[MUSIC] I'm here today with Anthony Aquilato who for nearly forty years has had about any job you can think of on the road touring with some of pop, rock and roll R and B and country music's biggest artists. He's worked with people like Ringo Starr, Keith Richards, Colin Oates, Sharday, Cheryl Crow, Neil Young and Crazyhorse, and many, many others. Too many to count here. I'm so grateful for his time today. He's going to be talking to us about live touring. Thank you Anthony for being here. >> No problem Jen. >> You grew up in the Bronx and started your touring career at age 17 with one of my favorite bands from the sort of disco, funk era, Chic. How did you begin this at such a young age? I was working at SIR in New York as a rehearsal tech and there were so many bands that just came in and out to rehearse, they would occasionally grab guys and say, hey can you come out and do a weekend show with us, or can you come do this or can you come do that. And then if you clear an instrument form the boss. I mean, I really can't remember but that's basically how it started. So, started with a band called Atlantic Star. It's funny, I just saw Ball Pesco who is a player in Atlantic Star back then, and we were reminiscing because he's playing with Rummer or Roomer now, and we were reminiscing about those days. And then, so the Atlantic Star gig opened the door to the gig with Cheek because they were rehearing at SAR as well. And then once, I gotta meet Nile and Bernard, it was stuck. >> Did you like traveling immediately? >> Yeah, I was ready to get out of the house. >> Yeah. >> I was 17 years old, ready to leave the Bronx, ready to leave the house. So it was either go to jail or go somewhere else. >> Did you finish high school, I don't know this. >> I did not finish high school. >> That's amazing. >> I did get my GED, in my sophomore year I had my GED. So, that was two years before my graduating class. >> Amazing. Did you, so you learned on the way I guess? Or on the road you sort of picked up all the skills you need to be in demand World class guy that you are today. >> Yeah, I did study a little in school, there were some college courses that I took. I went to Bard, and the University of Bridgeport and took some courses in broadcast journalism and radio and television journalism because back then in the 70s, that's all there was. There wasn't the Recording Institute of America there weren't Full Sail, I mean all these places didn't exist. >> Yeah. >> So, that's how I kind of got like a broad spectrum of what was actually happening technically. You know what I mean? >> Right. >> How journalists were in the field recording things and I was always kind of the AV guy. I was always the guy even in grammar school. I would be running the lights on the stage. I figured out how to run all the lights, so I always ran the movie projector at summer camp and things like that. It's just something that I was always very interested in. >> Well, and the technology part of it of course is changing all the time and I wonder if you could say a little bit about how you stay on top of the changes that are still happening. I'm sure every tour you do there's some new piece of equipment or something that you've gotta get on top of and run it for that tour. >> Read the manual. >> [LAUGH] >> My wife and I were just talking about this yesterday. She's the NRTM, I'm the ARTM. I always read the manual, she never reads the manual. Trying to figure out the bluetooth in her car. So, I guess I'm going to have to read the manual. There's always a piece here that you have to learn how to use. Learn how to read the manuals when I learned how to use the gear that you were using or any other band. That's how you stay on top of it. YouTube is great too now. I mean there's so much- >> Yeah. >> Video information that people will do things like this. They'll just record videos for people to watch on the internet because its such as, there's so much information to be had, it's just so great that way. >> [SOUND] What do you think some of the biggest misperceptions are the people have about life on the road with rock and roll bands? Or any kind of band. >> Well, that it's glamorous. >> Yeah. >> because it's not. >> It's not. >> It's a lot of work. >> [LAUGH] >> There's nothing glamorous about being on the road and living out of a suitcase. I lived out of a suitcase for 30 years when I was a kid. It's great to see the world. It's great to travel. There's a lot of great things you can take away from that, but most of the time you're working. The first five times I was in Paris, per se, if I can say Paris. I never saw anything but the inside view of the arena. Yeah, I went to Paris and I saw the inside of the arena, which looks like the inside of every other arena that we were in, that week. There's nothing different about it. There's nothing glamorous about it. It's really a lot of hard work, for everyone involved. >> That's true. What do you think, some of the qualities are personally that a person needs to have? Speaking of well, it's not glamorous and it's a lot of hard work. I mean, what makes somebody a good person to work with on the road? What are the personal or professional qualities that make somebody a good either tech or musician that tours? >> I mean, you ultimately gotta be able to get along with people. >> Yeah. >> I mean, that's a given. You can't not get along with the 12 other people you are on the bus with or the 20 other people you are on the jet with or. There's only so much compartmentalization that there is on the road. Like the diva or the el divo may have this little compartment which is but everybody else is in the cattle car and you can't get along, you find yourself out. >> Gone. >> Yeah, more than likely, yeah. Somebody will say he's not working or she's not