights: $38,659

After:

Total energy consumed: 175,848 kW-hours

Total thermal load: 576,942 BTUs

Annual cost of electricity for A/C: $7,275

Annual cost of electricity for lights: $21,320

Total Annual Savings: $28,595

Amount of coal saved annually: 119 tons

Amount of carbon dioxide saved annually: 218 tons

Coal-burning power plants also release arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, molybdenum, radium, selenium, vanadium, and zinc into the atmosphere. Saving energy not only saves money, it also makes good environmental sense.

The Rocket Summer and Joe Brooks at Stubbs Barbecue in Austin, April 2013

I love going to see relatively unknown bands like The Rocket Summer and Joe Brooks in small clubs like Stubbs in Austin for the same reason I love to go to college sporting events—the performers genuinely love what they’re doing and their enthusiasm is contagious. That was evident before the first downbeat of The Rocket Summer’s part of the show when Bryce Avary, who basically is The Rocket Summer, took the stage. The smile on his face, the heartfelt gratitude he displayed before he played a single note was too sincere to fake. He was happy to be there. You can’t pay someone enough money to generate that kind of vibe but for people like him and Joe Brooks, the middle act, it just seeps out of them. Once a band gets some money and notoriety, they become more seasoned and professional, but they lose some of the charm that got them there to begin with. It’s refreshing to see the semi-pros suit up and take the field. 

Danger—Stop the Show!

I got on my bicycle today for the first time in a long time and it felt good. Between my heavy travel schedule and my work load, I rarely get a chance to get out on the road. It’s been a busy year. So far I’ve taught classes or workshops in South Carolina, Ohio, Toronto, Boston, Chicago, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, and Brisbane, as well at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Greensboro, North Carolina.

All this travel reminds me of the time that I was the editor of PLSN and I used to go out on tour at the same time. On the road, I would wake up before anyone else on the bus and sit in the lounge editing articles, answering email, and putting out fires until load-in at 8:00AM. If I had a spare moment or two during the day or during lunch I would fire up the laptop and do what little work I could. And then after the rig was up, everything was working and all the lights were focused, I would do as much as I could before and after sound check. As soon as the show was over and we finished load out, I would be back on the bus working into the early morning hours while we drove to the next show. Most days I would work in my bunk as long as I could before I fell asleep and then wake up early in the morning before anyone else and start all over again. It was hard.

Why did I do it?

Because there’s no substitute for hands-on learning and I feel that if you want to write about the industry, you should experience it. My publisher never liked it when I was on the road. He preferred that I sat at my computer all day and focused strictly on the magazine, but I think he knew that, ultimately, it was good for the content of the magazine. My work in the field informed my writing and my writing informed my work in the field.

You get a completely different perspective working on the road than working from an office. It’s hard to imagine the pressure you feel to make sure the show goes off without a hitch when you’re sitting in the comfort of an office. But when you’ve got gear that’s not working right, or that’s working but poses a hazard, and it’s almost time for sound check or it’s almost time for doors, that’s when you really earn your stripes. No one wants to be that guy who couldn’t get the full rig up and working properly.

In our industry, we have a culture of pushing through sleep deprivation, illness, difficult working conditions, and other obstacles to make sure the performance is flawless. After all, the show must go on! But there are times when the show must not go on, and that’s when there is imminent danger.

Imminent danger is when there is an immediate situation that poses the threat of death or serious harm. When we recognize that there is imminent danger, it’s not only your right to do something about it, it’s your responsibility as a trained professional. The proper thing to do is to bring it to the attention of your supervisor or the venue, and if immediate action is not taken, then you should escalate it as high as you can before notifying the proper authorities. In the United States, the authority is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and in Canada it’s the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS). Every country has a similar authority.

Had someone recognized the imminent danger of the approaching storm at the Indiana State Fair in 2011 and taken action, then Nathan Byrd and those six other victims might be alive today. The same can be said of many other accidents in our industry.

It takes a huge amount of courage to make that call. When a show is halted, someone is going to lose a lot of money. Still, we have to be willing to draw that line in the sand and say, “This is the line which we will not cross.” We need to understand the hazards and we need to stick to our guns, and if we’re going to err, then we should err on the safe side. I would rather be known as the guy who stopped the show because I thought it was dangerous but it wasn’t than the one who didn’t stop the show and caused people to be harmed.

One of the main reasons for training is to learn to recognize hazards on the stage. If we know what to look for then we’ll be better prepared to make those kinds of calls with confidence. And sometimes, understanding what constitutes a hazard and what doesn’t can allow the show to go on, even though the conditions might not be perfect.

I once worked a show like that. I won’t say who the band was, but they were some boys who used to like to hang out on the beach and go surfing in the U.S.A. In the morning, we floated the truss and hung all the lights, and before we flew the truss, we tested the circuits and all the lights. There were a few with bad lamps, so we promptly replaced them. But the two PARs that were lighting up downstage center—the two most important of them all—had bad wiring. Since they were six-lamp bars, it would have taken too long to swap places with another one that was working properly. So we took some new ceramics and wired them in. The problem was that we had no way of connecting the grounding conductor (earthing conductor for some of you) from the power cable to the housing of the fixture, so they effectively had no ground.

OSHA keeps a database of workplace accidents on their web site. If you go to osha.gov and type “electrocution” in the search box, you’ll get a long list of hits. Look at those incidents of electrocution and what you’ll find is that they generally fall into two categories: electrocution by overhead power line and electrocution by faulty ground (or earth). Those seem to be the two most common causes of death by electrical on the job, so having a proper ground is a huge deal.

