roadlife

American musicians face a Police shakedown at the Swiss border, stay in a pube ridden hotel, and perform at Blueballs Festival in Lucerne, Switzerland. 

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Graham Mellor is a Production Manager, Monitor Engineer, and Front of House Engineer currently based out of Rhode Island. He is also the owner of Sound Advice LLC, a small sound/production company in North Kingstown, RI, providing production, backline, and audio services to venues in the state, as well as tours such as last years’ The Last Waltz ft. Warren Haynes, Jamey Johnson, Don Was, Lukas Nelson, and John Medeski, as well as the Moe/Blues Traveler All Roads Run Around Tour last summer.

Graham began his career in audio working for PMA Industries, a local sound company doing stage patching and backline for small festivals and legacy acts like 5th Dimension and The Temptations. After a short time, he moved into mixing monitors and stage managing. He also worked as an apprentice electrician, and would travel on the weekends to do shows in the Northeast for PMA and other bands, like Dennis Edwards’ Temptations Review.

In 2011 he started working at FETE, a 1000 cap night club in Providence and became the Production Manager within a few months there, where he began a close relationship with the Knitting Factory who handled booking the venue for a few years.

His tenure on the road started in 2013 mixing monitors for Warren Haynes and Gov’t Mule. After roughly a year and a half to two years he moved to the FOH position and also Production Management. In 2018 he went on to Production Manage and Stage Manage the Willie Nelson's Outlaw Music Festival, produced by Blackbird Presents.

When not in Coronavirus lockdown he can be found as the Production Manager for Sturgill Simpson’s ‘A Good Look’n Tour’.

Today’s episode is sponsored by Boulevard Carroll, Lensrentals, Airturn, and ShowPro Beard Co.

Special Mentions:

Graham Mellor – Sound Advice, Crew Nation, Warren Haynes, Gov’t Mule, Sturgill Simpson, John Joseph – The PMA EFFECT, I Am Michael Alago: Breathing Music. Signing Metallica. Beating Death, The Girl in the Back: A Female Drummer's Life with Bowie, Blondie, and the '70s Rock Scene, Tour Health Research Initiative, ROADIE: My Documentary (TJ Hoffman film), Loud: A Life In Rock ‘N Roll by the World’s First Female Roadie. By Tana Douglas, Mixing Music Live, The Last Seat in the House: The Story of Hanley Sound, The Power of Podcasting Panel at NAMM, Soundgirls, Roswell Pro Audio Mini K87, Filming Great Concert Footage, Roadie Short Film, Roadie: A True Story (at least the parts I remember)

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Austin Schroeder is a Monitor Engineer based out of San Diego, California, who is currently in rehearsals for the highly anticipated Rage Against the Machine tour.

An Iowa native, Austin started on piano at a young age, setting the groundwork for a deep and lifelong understanding and appreciation of music. His teenage years saw him develop more into a bassist, which he played in several jazz bands before ultimately ending up at Full Sail University, hoping for a degree in music recording.

After moving to Nashville to work at the famed Blackbird studios, Austin tired of studio life and decided that perhaps he was better suited to life on the road and the more spontaneous feel of live music. A misunderstanding during his interview process at Clair Bros led to an opportunity at a smaller Pennsylania-based company, Allusions Lighting and Sound Production. It was here, that Austin’s fate was set, and his career began to flourish.

Among the artists that he has worked with are Iggy Azaelia, Foo Fighters, Audioslave, Tom Morello, and Lupe Fiasco. In 2019, Austin was awarded the Parnelli award for Monitor Mixer of the year.

Today’s episode is sponsored by ShowproBeardCo, & Boulevard Carroll. Use the code ROADIE to get great discounts when you check out.

Sign-up for Mixing Music Live with Michelle Pettinato!

Click HERE, then use the code: ROADIE2 to claim your 25% discount!

Special Mentions:

Rage Against The Machine Tour, Tour Health Research Initiative, ROADIE: My Documentary (TJ Hoffman film), Loud: A Life In Rock ‘N Roll by the World’s First Female Roadie. By Tana Douglas, Mixing Music Live, Charlie Karp Scholarship Fund, The Last Seat in the House: The Story of Hanley Sound, The Power of Podcasting Panel at NAMM, Soundgirls, Roswell Pro Audio Mini K87, Filming Great Concert Footage, Roadie Short Film, Roadie: A True Story (at least the parts I remember), Roadie Free Radio Merch

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Tana Douglas is widely acknowledged as rock’n’roll’s first female roadie. Her journey started in 1973 in Australia, where within a year she was working for AC/DC, first doing backline then F.O.H. Sound for the band. She then moved to lighting working for a Major Australian Promoter and completed in quick succession several tours with International acts such as: Santana, Suzi Quatro, Neil Diamond, David Essex and Leo Sayer and Status Quo all before she turned 18.

After getting her Father to sign her passport so she could travel Internationally she ventured to London to start 3 years with Status Quo running their lighting rig. She then brought that rig to TASCO a major Production company in London that until that time had only supplied Sound for tours. A relationship developed there that would last several years and include working for such artists as: Status Quo, The WHO, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, The Police, Elton John, Iggy Pop and Johnny Halliday the French mega star.