working, not part of the team. There is a big team involved. So, I think that's the most important thing. The most important thing. [MUSIC] >> I guess we were just talking not so long ago about your work as an audio engineer, is that where your real sort of passion is, do you like mixing? >> Yeah, when I was a kid I always though I wanted to be a record producer. I would still love to be a record producer, but I've realized now that I'm an adult that you really need to be a really great musician. I think the really great record producers are really great musicians too. It's great to think that you could be George Martin and make a Beatles record, but George Martin was I think he was an oboist or something, but had a great background in music. >> A wonderful keyboard player too. >> Yeah. So, most of the great record producers are great musicians and they understand the language of music. So, that's something that I know that I never will understand because I'm not a musician and I've never trained as a musician. But, I do understand sound. I was always, I always liked the way things sound. I was always interested in the sound of things, I feel fine. I know now what that feedback was because it's been well documented but as a kid, I dropped the needle on that record over and over and over again just to listen to that feedback to go, what the fuck is going on? What is happening here? It's just really, it just really triggered something in me. So much so that, I wanted to learn about sound. So I studied that. I studied, I mean I took music classes in high school. I took electronic music classes. I listened to Stockhousing records and Tomita records, and Wendy Carlos, Walter Carlos and Wendy Carlos records. Just to listen to sounds, just to try to figure out how that was happening, what was going on, you know? So that's really my passion, but getting into the business, I found my way getting into the business is like a crew person. I would hangout at the Academy of Music, and help load trucks you know just to try to meet the locals the union guys, the local guys, and then ultimately try to get a job, you know? Which did get me a job and into the clubs in New York, and then I started mixing sounds in the clubs, in a few of the clubs in the 70s that were there, Max's and a place called the Gildersleeves and CBGB's and you just kind of float around. >> You mixed at CBGB's? I didn't know that. >> Mm-hm, yeah, absolutely. CBGB's had a great sound system that was put together by a guy named Charlie Martin who's, he was a genius sound engineer. They had a patch bay, you could patch the compressors or the EQs in wherever you wanted, it was really set up like a recording studio, it was really fantastic. Another friend of mine Robin Danar who used to mix there all the time, he was one of the house mixers, is now just opened another club in Los Angeles. And you've got to have a real passion for sound, you know? But Charlie had a great, he had a great thing going and CB's, I mean I didn't work there, but I mixed there quite often because of the bands I worked with played there all the time. >> Mm-hm. Can you tell us a little bit about tour managing and what that involves and what are your experience is like you know is it wrangling musicians, taking care of that? >> Yeah that's basically a lot of what it is. You know, tour managing is like executive babysitting, you know? There's a lot that goes into tour managing because putting a tour together is a big undertaking. So whether you're working as a tour manager, which is seeing the big picture, you know of the whole tour and dealing with the artist on that level and then dealing with the production manager who's dealing with the technical aspects of the tour and making sure that there's a show everyday. >> Right. >> You know, but the tour manager's dealing with travel, dealing with the artists, dealing with all the things involved on that level and that is more, I hate to say babysitting but it is. There's a lot of hand holding that goes on being a tour manager to make sure that the artist and the musicians are comfortable and they can perform every night. I mean, you know, it's that's about as broad as it could be, but as narrow as it could be too, you know? What do you think people need to know about instrument techs and doing that kind of work? I mean, how is that sort of different than the other jobs that you've had, in terms of your day to day experience or the skills you need? >> You know, it certainly helps if you're a musician. I mean to be a really great guitar tech it would really help if you played the guitar. >> Mm-hm. >> I mean, and you know when you get to a level where the band isn't doing sound checks, then all the techs should really know how to play the instruments, so you can get through it. I mean I was a drum tech for a good number of years, but I could never play the drums. But I learned how to tune drums and maintain a drum kit when i was mixing in the clubs because the clubs always had shitty drum kits. >> House kits >> And you know backline and if you wanted to be in the sound guy, if you wanted them to sound good, you had to get in there earlier and get them sounding good. And so you know, being in a club with a bunch of backline, bunch of regular house gear, I learned how to get the house drum kit to sound good, so when I mixed the band, I played on it every night, at least I knew I had something that I could get and go for. >> Right. So being an instrument tech or being you know a tech, a tech is a broad term because you know there are guys that can take amps apart and put them back together again, and guys that can take guitars apart and put them back together again, change pickups. And then there are guys like me who, you know I can pretty much maintain a guitar, tune strings