As an ETCP Certified Entertainment Electrician (etcp.plasa.org), I was very aware of the hazard, yet I certainly didn’t want to stop the show. But since I understand how grounding and bonding works, I knew that by clamping the ungrounded PAR can to the grounded truss, the aluminum housing would then be grounded through the yoke and clamp which is connected to the truss. The show could go on!

These are the types of lessons you learn from the road. But experience doesn’t always teach the right lessons. The combination of training and experience is the best educator.  There is nothing better.

The Academy of Production Technology (www.APTXL.com) hosts training and workshops around the world for individuals, groups, companies, and organizations. The next public workshop will be held in June 2013 in Burbank, California. To inquire about training, visit the web site or click here.

Origin Magazine: Devon Allman Interview

Here's the full interview:

Devon Allman: Royalty Meets Brotherhood
by Richard Cadena
10/04/2012

He has the DNA of rock and roll royalty, but the upbringing of a middle-class suburbanite. Devon Allman was raised by his single mother, Shelley, and until he was 17 years old, his famous father was nothing more than an old 5”x7” framed photograph that he kept on his dresser. But there’s no mistaking his genetics. Although his looks favor his uncle Duane, his soulful voice is more reminiscent of his father Greg Allman. Yet Devon is decidedly his own brand, part blazing vocals, part songwriter/story-teller, and part stinging guitar licks.

Devon now lives in St. Louis, where, a few years ago, he assembled a band called Devon Allman’s Honeytribe before joining Cyril Neville of the Neville Brothers and Mike Zito in a project called Royal Southern Brotherhood. RSB released the album, Royal Southern Brotherhood in May 2012 and have been touring almost non-stop ever since. Devon also has a solo album coming out in February 2013, which was produced by the legendary Jim Gaines (Stevie Ray Vaughn, Santana, John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy, Herbie Hancock, et al.).

Just before leaving for the European leg of the RSB tour in October, we had the opportunity to glimpse into the heart and soul of the singer, artist, and would-be poet.

You’ve had a busy year. Royal Southern Brotherhood, the band with you, Cyril Neville, Mike Zito, and Yonrico Scott, released the album Royal Southern Brotherhood in May and you’ve been touring like a mad man ever since.

Man, it was a long tour. We’re still in the middle of it. The American portion is over and we’re going over the Europe in about a week and a half. It’s been really interesting. As a band, we’re not trying to re-invent the wheel, but to kind of keep it rolling. We’re trying to keep the real stuff rolling. It’s an interesting time to break a band, in this day and age.

This is a collaborative effort. Are you writing songs together?

There are some that were brought in individually and then there were some that were co-writes; it really depends on the track. But it’s totally a group effort.

It’s very southern, very rhythm-and-blues, very soulful...it’s kind of everything mixed together. Did everyone bring a different point of view and different influences?

Yeah, there clearly is this Texas rock, and country, and blues, R&B, reggae, and funk. There’s a little bit of everything. It really is kind of a mixture. But it’s all tied together by everybody’s individual voicing.

It blends really well.

Definitely. It works.

You brought up an interesting point. You mentioned Texas rock. You grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas, but you moved away when you were young. How old were you?

I moved away when right before I was 11, but I came back every single summer until I was 20. And it wouldn’t be for just a few days, I’d come back for about a month at a time. I really felt like most of my childhood was there, even though I had moved away to another state. So I’m pretty in touch with that whole early ZZ Top thing, and Mike Zito, the other guitar player in the band is definitely in touch with that. It’s just in there as much as anything else.

Now you live in St. Louis. How does that inform your art?

St. Louis has a really rich history, musically. Miles Davis is from here, and Tina Turner, Chuck Berry...There’s always been someone coming out of St. Louis. It’s got a really vibrant blues scene. It may be tapering off a bit, but they’ve always been known for it. There’s a neighborhood downtown called Soulard (pronounced Soo’-lard). It’s eight or ten square blocks and there’s probably 20 blues clubs down there. You can walk through the doors of any one of them and see the blues. It’s cool to come home and go check out music. That’s always going on. I would think that Memphis and New Orleans are a little bit even more so, but St. Louis, being a river city and having a history, you know, it finds its way into the music.

You mentioned Miles Davis. That’s interesting, because I hear some jazz influence in your music at times, and of course there’s the rock and R&B. Is that something you strive for, or does it just happen?

Well, I think that if you’re a cat like Cyril Neville, or like me, you wake up and you have your coffee, and you put on some Miles Davis, you put on some Bob Marley, or you put on some Clapton, or you put on some Santana, you’re gonna end up with a band that sounds like all those cats, you know? That’s just what we love, so I think, by osmosis...you throw it in the well, and then you come and pull it back out of the well. And that’s why I said we’re really not re-inventing the wheel, but we’re trying to kinda keep that wheel rolling.

Also, on the last Devon Allman’s Honeytribe album, Space Age Blues, which came out late in 2010, you brought in Ron Holloway to play sax. Were you looking for a more jazzy sound?

Yeah, I really feel like it took the rock music up a notch on the sophistication. The songs were screaming for it, and I was always a fan of saxophone, and then Ron Holloway just became a dear friend of mine. He’s played with Dizzy Gillespie, and Gov’t Mule, and Warren Haynes, so he added another element, another kind of dimension to that music. I just had him play on my first solo record too.