Her relationship continued with TASCO enabling her to transfer to the United States after they opened a Los Angeles division. After becoming a U.S. resident she broadened her working relationships to also include both Delicate Productions and Light & Sound Designs. The tours that followed were Elton John, INXS, and Men at Work, before being once again called back to Paris to manage the largest lighting rig ever built for a 7 month residency for her old friend Johnny Halliday, for Light & Sound Design (LSD).

After successfully completing that task it was time for a change. Los Angeles had offered Tana new passions and she gradually left lighting and stage/production to focus her skills on logistics for everyone including Lenny Kravitz, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Luther Vandross, Ice-T and Ice Cube to name a few.

As the music industry grew to become a worldwide cultural phenomenon, Tana was there, in the thick of it, a girl.

Tana and her unique position in the music industry have been included in several other people’s books – most recently a chapter in Stuart Coupe’s book, Roadies, which confirmed her as the first female roadie. But now it’s time for Tana to tell her story, in her own words. Her Memoir, LOUD, is being published through HarperCollins Australia and tells of the joys and struggles faced as a girl out on the road on her own in the wild and wooley days that created this industry of music. It is due to be released in April 2020.

Tana currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

Today’s episode is sponsored by Soundgirls.org & ShowPro Beard Co. Use the code ROADIE to get great discounts when you check out.

Sign-up for Mixing Music Live with Michelle Pettinato!

Click HERE, then use the code: ROADIE2 to claim your 25% discount! 

Special Mentions:

Loud: A Life In Rock ‘N Roll by the World’s First Female Roadie. By Tana Douglas, Mixing Music Live, Tour Health Research Initiative, Charlie Karp Scholarship Fund, Telefunken M80 Microphone, The Last Seat in the House: The Story of Hanley Sound, The Power of Podcasting Panel at NAMM, Soundgirls, Roswell Pro Audio Mini K87, Filming Great Concert Footage, Roadie Short Film, Roadie: A True Story (at least the parts I remember), Roadie Free Radio Merch

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In this special episode I’m joined by touring veteran Ryan Philip George and clinical psychologist Dr. Chayim Newman, core members of the team behind the Tour Health Research Initiative.

Launched by a small team of psychologists, researchers, and touring professionals who work closely with and care deeply about the well-being of touring personnel, they are committed to the development of scientific, evidence-based strategies to improve the health and mental health of touring artists and crew members.

The Tour Health Research Initiative is a comprehensive scientific study of health and mental health among touring professionals. In recent years, health and mental health issues in the music industry, and especially in the touring sector, have become a well-publicized topic. It has been addressed in panels at conferences, in industry magazine articles, and in countless blogs and posts on social media.

This survey is the first phase of the Tour Health Research Initiative. It’s an attempt to gather and analyze detailed information about the nuances of what impacts the health and mental health of touring professionals.

The survey has been IRB approved to ensure that all research is conducted in an ethically
and scientifically appropriate manner.

Today’s episode is sponsored by Stagehands Clothing, Boulevard Carroll, & Gig-Gear. Use the code ROADIE to get great discounts when you check out. 

Special Mentions:

Tour Health Research Initiative, Ryan Philip George RFR Interview, Dr. Chayim Newman, This Tour Life, How Live Nation exploits low-wage workers to stage its rock concerts, The Last Seat in the House: The Story of Hanley Sound, ROADIE: My Documentary (TJ Hoffman film), The Power of Podcasting Panel at NAMM, Recording Studio Rockstars, The Six Figure Home Studio, Working Class Audio, The Art of Music Tech podcast, Soundgirls, Mixing Music Live, Roswell Pro Audio Mini K87, Filming Great Concert Footage, Roadie Short Film, Roadie: A True Story (at least the parts I remember), Roadie Free Radio Merch

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Here’s a replay from our panel at this year’s NAMM show:

Join hosts from some of the top podcasts in the industry as they take you from inception to launch and beyond. Hear their personal journeys as they organically grew audiences and learned how to navigate the world of brands and sponsorships. The session will be moderated by Larry Milburn, host of Roadie Free Radio, and panelists include Fela Davis (The Art Of Music Tech Podcast), Lij Shaw (Recording Studio Rockstars), Chris Graham (The Six Figure Home Studio Podcast) and Matt Boudreau (Working Class Audio).

Today’s episode is sponsored by showprobeardco.com. Use the code ROADIE to get great discounts when you check out!

Special thanks to: Roswell Pro Audio, Presonus, Sound Devices for sponsoring our shows and lending us props!

Special Mentions:

The Power of Podcasting Panel at NAMM, Recording Studio Rockstars, The Six Figure Home Studio, Working Class Audio, The Art of Music Tech podcast, Soundgirls, Mixing Music Live, Roswell Pro Audio Mini K87, Filming Great Concert Footage, Roadie Short Film, Roadie: A True Story (at least the parts I remember), Roadie Free Radio Merch

To the entire extended Roadie Free Radio Family, we wish you the merriest of holidays and lot's of good health!

In this quick episode I recap the last few months and give some ideas of things to come in the future. Come along for the ride!

Special Mentions:

Namm – The Power of Podcasting Panel, Ian S. Port: The Birth of Loud, Carla Jean Whitley: Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, Roswell Pro Audio Mini K87, A Life On the Road,

Filming Great Concert Footage, Roadie Short Film, Roadie: A True Story (at least the parts I remember), John Kane: Pilgrims of Woodstock, The Last Seat in the House, David Dann: "Guitar King: Michael Bloomfield's Life in the Blues", Roadie Free Radio Merch