E Audio & Lighting Productions

Well....another year is almost at a close and at which time I would like to reflect on not only this year....but the previous 50....yup....50. Let's just start with Grateful....Blessed Beyond....Thankyou Lord....It is hard to believe....but as I recall the past.....it started out as a musical journey.....in 1974 I bought my first 4 Track....a Dokorder Reel to Reel....rented various electronic pianos....Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Mini-Moog....Roland String Ensemble....even a Yamaha Portable Organ. Gigged with multiple bands.....rented P.A.'s and finally said....enough is enough....let's buy a small P.A.. Well....ended up with a 8 Channel board.....poweramp and big Yamaha Two-way speakers on wheels. We were rollin' with 150 Massive Watts of Power LOL.....and this stupid huge P.A. which took three vehicle backseats to carry before our instruments and girlfriends. The band thing was great....well....no money...but great for experiences to say the least. We all had part or full time jobs....me.....fulltime learning to be a Printer by trade. The bar and live scene was so so.....we ended up playing at house parties and outdoor events....why....cuz I had a P.A.. Eight channels wasn't cutting it anymore as I neared my 20's....wow.... they have powered boards....massive 12 Channels with Reverb.....we are talking 1976 here....this was big technology for me....especially in our little make up band industry....we weren't playing with the big guys....not yet. I was working full time....one of my best friends had a much bigger production rig.....ahhh.....4 Way System....Huge big stackable bins.....effects racks....multiple power amps.....crossovers....monitors and a 16 Channel board.....oh.....and lights on TV Antenna Trussing LOL. He was getting into it big time....this was Rock and Roll.....not to mention the U-Haul Truck to carry it all in. I was over the moon in love with this industry.....loved and hated the late weekend nights....the after parties.....meeting some of the soon to be stars of my generation....wow.....Rock and Roll....oh wait.....I have a full time job....burnin' the candle here....Decisions......Unfortunately Rock and Roll did not pay the Techs and Roadies very well....basically pizza, beer and a few bucks....the guy who owned the rig made the money. Well.....I have a million stories from the road warrior days.....but had to decide whether I wanted a full time day job that paid versus a very up and down....feast or famine industry. Hey.....I will work full time.....pay my bills and buy more gear and work weekends only.....Lightbulb moment. Well....as years passed....all seemed to work very well.....got married....started a family....bought more Keyboards.....Reel to Reels and P.A. Gear....oh....and built a studio in my basement. Now....lets move ahead 20 years.....since the 70's.....live venues gave way to Discos and almost any live band bar had in-house P.A.s.....techs were a plenty and weekend work was sparse. The money was in corporate audio gigs with staging and lighting....we weren't Westbury Sound....nowhere close....knew them all well though....Good paying gigs as a Production company were few and far between....thankfully I never quit my day job over the years. And most great techs that chose the industry were touring with larger well known bands....so thankful I never took that road life as I think back....The gigs we took on paid decent money....it spawned a D.J. Service with 3 working D.J.s....and allowed for a great deal of expansion with loads of gear. It more than paid a great wage for the guys and we would still run about 10 to 15 Live Band Shows a Year.....enjoyed some great corporate events with Yuk Yuks and solo artists. Anyways.....I retired from the industry pretty much in 2010 after a divorce and all the gear went into two storage units....packed to the roof. Fast forward to 2012....doing the the odd bit of live work with a very small P.A......took on a Karaoke Host Job as per someone's request.....scramble to put together a library of tracks....met the woman of my dreams.....and decided to get back into music....well....we get married.....go through Covid together.....and here we are coming to Nova Scotia.....my family roots. The intent was to rekindle the live music bug....to play music finally with my family once again and also take on the role of sound tech where necessary. A little side tracked word got around that I was a retired audio tech with a ton of credentials....okay....I was a pretty good tech....and I was fortunate to work with some pretty decent artists....some very well known. Anyways.....coming out of Covid.....everything started to open up.....I got asked to come out and do a show with Ashley MacIsaac (whom I had met at a Canadian East Coast Music Week (Lee's Palace) in Toronto back in the 2000's with the Fables)....so I said....sure....but I gotta rent some gear....I forgot to mention I sold off pretty much everything before leaving Onterrible. Anyways....that snowballed into Carroll Baker....more live work....Great Village Arts Lead Tech....and here we are.....four years later and close to 120 shows since 2021. Honestly....in Onterrible I may have worked 40 live shows in a busy five years. So...back to what I was trying to say.....I am so very Grateful for this year.....so many wonderful artists....to the many new I have met....the many I have worked with before.....our growing list of regular clients and festivals/community events.....thank you so very much for having faith in these Old Ears and working with me....yup....I am grumpy at times to work with LOL....but I want to make the best out of everything I attempt. Thank you to my partner at times in Crime....Ronnie Maine.....and all the great events we take on together.....I always say....this will be my last year.....but I did say I want to go till at least 70.....God willing....well this is the year......Thank you all....I love the Music Family Community here....it is like no other....and always will be.....The Real Deal....(Now I'm Gonna Slide You In.....Thanks Cuz Bill) Hugs and Love.....Bring on 2026