I just read that early on, you were influenced by The Beatles and KISS. KISS is a very theatrical band, and I think you were also involved in theatre in high school, right?

I was.

Does any of that feed into your music?

I don’t know. There’s kind of two schools of thought when it comes to performance. There’s stand-in-one-place and make your notes do all the movement, and make them be powerful, and...stand there. [laughs] And the other one is, go friggin’ nuts and put on a show. I try to temper right in between that. You know, you don’t want it to be The Village People, but you don’t want it to be these cats that are just toe-gazers, that literally look at their toes during the entire performance. I think there’s a time for being austere and then there’s a time for being pretty exuberant and pretty vibrant, in people’s faces.

I’ve seen your shows, and you definitely feel the music. It looks like you’re really pulling from deep within.

Definitely.

And you’re not formally trained; you’re self-taught, right?

I am. I’m just trying to tap that well, that well that I’ve tapped listening to music, and enjoyed it. I try to tap it to give it back to people. Sometimes it comes from a real fun place, sometimes it comes from a real sad place or a lonely place, but those are all the emotions that end up making the palette that you dip your paint brush in.

Your palette comes from a relatively suburban upbringing, did it not?

Yeah, anybody can live in the suburbs or in a great house, or any of that, but I lived without a father for a long time. And no amount of easy living, or however you want to call it, is going to replace that. We go through life, and we’re going to tap into those things that affected us. Obviously, in adulthood, it’s a different day-to-day living, but as an artist, you are going to go back and revisit that stuff and tap into it.

Are you a spiritual person?

Absolutely. One thousand percent.

How does that manifest itself?

Well, it’s gotta be through relationships, it’s gotta be through music, it’s gotta be through just literally walking and going, ‘Wow, I really feel connected to the universe today.’ That may sound a little corny to some, but...You know, it took me a while to really figure out the difference between religion and spirituality. That line between them was always real blurry and I never really figured that out. And actually, I heard someone define it. They were saying that religion is a group of people’s connection to a higher power, and spirituality is an individual’s connection with a higher power. And since monotheistic religions really kinda give me the creeps, I really related to spirituality. I really related to the tenants of Buddhism, because that’s not a religion either; that’s a mindset. So I started kinda digging deeper and deeper. The religion thing, it really bums me out because the structure of them is 100% to benefit that religion. And that’s kind of a shame. It’s a shame that they’re so narrow-minded, you know... ‘It’s the only answer, it’s the only way. Everything else is wrong.’ And that’s why I said the monotheistic religions just seem like a big shut door to me. It doesn’t seem open. The spiritual world, the universe seems wide-ass open. [laughs] And I think that’s how I would rather live my life and teach my child.

Speaking of your child, Orion, how old is he?

He’s going to be a teenager in a few months. It’s insane.

How did your life change when you had a kid?

I just remember crying like a grandma, you know? I just had never felt...I never knew that I had the capacity to feel that much joy and love at one time. I was completely overwhelmed—totally overwhelmed. And then you freak out, and you go chasing after them, and they’re everything to you. You’re freaking out on their every move. Then years go by, and you share a lot of laughs, and great vacations, and all of a sudden, boom, they’re like the most interesting people in your life. And they’re people now, not just these little babies. It’s been quite a trip—fatherhood. It’s been the best thing in my life.

You mentioned your father. How’s your relationship with him?

Man, it’s really good, you know? It was non-existence ‘til I was 17. But now, it’s really good. He’s in a really good place, I think he’s been through the shit enough to kinda wave the white flag and go, ‘Alright, I’m really lucky to be here, so I need to get my shit together.’ And with that clarity, it always brings us tighter. I don’t judge him. It’s not my place to judge him, or anyone else. He’s a human being on this planet. He’s on his own path. So I don’t judge him or get mad at him or whatever for his past, or his drug involvement back in the day. I just want him to be healthy and happy. I told him that about a year ago. You know, as I got into my thirties, I realized that my list of desires has truly diminished. As I get older, I just want to be happy and healthy. And that’s all I want for the people that I love. I want everybody to be happy and healthy. That’s it. I don’t want you to be rich, I don’t want you to be successful, I don’t give a shit about you climbing the ladder at your job. At the end of the day, if you’re happy, if you’re smiling, if you’re healthy, if you’re not going to the hospital to have treatment done to you, then that is a rich life.

Speaking of good health, you’ve been exercising, right?

It’s always so come-and-go with me. I swear, it’s so come-and-go with me because of the touring and stuff. I can get into this mad cycle of running, and I’ll run two or three miles a day, play basketball or lift weights, and then I’ll go through this mad cycle of doing nothing. I happen to be in the running cycle right now, and I feel great. I’m getting in shape. I just gotta make it stick. That’s the hardest thing about my lifestyle, going from  cruising all over the world and then coming home... And I’m just as busy when I’m home. I’m catching up on everything here, with my son, and personal matters. I never really sit still. But I need to get into that thing to where I’m just daily hittin’ it.

Let’s get back to the music a bit. Your music has a range of influences. You’re rooted in rock, R&B, and the blues. Does it have to come from a certain place to be authentic?