and change strings and you know maybe do a basic intonation and things like that, but if someone were to hand me their guitar and say, hey I want you to change the pickups on this and get it ready for the show tonight, I would be amiss, you know? But there are guys that can do that. And that's, those are great techs, great and techs. And I don't know if they just never wanted to be musicians or they just find themselves happier doing that. >> Right. >> You know? And being of service to a musician, you know? You know, I carried my first guitar into a gymnasium when I was 13 years old with my cousins high school band, you know? And was standing in the back of a gymnasium when there was no PAs and saying tell me when you can hear the guitar and tell me when you can hear me singing. You know what I mean? And they were balancing everything on the stage. It was nothing as complicated as today. And that pretty much started it for me. I would do that on weekends. >> Right. >> With my cousins. Just stand in the back of the room and listen to them play, and then tell them yeah, no, it's all good. I can hear you and I can hear the guitar, and you know everything would start to sound balanced and it really started to train my ear back then at a very young age, which was great. You feel like you're doing something, you know? You feel like you're part of it. I mean, I wasn't in the band but I was with the band. >> [LAUGH]. >> And it was cool to be a young kid and doing that kind of stuff. And it still, I still have that passion. I think we all still feel that way. >> Mm-hm. You know what I mean? >> Mm-hm. >> About things like that, at least that's I do. >> Mm-hm. Here's a half serious question that I actually don't know the answer to. Is roadie a derogatory term? Do people, because I hear people saying I'm a tech or I'm an engineer or I'm a- >> I don't know. I think that the term has evolved over the years. >> Yeah. >> You know, it's broader. Back In the day when you are on the road, in the 60s possibly, you know? >> Yeah. >> If you weren't with the band, if you were working as the crew you were a roadie. It was just a term, I'd like to know who you know who coined the phrase, you know what I mean? And I don't think back then it was broken out, you know? >> Mm-hm. Anybody who was not, right. >> Yeah, the road crew. You're the road crew. >> Right. >> You're a roadie, you're a part of the road crew, right? >> Right. >> Now it's much more diverse. You've got the video crew, you've got you know the lighting crew, you've got LDs and front of house engineers, monitor engineers. You've got, you know there was a term in the 80s, the boffin, it was an English term, the boffin. That was the guy who could take everything apart and put it back together again. He was the real tech guy. >> Wow. >> So when your keyboard went down you brought it over to the boffin. He was the guy who just sat there with the soldering iron all day long. >> Wow. >> And was fixing circuit boards or rebuilding amplifiers, he just was fixing stuff all the time, you know? The first time I heard that was on an English tour in the 80s. It was like wow, that's the guy if my shit breaks I'm going to bring it to him, you know that's what he's here to do, you know? And there's programmers, guys that sit and program. I was doing that for a long time, with Hall and Oates. There was a lot of programming back then, in the MIDI age, everything was programmed. Now it's Pro Tools, or a digital performer. Now there's playback where there's a guy sitting way over there with 185 tracks of playback to make sure that it sounds just like the record. Even though all the bands, are still playing, and everybody's participating, there's a whole other element that's going on that didn't happen back then, but those guys are still part of the road crew. They're still the roadies, but I'm sure they'd be very upset if the Pro Tools playback guy was called a roadie. because he's got a pretty significant job. >> Yes. Yeah. [MUSIC] What are some of the changes that you've seen happen in the world of live touring in the decades that you've been working on that side of the business? >> What I've seen and what I can correlate in my own world is that as the recording process has gotten more sophisticated, the live performance process seems to follow that. In the days of simpler recording, the live performance process was simple. Synthesizers, more technology in the studio, consoles that had recallability, the mixes became more sophisticated, albums became more sophisticated. And in essence the artist wanted their performances to be as sophisticated as the records they were making. So now you have technology kind of chasing technology. because the technology in the live form, in the performance form, didn't really exist. So I can tell you for a fact that we were creating it in the studio as we were creating records. So I can attest to this with all the notes, and as technology was in the mid 80s, there were just leaps and bounds of technology with synthesizers and samplers and the way music was being kind of modified and sounds were being modified. The things that Peter Gabriel was doing with the Fairlights and Synclaviers and sampling all sorts of sounds to be played back differently. Well, when that was incorporated into a record, and that record became a hit, well that artist wanted to do that and be able to perform that because obviously the audience wanted to hear that. There wasn't, we weren't simple folk bands anymore. It wasn't, I don't want to say Peter, Paul and Mary with any disrespect to Peter, Paul and Mary because they were fantastic. But it wasn't just three singers just playing guitars and singing beautiful harmonies that they could do by themselves without any help from anyone else. There was no technology