I think you have to go through some hurt. You may be able to come out and have the ability to kind of sound authentic, but it’s not going to really go until you’ve been through some pain. A really good example is, I remember seeing Derek Trucks when he was a little kid. We’re talking about a two- or three-time Grammy winner now, and (he’s on) the hundred best guitarists list, you know, this guy. Well, I think I saw him when he was like, 12. And everybody was like, ‘Holy shit!’ and freakin’ out. And I remember leaning over to one of my buddies, saying, ‘Yeah, he’s a badass, blah, blah, blah, and he can really play good, you know, cool and kitchy that he’s 12.’ I said, ‘I ain’t takin’ nothing away from him.’ In fact, I’m paying him the highest compliment because I said, ‘Man, you wait ‘til he has children. You wait ‘til, like, he loses his grandfather. You wait until he goes through the shit in life that we have to go through, because all of a sudden, all those cool notes he can play are going to have depth.’  I said, ‘When Derek Trucks is thirty, look the fuck out. He’s going to be the monster of all monsters on this planet.’ And sure as shit, that’s exactly what happened. So that’s a really good example of, like, you can have it, but you’re still going to have to go through some hurt, or some joy—extreme hurt or extreme joy, you know, these emotional rides that we’re on, to really, really define it.

You play the guitar and you sing. Do you consider yourself a guitarist first or a singer first?

Damn, I don’t know. [laughs] I don’t know. I started off singing and playing rhythm guitar. I didn’t start playing lead guitar until I was 32. I was scared to death of anything past the seventh fret. And I had a guitar player quit, and I was, like, ‘Damn.’ At that point, I think I played one lead in the show. And I said, ‘Well, I can replace him, or I could just play every single lead. I was, like, ‘Damn, these leads are all going to sound the same.’ And I challenged myself; I gave myself six months, and I started really practicing behind the scenes. And I said, ‘In six months, if I’m playing all these different solos and doing them well, then screw it, I’m never getting another guitarist again. And if I’m not, then I’ll admit it to myself and hire one.’ And I felt like I grew enough. I was really glad he left. Because of him leaving, it turned me into a lead guitarist. Yeah, truly, because I would have never done it. I don’t think I would have ever had the balls. I was always a singer, and a rhythm player.

You write great songs too. Are you a poet?

You know that my name translates into...Devon apparently translates into and means ‘the poet?’ It’s really trippy. Uhmm, I don’t know. It’s really not my place to judge my own stuff. I think that I dig some poetry and that I could write some. If my lyrics are, I don’t know.

Are you a philosopher?

I think for sure. [chuckles] And it’s really an idealogical place, you know. It’s nothing fancy. It’s like, ‘Why don’t we just get along and stop killing people and start feeding people, and turn the page here?’ It really doesn’t get much deeper than that.

That’s a great philosophy. Are you a reader? Do you read a lot of books?

Voracious. Voracious reader. I’m always reading. Always, always.

Any particular genre?

I love travel narratives—absolutely love ‘em. I love seeing the world through different people’s eyes. Astrophysics is a big thing—love it. Bios—any kind of bios, you know, world leaders, to musicians, to whomever. You know, it’s funny, I almost feel guilty when I read fiction. And that’s so weird, but it’s like, if I’m going to spend time reading, I want to learn a true story, or learn about a person... I feel like I’m wasting my time with fiction, and that’s so wrong because there’s a pretty rich tapestry out there to be discovered. I don’t count the classics in that. I do like the classics.

You’re working on a solo album now, right?

It’s done! It’s in the can. It comes out February 12th in Europe and America, and I think Japan. It’s called Turquoise.

Who’s on it? Is it people you’ve played with before or is it new people?

It’s Derek Trucks’ drummer of 15 years and the drummer for Royal Southern Brotherhood, Yonrico Scott. He plays all the drums and all the percussion. And then I’ve got some guests on there. I’ve got Luther Dickinson from The Black Crows playing some slide guitar. He’s just a badass. He’s had his own band, North Mississippi Allstars, for about 15 years. Ron Holloway is a guest again on saxophone, and there’s this great band out of Memphis called Lucero—really badass. Their keyboard player came and played (Hammond) B3 organ. And then I re-did the Tom Petty/Stevie Nicks classic, Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around with last year’s Blues Music Awards winner for best new artist, Samantha Fish. And it’s cool. It’s a little bit slower, a little grittier version, and it was a lot of fun to do.

Other than that, did you write the music?

Yeah, I did. I’ve got a couple co-writes on there. I co-wrote a couple with Mike Zito from Royal’, and co-wrote one with Tyler Stokes of the band Delta Sol Revival. He’s probably about 19 and he’s a really, really amazing talent. I’m actually producing his record next spring. So there’s a couple co-writes here and there, but for the most part it was my deal.

Are you happy with it?

I’m really happy with it. It’s the record I always wanted to make. I mean, I was always in charge of the Honeytribe records, I even produced one of them, and I wrote everything on them. But at the end of the day, I was writing that to be within the framework of what I thought Honeytribe was. There’s no framework with this record. It’s kinda wide open. It felt really good.

Wide open like the universe! But it’s a different style than Honeytribe?

Yeah, um, you know, it’s crazy because Honeytribe is aggressive, and Honeytribe had distorted guitars. It was very ‘rocky.’ This doesn’t have one distorted guitar on it. It doesn’t have one aggressive song on it. It’s like, I finally grew up. [laughs] And, instead of really wanting to produce this record, and all that, I got one of the best producers in the world to produce it.

Who’s that?

Jim Gaines. He produced Santana, he produced Huey Lewis and the News’ big records,  he’s a song guy and a guitar guy. He’s in the twilight of his career, but I think that, so many times when people are in their twilight, they’re at their best. This is some of the last stuff that they will do, and I feel so honored that I did a record with him.

I can’t wait to hear it.

Hell yeah, he did Stevie Ray Vaughn! I think it was In Step. Yeah, that’s the one where they had to put him in a chicken coop to stop all the humming and all the noise from the amplifiers.

One last thing before I let you go. A couple of years ago, I had dinner with George Massenburg, the inventor of the parametric EQ. We were talking about music and art, and he posed a question that, to this day, I still can’t answer, and it’s a question that’s been on my mind ever since. So I’m going to ask you. What do you think people will be listening to 1000 years from now?

Oh man. You know, that’s an excellent question. I think the obvious is, there are still going to be people listening to Beethoven and Mozart, because, if we’re listening to that stuff now, you know, if it’s lasted this long... So I think his question is more angled at, for the music that was produced in the 20th century, meaning modern-day music, from jazz in the ‘20s, to blues, all the way to this very second, what will have lasted? That’s an incredible question. I think the big ones. I think The Beatles, I think The Beatles will make it through that wormhole, [laughs] I think B.B. King, I think all your number one examples of each genre. Bob Marley. Maybe the ‘Stones. Maybe Motown as a whole. Uhmm...that’s a very good question. It’s so subjective.

It’s subjective, but yet there’s some criteria a piece of art has to have in order to make it on the list.

Yeah, I think it has to resonate on that spiritual level. We keep coming back to that spirituality. You know, Marley. For sure people are listening to Marley in 1000 years, because his music was too universal. And The Beatles, I just think, just because...I don’t know, maybe they’re just so popular.

I said the same thing to George. He was saying Mozart, I was saying The Beatles.

And Dylan.

Right on. Well, have a great time in Europe and good luck with the new record.

Thank you so much and thanks for thinking of me.

Devon Allman can be found on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/devonallman?fref=ts) and in the iTunes Store.

Paul Smith Smashing Buttons

Paul Smith at work.

If you like technology, you'll love Ed Sheeran's show. Yes, I'm aware that Sheeran's fans are primarily young females, but I don't care. I think he writes great songs with great music and he sings like a choir of angels. Part of the reason is his loop pedal that he works like a magician. But what really tied it together for me was the combination of lighting and video.

At times, the show was quiet as a church service and at times it was a cacophony of percussion, strings, and vocals. The crazy thing is that there was only one person on stage, unless you count Sheeran's loop pedal, which he used to build songs live on stage. Technology, in the right hands, can be pure magic, and that's what it felt like when Smith's lighting and video helped heighten the experience and amplify the event. Although much of the show is pre-programmed into his MA Lighting grandMA2, Sheeran's antics on stage are often improvised, meaning that Smith plays along anticipating every pedal stomp and pawing of Sheeran's 23" guitar, which he does to perfection. Despite some lag time from the Vari-Lite 880s, his timing is impeccable.

A big part of the show is the video backdrop, which is made up of 1-meter LED panels driven by two Green Hippo Hippotizer media servers (one live and one backup). In the show I saw at Stubb's in Austin, only part of the rig could fit in the venue, and Smith warned me that some of the video might not make sense. But what made perfect sense was the way the lighting and video blended seamlessly and punctuated the music with bursts of Atomic 3K strobes situated behind the semi-transparent panels. 

It's a technologically-rich show, with powerful music and powerful imagery that fits together like a hand in a glove. And some of the best imagery comes from very simple looks using tricks like asymmetry, stark contrast, and great timing. During one song, the black and white video perfectly complemented the beams of white light and stood apart from the bright colors in the rest of the set. One of the best parts of the show comes when Sheeran asks the audience to turn on the lights on their cell phones and hold them up. Smith takes the lights to black and Sheeran stands on stage bathed in cell phone light, which resembles soft moonlight. It's a clever gag.

Paul Smith has been running lights for over 20 years and he does it with skill and class. His show is smooth as glass punctuated with the occasional flash and trash where required, but it's always in harmony with what's going on on the stage. 

Ed Sheeran on stage lit by nothing but cell phones from the audience.

Devon Allman: Royalty Meets Brotherhood

(An abbreviated version of this interview is to appear in Origin Magazine - www.originmagazine.com early in 2013.)

He has the DNA of rock and roll royalty, but the upbringing of a middle-class suburbanite. Devon Allman was raised by his single mother, Shelley, and until he was 17 years old, his famous father was nothing more than an old 5”x7” framed photograph that he kept on his dresser. But there’s no mistaking his genetics. Although his looks favor his uncle Duane, his soulful voice is more reminiscent of his father Greg Allman. Yet Devon is decidedly his own brand, part blazing vocals, part songwriter/story-teller, and part stinging guitar licks. 

Devon now lives in St. Louis, where, a few years ago, he assembled a band called Devon Allman’s Honeytribe before joining Cyril Neville of the Neville Brothers and Mike Zito in a project called Royal Southern Brotherhood. RSB released the album, Royal Southern Brotherhood in May 2012 and have been touring almost non-stop ever since. Devon also has a solo album coming out in February 2013, which was produced by the legendary Jim Gaines (Stevie Ray Vaughn, Santana, John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy, Herbie Hancock, et al.).