involved in that. So as the technology kind of overtook the recording process it followed the live performance aspect had to follow that technology too. And it's chased itself all the way to the point where you go into the studio now and you make a record, and you have 196 tracks of Pro Tools. You need to take those 196 tracks of Pro Tools out on the road with you or some form of that and make it happen so it sounds just like the record. Otherwise your audience is not happy, and they don't get it. And then there's the video experience and the lighting experience and all that other stuff. Which just adds to it, the Joshua Light Show back in the 60s started this whole kind of tripadelic, psychedelic thing. Now you have crazy video and moving lights and you know. >> I love that idea, that the live music technology has sort of been chasing recorded technology the whole time. And I know it's something that musicians think and talk about a lot. Well, do we need to recreate the record, or not? What happens if we sort of run at this from another angle. Do you think that it's important most of the time for musicians to try to do something that sounds like the record when they're on stage? What are the most compelling attacks on that issue for you? Your approaches, what do you think that- >> Well, I mean, personally, I think that any group of talented musicians on stage can replicate a record as complicated or as simple as it can be, and still put together a show that's really compelling and gives the audience everything they want. I watch artists do it all the time. Shawn Colvin, for example, makes great records, she makes great records with great producers. And then she goes on the road with her guitar, and sits down and plays her songs, and it's as compelling as it can be. And she doesn't need a big band behind her to convey the emotion in the songs that she writes, because it comes from within. And I think any good artist, any good songwriter can sit down with their instrument and do exactly that. But they can also then get the 12 piece band and make it sound just like the record if they want to do that, but their audience knows. So go from Shawn Colvin, as an example to Madonna, as an example. Or Lady Gaga, or one of the other formidable female artists, or even male artists, Justin Timberlake maybe, Justin Bieber maybe. Could they go on stage by themselves with just a guitar and translate their really sophisticated records to their audience? And would their audience be happy? Would it be as compelling as the big over the top hoopla show, with all the video and all the lighting, and all the dancers, and all the stuff, because that's entertainment, right? But people are paying to be entertained, so it really I think depends on the artist and what the artist brings. I'm entertained by people like Shawn Colvin on that level. There's nothing not entertaining about that, and so much so about Madonna too, that she's really entertaining when you watch her show. There's a whole lot going on, and it crosses lots of boundaries and it just becomes just a wonderful experience. And all those artists, there's a lot that goes into it. Working with Sade, that particular show was rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed so it was a moment of two and a half hours that was just one big moment, that every little piece of it was put together. To make the audience feel like they were part of it and brought into it. As big as it was from song to song or as small as it got, because there were moments where it was just Johnny and Andrew playing piano. It really just came straight down to nothing except the two of them, really intimate music, more intimate than it was recorded. And then got really big and bold again with video and lighting and the whole band and the singers. But I think every artist takes the time, well, I would hope every artist takes the time, to think about that and what they want to present to their audience. >> So I would imagine that, for example, the Keith Richards thing would've been a lot sort of looser and not sort of planned down to the detail or as well rehearsed as what you just described with is that true? >> Keith Richards rehearsed. Looser, yes, you know what I mean? Because it wasn't structured with video and time code and everything had to be frame by frame, there was frame by frame accuracy, right. Keith Richards was a rock and roll man, he's a rock and roll player. There was a lot of rehearsals, we rehearsed for probably a month. We rehearsed all night long. I remember it being a lot of work, in as much as that, the crew still had to work during the day. To get everything ready for rehearsal that would start at 6 or 7 o'clock in the evening and go until 6 o'clock in the morning. And you got a few hours sleep and then had to be back at it at 2 or 3 o'clock or as late as you possibly could be to make sure that you were still ready for when the musicians came back in. And there was a lot of stuff to maintain. I mean, there were fucking oodles of guitars. I had 12 different snare drums for Steve Jordan. There was a lot to do to keep it ready for them because they were rehearsing a lot of music and they wanted it to sound just like the record. I mean Steve Jordan, and I can say this because working with him closely for every different sound that he had on the record drum wise, we changed the drums. I changed snare drums almost every song. We changed cymbals every song. He wanted to use the elements that went into the drum kit that was on the track live. And again that goes back to talking about all the rest of the technology chasing technology. While Steve was thinking about that on that level, and it's just like guitar players change their guitars. It's the same kind of thing, you know what I mean. I played a Strat on this