Just before leaving for the European leg of the RSB tour in October, we had the opportunity to glimpse into the heart and soul of the singer, artist, and would-be poet.

You’ve had a busy year. Royal Southern Brotherhood, the band with you, Cyril Neville, Mike Zito, and Yonrico Scott, released the album Royal Southern Brotherhood in May and you’ve been touring like a mad man ever since.

Man, it was a long tour. We’re still in the middle of it. The American portion is over and we’re going over the Europe in about a week and a half. It’s been really interesting. As a band, we’re not trying to re-invent the wheel, but to kind of keep it rolling. We’re trying to keep the real stuff rolling. It’s an interesting time to break a band, in this day and age.

This is a collaborative effort. Are you writing songs together?

There are some that were brought in individually and then there were some that were co-writes; it really depends on the track. But it’s totally a group effort. 

It’s very southern, very rhythm-and-blues, very soulful...it’s kind of everything mixed together. Did everyone bring a different point of view and different influences?

Yeah, there clearly is this Texas rock, and country, and blues, R&B, reggae, and funk. There’s a little bit of everything. It really is kind of a mixture. But it’s all tied together by everybody’s individual voicing. 

It blends really well.

Definitely. It works.

You brought up an interesting point. You mentioned Texas rock. You grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas, but you moved away when you were young. How old were you?

I moved away when right before I was 11, but I came back every single summer until I was 20. And it wouldn’t be for just a few days, I’d come back for about a month at a time. I really felt like most of my childhood was there, even though I had moved away to another state. So I’m pretty in touch with that whole early ZZ Top thing, and Mike Zito, the other guitar player in the band is definitely in touch with that. It’s just in there as much as anything else. 

Now you live in St. Louis. How does that inform your art?

St. Louis has a really rich history, musically. Miles Davis is from here, and Tina Turner, Chuck Berry...There’s always been someone coming out of St. Louis. It’s got a really vibrant blues scene. It may be tapering off a bit, but they’ve always been known for it. There’s a neighborhood downtown called Soulard (pronounced Soo’-lard). It’s eight or ten square blocks and there’s probably 20 blues clubs down there. You can walk through the doors of any one of them and see the blues. It’s cool to come home and go check out music. That’s always going on. I would think that Memphis and New Orleans are a little bit even more so, but St. Louis, being a river city and having a history, you know, it finds its way into the music. 

You mentioned Miles Davis. That’s interesting, because I hear some jazz influence in your music at times, and of course there’s the rock and R&B. Is that something you strive for, or does it just happen?

Well, I think that if you’re a cat like Cyril Neville, or like me, you wake up and you have your coffee, and you put on some Miles Davis, you put on some Bob Marley, or you put on some Clapton, or you put on some Santana, you’re gonna end up with a band that sounds like all those cats, you know? That’s just what we love, so I think, by osmosis...you throw it in the well, and then you come and pull it back out of the well. And that’s why I said we’re really not re-inventing the wheel, but we’re trying to kinda keep that wheel rolling.

Also, on the last Devon Allman’s Honeytribe album, Space Age Blues, which came out late in 2010, you brought in Ron Holloway to play sax. Were you looking for a more jazzy sound?

Yeah, I really feel like it took the rock music up a notch on the sophistication. The songs were screaming for it, and I was always a fan of saxophone, and then Ron Holloway just became a dear friend of mine. He’s played with Dizzy Gillespie, and Gov’t Mule, and Warren Haynes, so he added another element, another kind of dimension to that music. I just had him play on my first solo record too.

I just read that early on, you were influenced by The Beatles and KISS. KISS is a very theatrical band, and I think you were also involved in theatre in high school, right?

I was. 

Does any of that feed into your music?

I don’t know. There’s kind of two schools of thought when it comes to performance. There’s stand-in-one-place and make your notes do all the movement, and make them be powerful, and...stand there. [laughs] And the other one is, go friggin’ nuts and put on a show. I try to temper right in between that. You know, you don’t want it to be The Village People, but you don’t want it to be these cats that are just toe-gazers, that literally look at their toes during the entire performance. I think there’s a time for being austere and then there’s a time for being pretty exuberant and pretty vibrant, in people’s faces.

I’ve seen your shows, and you definitely feel the music. It looks like you’re really pulling from deep within. 

Definitely.

And you’re not formally trained; you’re self-taught, right?

I am. I’m just trying to tap that well, that well that I’ve tapped listening to music, and enjoyed it. I try to tap it to give it back to people. Sometimes it comes from a real fun place, sometimes it comes from a real sad place or a lonely place, but those are all the emotions that end up making the palette that you dip your paint brush in.

Your palette comes from a relatively suburban upbringing, did it not?

Yeah, anybody can live in the suburbs or in a great house, or any of that, but I lived without a father for a long time. And no amount of easy living, or however you want to call it, is going to replace that. We go through life, and we’re going to tap into those things that affected us. Obviously, in adulthood, it’s a different day-to-day living, but as an artist, you are going to go back and revisit that stuff and tap into it.

Are you a spiritual person?

Absolutely. One thousand percent. 

How does that manifest itself?

Well, it’s gotta be through relationships, it’s gotta be through music, it’s gotta be through just literally walking and going, ‘Wow, I really feel connected to the universe today.’ That may sound a little corny to some, but...You know, it took me a while to really figure out the difference between religion and spirituality. That line between them was always real blurry and I never really figured that out. And actually, I heard someone define it. They were saying that religion is a group of people’s connection to a higher power, and spirituality is an individual’s connection with a higher power. And since monotheistic religions really kinda give me the creeps, I really related to spirituality. I really related to the tenants of Buddhism, because that’s not a religion either; that’s a mindset. So I started kinda digging deeper and deeper. The religion thing, it really bums me out because the structure of them is 100% to benefit that religion. And that’s kind of a shame. It’s a shame that they’re so narrow-minded, you know... ‘It’s the only answer, it’s the only way. Everything else is wrong.’ And that’s why I said the monotheistic religions just seem like a big shut door to me. It doesn’t seem open. The spiritual world, the universe seems wide-ass open. [laughs] And I think that’s how I would rather live my life and teach my child.

Speaking of your child, Orion, how old is he?

He’s going to be a teenager in a few months. It’s insane. 

How did your life change when you had a kid?

I just remember crying like a grandma, you know? I just had never felt...I never knew that I had the capacity to feel that much joy and love at one time. I was completely overwhelmed—totally overwhelmed. And then you freak out, and you go chasing after them, and they’re everything to you. You’re freaking out on their every move. Then years go by, and you share a lot of laughs, and great vacations, and all of a sudden, boom, they’re like the most interesting people in your life. And they’re people now, not just these little babies. It’s been quite a trip—fatherhood. It’s been the best thing in my life.

You mentioned your father. How’s your relationship with him?

Man, it’s really good, you know? It was non-existence ‘til I was 17. But now, it’s really good. He’s in a really good place, I think he’s been through the shit enough to kinda wave the white flag and go, ‘Alright, I’m really lucky to be here, so I need to get my shit together.’ And with that clarity, it always brings us tighter. I don’t judge him. It’s not my place to judge him, or anyone else. He’s a human being on this planet. He’s on his own path. So I don’t judge him or get mad at him or whatever for his past, or his drug involvement back in the day. I just want him to be healthy and happy. I told him that about a year ago. You know, as I got into my thirties, I realized that my list of desires has truly diminished. As I get older, I just want to be happy and healthy. And that’s all I want for the people that I love. I want everybody to be happy and healthy. That’s it. I don’t want you to be rich, I don’t want you to be successful, I don’t give a shit about you climbing the ladder at your job. At the end of the day, if you’re happy, if you’re smiling, if you’re healthy, if you’re not going to the hospital to have treatment done to you, then that is a rich life.

Speaking of good health, you’ve been exercising, right?

It’s always so come-and-go with me. I swear, it’s so come-and-go with me because of the touring and stuff. I can get into this mad cycle of running, and I’ll run two or three miles a day, play basketball or lift weights, and then I’ll go through this mad cycle of doing nothing. I happen to be in the running cycle right now, and I feel great. I’m getting in shape. I just gotta make it stick. That’s the hardest thing about my lifestyle, going from  cruising all over the world and then coming home... And I’m just as busy when I’m home. I’m catching up on everything here, with my son, and personal matters. I never really sit still. But I need to get into that thing to where I’m just daily hittin’ it.

Let’s get back to the music a bit. Your music has a range of influences. You’re rooted in rock, R&B, and the blues. Does it have to come from a certain place to be authentic?

I think you have to go through some hurt. You may be able to come out and have the ability to kind of sound authentic, but it’s not going to really go until you’ve been through some pain. A really good example is, I remember seeing Derek Trucks when he was a little kid. We’re talking about a two- or three-time Grammy winner now, and (he’s on) the hundred best guitarists list, you know, this guy. Well, I think I saw him when he was like, 12. And everybody was like, ‘Holy shit!’ and freakin’ out. And I remember leaning over to one of my buddies, saying, ‘Yeah, he’s a badass, blah, blah, blah, and he can really play good, you know, cool and kitchy that he’s 12.’ I said, ‘I ain’t takin’ nothing away from him.’ In fact, I’m paying him the highest compliment because I said, ‘Man, you wait ‘til he has children. You wait ‘til, like, he loses his grandfather. You wait until he goes through the shit in life that we have to go through, because all of a sudden, all those cool notes he can play are going to have depth.’  I said, ‘When Derek Trucks is thirty, look the fuck out. He’s going to be the monster of all monsters on this planet.’ And sure as shit, that’s exactly what happened. So that’s a really good example of, like, you can have it, but you’re still going to have to go through some hurt, or some joy—extreme hurt or extreme joy, you know, these emotional rides that we’re on, to really, really define it. 

You play the guitar and you sing. Do you consider yourself a guitarist first or a singer first?

Damn, I don’t know. [laughs] I don’t know. I started off singing and playing rhythm guitar. I didn’t start playing lead guitar until I was 32. I was scared to death of anything past the seventh fret. And I had a guitar player quit, and I was, like, ‘Damn.’ At that point, I think I played one lead in the show. And I said, ‘Well, I can replace him, or I could just play every single lead. I was, like, ‘Damn, these leads are all going to sound the same.’ And I challenged myself; I gave myself six months, and I started really practicing behind the scenes. And I said, ‘In six months, if I’m playing all these different solos and doing them well, then screw it, I’m never getting another guitarist again. And if I’m not, then I’ll admit it to myself and hire one.’ And I felt like I grew enough. I was really glad he left. Because of him leaving, it turned me into a lead guitarist. Yeah, truly, because I would have never done it. I don’t think I would have ever had the balls. I was always a singer, and a rhythm player. 