song, so I'm going to play a Strat on this song. I'm not not just going to play a Telecaster all night long. because there are different tones and some guy's plug in to different amplifiers. I do remember Mike Campbell with Tom Petty when I was there one year he had a bunch of different amplifiers. And different guitars went to different amplifiers through a switching system, you know what I mean. So his tech, if he handed him one particular guitar that was supposed to go through the AC30 that's where it was going. And one other guitar maybe went through a Fender Deluxe, or whatever. To get tones, to get the sounds, you know? Working with Keith Richards was just like that. There were elements that they wanted really to sound just like the record. So they did it, but they didn't do it with a lot of technology, they did it old school. >> Right, right. >> Old school technology if I can say that. Working with Neil Young, he has an incredible work ethic. Rehearsals with Neil Young are, there's work involved. And every artist I've ever worked with, I can't think of one artist that I've ever worked with that pays no attention to what's going on in the rehearsal moment. The rehearsal moment is what brings it all together so you can then take that and present it to the audience. Neil's work ethic is incredibly strong. There's a lot of energy that goes into making it what he wants it to be. And I've never worked with him when there wasn't some sort of big picture. It's more than just Neil and Crazy Horse or Neil and the Bluenotes. There was always something else going on. The crew was always involved in the show. I don't know if you've ever seen any of those Neil Young shows the crew's always involved, they're on the stage, they're working. He knows that so he incorporates it all into the show. You know what I mean? So nothing is Is foreign I guess is the way we use it. You know if guys moving on the stage and changing guitars that's all part of it. He wants everybody to see that. It's like a big living theater thing. You know he did that with Prairie Winds. You know even if they're telling stories. Larry, sweeping with the broom, during Harvest Moon. He thinks about that and says, I want to incorporate that into my show. Well, that needs to be rehearsed as well. And then it's not just Neil Young, it's more artists than I have worked with. I have seen shows and looked at what's happening on the stage and go kind of like, what the fuck, and you realize this is part of the show. This is part of the show, this has been rehearsed. This is made for the audience to see. This isn't just happening here today now. This happens every day at every show and it's part of the experience. So I wish I could talk more about all the artists that I've worked with. But I think that you can take for granted that any artist given his salt or her salt spends a lot of time thinking about how they want to present themselves and their show to their audience. And that's a great thing because it just makes for just a wonderful experience for the audience to see and hear and be part of. [MUSIC] >> What I love about your perspective on what an artist does during their show is that you seem so easily able to take it on its own terms. Whether you're talking about the way that Keith Richards or Neil Young or Mariah Carey or Hall and Oates or Mikhail Baryshnikov, you know puts together. Because you worked I think with his company. >> I worked with Mikhail Baryshnikov, mm-hm. >> And that is I think kind of a rare quality to be able to accept what an artist is doing on their own terms is work from that perspective. Do you think that that's been a help to you as you've worked with all these different genres? >> Yeah, sure, I think you need to be open minded. You know, it's art, they're an artist, it's an art form. You take for granted, I take for granted that the artist is creating and you get to step back and watch him or her create. And then when you are asked to become part of that, or to participate in that, you become part of that art. And that becomes incredibly exciting and fulfilling. Because you're not just some guy who's setting up gear. And even though those guys are still a part of it you've got to take this all into perspective. The riggers, the stage hands, the truck loaders, the teamsters, the caterers. There are hundreds, and hundreds, of people that go into putting on a Kenny Chesney stadium show. There's hundreds, maybe if thousands. Talk about Kenny Chesney who's Is one of the great artists now in our time who puts on an incredible stadium experience, right? And there's nothing that they're not thinking about. And there's nothing that he's not thinking about and talking to his team about and saying I want to do this. Can we do this? And then there's a bunch of people going okay, how do we figure this out? Whatever it may be. I'm not going to make some crazy example up. And it becomes part of the experience. And then you become part of the art. You become part of it. You become the red, or the blue or the green or the yellow, but without it Something's missing. >> Right. >> And I think that everybody that's involved, and the reason why we are involved is the same reason why you're involved as a musician. I mean, you get to create part of the art with the musicians. It's a very tangible, emotional thing as you play as an ensemble with a band. And then you have a whole another core of people, the next level down, which means the stage crew, your roadies, your stage set. >> Not next level down. >> No I will say, it's the next level down, the next level out, the next layer of the onion, let's put it like that. >> Okay. >> And you have your artist, you have the band, you have the next layer which are the guys who are handing you off the instrument's making sure everything