You write great songs too. Are you a poet?

You know that my name translates into...Devon apparently translates into and means ‘the poet?’ It’s really trippy. Uhmm, I don’t know. It’s really not my place to judge my own stuff. I think that I dig some poetry and that I could write some. If my lyrics are, I don’t know. 

Are you a philosopher?

I think for sure. [chuckles] And it’s really an idealogical place, you know. It’s nothing fancy. It’s like, ‘Why don’t we just get along and stop killing people and start feeding people, and turn the page here?’ It really doesn’t get much deeper than that. 

That’s a great philosophy. Are you a reader? Do you read a lot of books?

Voracious. Voracious reader. I’m always reading. Always, always.

Any particular genre?

I love travel narratives—absolutely love ‘em. I love seeing the world through different people’s eyes. Astrophysics is a big thing—love it. Bios—any kind of bios, you know, world leaders, to musicians, to whomever. You know, it’s funny, I almost feel guilty when I read fiction. And that’s so weird, but it’s like, if I’m going to spend time reading, I want to learn a true story, or learn about a person... I feel like I’m wasting my time with fiction, and that’s so wrong because there’s a pretty rich tapestry out there to be discovered. I don’t count the classics in that. I do like the classics.

You’re working on a solo album now, right?

It’s done! It’s in the can. It comes out February 12th in Europe and America, and I think Japan. It’s called Turquoise. 

Who’s on it? Is it people you’ve played with before or is it new people?

It’s Derek Trucks’ drummer of 15 years and the drummer for Royal Southern Brotherhood, Yonrico Scott. He plays all the drums and all the percussion. And then I’ve got some guests on there. I’ve got Luther Dickinson from The Black Crows playing some slide guitar. He’s just a badass. He’s had his own band, North Mississippi Allstars, for about 15 years. Ron Holloway is a guest again on saxophone, and there’s this great band out of Memphis called Lucero—really badass. Their keyboard player came and played (Hammond) B3 organ. And then I re-did the Tom Petty/Stevie Nicks classic, Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around with last year’s Blues Music Awards winner for best new artist, Samantha Fish. And it’s cool. It’s a little bit slower, a little grittier version, and it was a lot of fun to do.

Other than that, did you write the music?

Yeah, I did. I’ve got a couple co-writes on there. I co-wrote a couple with Mike Zito from Royal’, and co-wrote one with Tyler Stokes of the band Delta Sol Revival. He’s probably about 19 and he’s a really, really amazing talent. I’m actually producing his record next spring. So there’s a couple co-writes here and there, but for the most part it was my deal. 

Are you happy with it?

I’m really happy with it. It’s the record I always wanted to make. I mean, I was always in charge of the Honeytribe records, I even produced one of them, and I wrote everything on them. But at the end of the day, I was writing that to be within the framework of what I thought Honeytribe was. There’s no framework with this record. It’s kinda wide open. It felt really good. 

Wide open like the universe! But it’s a different style than Honeytribe?

Yeah, um, you know, it’s crazy because Honeytribe is aggressive, and Honeytribe had distorted guitars. It was very ‘rocky.’ This doesn’t have one distorted guitar on it. It doesn’t have one aggressive song on it. It’s like, I finally grew up. [laughs] And, instead of really wanting to produce this record, and all that, I got one of the best producers in the world to produce it. 

Who’s that?

Jim Gaines. He produced Santana, he produced Huey Lewis and the News’ big records,  he’s a song guy and a guitar guy. He’s in the twilight of his career, but I think that, so many times when people are in their twilight, they’re at their best. This is some of the last stuff that they will do, and I feel so honored that I did a record with him. 

I can’t wait to hear it.

Hell yeah, he did Stevie Ray Vaughn! I think it was In Step. Yeah, that’s the one where they had to put him in a chicken coop to stop all the humming and all the noise from the amplifiers.

One last thing before I let you go. A couple of years ago, I had dinner with George Massenburg, the inventor of the parametric EQ. We were talking about music and art, and he posed a question that, to this day, I still can’t answer, and it’s a question that’s been on my mind ever since. So I’m going to ask you. What do you think people will be listening to 1000 years from now?

Oh man. You know, that’s an excellent question. I think the obvious is, there are still going to be people listening to Beethoven and Mozart, because, if we’re listening to that stuff now, you know, if it’s lasted this long... So I think his question is more angled at, for the music that was produced in the 20th century, meaning modern-day music, from jazz in the ‘20s, to blues, all the way to this very second, what will have lasted? That’s an incredible question. I think the big ones. I think The Beatles, I think The Beatles will make it through that wormhole, [laughs] I think B.B. King, I think all your number one examples of each genre. Bob Marley. Maybe the ‘Stones. Maybe Motown as a whole. Uhmm...that’s a very good question. It’s so subjective.

It’s subjective, but yet there’s some criteria a piece of art has to have in order to make it on the list.

Yeah, I think it has to resonate on that spiritual level. We keep coming back to that spirituality. You know, Marley. For sure people are listening to Marley in 1000 years, because his music was too universal. And The Beatles, I just think, just because...I don’t know, maybe they’re just so popular. 

I said the same thing to George. He was saying Mozart, I was saying The Beatles. 

And Dylan.

Right on. Well, have a great time in Europe and good luck with the new record.

Thank you so much and thanks for thinking of me.

Devon Allman can be found on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/devonallman?fref=ts) and in the iTunes Store.