is in tune. You have the technical squad on top of that. You have your lighting people, you have your sound people, your video people, everything is tied together to create an experience for the audience. And at the end of the day, when you put on a great show, and everybody knows it's a great show that you've done and you go, fuck, that was great. Everybody's got a big smile on their face and going, we did it. We had a great show tonight. Everything worked. And there's a great feeling of of fulfillment. Even while you are packing it all back into the trucks. Even though you've still got three hours of work to do and the band is off drinking champagne and you're still packing trucks. There's still, you feel fulfilled that you put on a great show for the audience. And your little part of it, as significant or as insignificant as anyone may feel, you know that it wouldn't have happened if you hadn't been there to do your little part. And I mean that's what I take away from it. >> There are people who say these days that with record sales shrinking, that touring and live performance is sort of going to be the answer for a lot of musicians. What do you say to people who say that loud music and touring is a good way for musicians to make money given the fact that they're probably not going to make as much money selling records? Do you think that's realistic? >> Yeah, yeah, I mean I don't really know much about the music business, the business of music, even though I did work for a music company for a long time, for a good ten years. But that's not what I did there, so I had nothing to do with the business of music. But yeah, you're right. Music doesn't sell anymore. You can get it for free, because of the internet and an artist revenue is now touring, merchandise sales. I know of artists that go play personal shows. They do these things where on their webpage, they'll come play your house, in 50 people while they're on tour. They're circling a tour, say hey, we're going to be in Kansas City, Missouri anybody want me to come by and do a show? And they do, and they go and make a little extra money, and I think that's great. So yeah I would say that there is always going to be performance, and hopefully performance will always afford the artist with some money. [LAUGH] >> [LAUGH] >> You won't have to perform for free. >> Right. The subtitle for this class is What Is Music Worth? And so we try to, I guess think about how in different segments of the business whether we're talking about recordings or live performance, value is assigned to that experience. Do you think that concert tickets or live music, door covers, are price fairly? Do you think that the way that money and live music from the consumer's point of view is sort of working out the way it should? >> Jen, you're taking me out of my field here, ultimately. As a person, as a consumer, yeah I would pay anything to go see someone who I wanted to see. Without music, there's chaos. I mean music is really what holds the whole world together, I personally feel. It's the string that ties everything together. One piece of music can go all the way around the world and make everyone feel a certain way. I've sat through opera's, I've sat through ballets, I've sat though symphonies. I love music. And there is that certain tangible emotional things that's happening. Whether it be rock n roll, whether it be folk music, orchestras ballet, there's that great scene in Amadeus where the king tells him to take the music away from the ballet so they were just dancing around with no music. It's just like it's all tied together and it’s' worth every penny, and hopefully you can afford it, as a consumer hopefully you can afford it, and it's not our price that. I don't know if somebody's $150 ticket is too expensive. There's certainly fans will pay, or somebody's $500 ticket, maybe that's too expensive. >> [LAUGH] >> But It all depends on if you've got the money and hopefully music should be affordable for everybody. The live experience for sure. What do you think that people can do? What's the best things that people can do to support music in their own communities? What do you think that people can do? What is some of the best things that people can do to support music in their own communities? What are some other things that people can do to help foster a healthy musical community? >> Yeah, go out and see local music. Go to the clubs. That's it, especially in this town. I mean, there’s plenty of places to see music so if you're interested in the local music scene then go out to the clubs and have a beer and watch the bands. I mean, I think there's a difference between what happens here in a club like this and then what happens on like on maybe on lower Broadway. >> Mm-hm. >> I don't want to put brackets around Nashville. Every city is like that, you know what I mean? There are the bars that have just bands that are just playing cover tunes for the fact. Just to entertain people, or to give them something, for whatever. And that's great too. Because people really enjoy that. Some people really enjoy that. And some people enjoy coming to this place and seeing some touring band that's coming through, you know what I mean? And they tour on all sorts of levels, whether it's the Ryman, whether it's here in a small club. There are artists of all levels that are trying to make a living out there playing their music to their audiences wherever they may be. And I think that's how you support the industry in a whole, just go out there. When your band and your favorite band comes to town, you'd go buy tickets and you'd go see them you know what I mean? And you know that's what it's all about right? >> I think so. >> Yeah. We'd all be out of a job. [LAUGH] >> I would too. >> We'd be out of jobs. [MUSIC] [APPLAUSE]
